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Photograph: Martha Williams

Happy hour could soon be legal in Chicago

Written by
Clayton Guse
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The Illinois House passed a bill this week that would allow for restaurants and bars to hold happy hours, a practice that was banned in 1989. The Culinary and Hospitality Modernization Act would allow establishments to offer discounted alcohol up to four hours each day and 15 hours a week. It would ban the discounts after 10pm.

The bill would also allow restaurants to offer food and alcohol pairings as well as house-infused spirits, which are both strangely banned by the state. On top of that, it would establish a program called Beverage Alcohol Sellers and Servers Education and Training, which would teach servers to identify signs of intoxication and help curb underage sales. 

The next step for the bill is the Illinois Senate, where it will likely pass. Given Governor Bruce Rauner's pro-business agenda, there seems little standing in the way of happy hours in Chicago.

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