Photo by furcafe.The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration recently released its 2011 schedule of holiday hour extensions for establishments in the District of Columbia (see below for the PDF). It’s pretty standard stuff. The law which passed in 2009 allowing bars and restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages for an extra hour on the days before all D.C. and federal holidays is still in place, so you’ll still be able to drink longer in celebration of Emancipation Day or Washington’s Birthday.
Of course, the schedule did remind us that Daylight Savings ends this weekend — it’s the good shift too, where clocks fall back and everyone gets one extra hour of sleep. But Daylight Savings has an effect on alcohol service too: the weekend last call of 3 a.m. remains constant, so technically, bars and restaurant can get in one extra hour of service on early Sunday morning if they so choose.
Obviously, there are exceptions: many bars operate under voluntary agreements which trump ABRA’s allowances, while others could just decide to pack it in early. So before you plan on spending the extra hour at your watering hole of choice, call ahead and find out if they are actually going to stay open late.
