USA Today recently noticed that Whole Foods has been slowly rolling out bars inside of the their stores in places like California, Illinois, Arizona and Texas, which got us wondering if such a thing could happen in our fair city. Considering the trouble that Whole Paycheck had with its late wine store in Columbus Circle we were skeptical such an idea would fly by New York's State Liquor Authority, but after talking with the SLA for a bit it sounds like such a scheme could happen here—only under just the right circumstances.
Putting a bar or a restaurant inside of a supermarket isn't unheard of (in New York State), it would just need to be clearly delineated as a separate from the rest of the store. And the bar itself wouldn't be able to sell you wine, though it could, in theory, sell you beer. That's because by state law any bar that wants to can sell you beer to go, they just can't sell you wine or liquor.
Further, New York law simply won't allow you to sell wine in a grocery store (which is why Trader Joe's on 14th Street has a totally separate wine store next door). So basically Whole Foods (or another grocer—you listening Catsimatidis?) could open up a bar/restaurant inside of its stores assuming it got Community Board and SLA approval. Customers would just have to go to a separately-entranced wine store if they wanted to buy any booze to take home.
But while a bar in Whole Foods could happen, it isn't likely to happen anytime soon. According to a company spokesperson "Whole Foods Market does not have plans of this nature for NYC at the moment." But with Duane Reade upping its game with growlers, it wouldn't surprise us in the least if they change their mind soon. Maybe for the mythical Whole Foods Gowanus?
