SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Some Utah restaurants are counting down the days until a new liquor law takes effect this summer, allowing eateries to stop using walls and partitions that prevent customers from seeing their alcoholic drink being mixed and poured.
The requirement that drinks be prepared behind a barrier, often glass walls or back rooms, has long been a sore spot for the hospitality industry in the Mormon-majority state.
Proponents say the barriers, nicknamed Zion Curtains, discourage underage drinking by hiding the “glamour” of bartending from children, but critics say they make for strange setups in restaurants.
A law approved this week allows restaurants starting July 1 to take down the barriers if they instead keep those under 21 from sitting close to bars.