The closing of California restaurants and bars during the pandemic allowed certain rules dining to be bent—one being cocktails served to-go. Now that the state will be reopening, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the takeout cocktails will remain.

“The pandemic may be going away… but your to-go cocktails don’t have to!” Newsom wrote in Twitter Thursday afternoon. “CA will now allow to-go cocktails and outdoor dining expansions to stay after we fully reopen on June 15th.”

Newsom will also allow restaurants and bars to continue using sidewalks and parking lots, a measure that was taken after indoor dining was deemed a high risk of spreading COVID-19.

“California’s restaurants help create the vibrant and diverse communities that make California the envy of the world,” Newsom said Thursday. “As the state turns to post-pandemic life, we’ll continue to adapt best practices that have helped businesses transform customer experience for the better. With new opportunities and support for businesses large and small, and the California can-do spirit that has carried us through the past year, we will come roaring back from this pandemic.”

When to economy officially reopens fully on June 15, restaurants and bars will be allowed to operate indoors at full capacity for the first time in over 14 months.

Even with the allowance of indoor operations, the “regulatory relief” provisions will be extended until December 31 to “slow the spread” of the COVID-19 virus while allowing these businesses to recover, according to the California Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

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