The winter holiday season – which is crowded with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve and all the merry get-togethers, gifts, and celebrations associated – may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean that festive holiday alcohol consumption and gifting has to. Optimism comes with the start of spring, and consumers will look for reasons to celebrate the end of winter and look forward to spring and the new possibilities it promises.

Remember during the pandemic when pairing takeout with some cocktails-to-go was about as exciting of a night out as you were going to get? And remember when the combo became so popular and so beneficial for struggling restaurants that Massachusetts extended alcohol-to-go for another year? Well, time is running out for restaurants to offer alcohol-to-go, as the extension will end on April 1, 2023. The extension, which was seen as a way to assist burdened restaurants that had suffered through a few tough years during the pandemic, received mixed reviews overall, but many states have made the drinks-to-go allowance permanent, and here in Massachusetts, there is a division in the support of this bill.

Drizly, an Uber company, and Gopuff have joined forces to offer immediate, on-demand delivery of drinks to adults of legal drinking age. This partnership brings the full Gopuff assortment of beer, wine, and spirits to Drizly’s beverage alcohol e-commerce platform while also expanding the number of BevMo! and Liquor Barn stores on the platform. The collaboration expands Drizly’s network of partners, offering convenient delivery options, while also expanding Gopuff’s reach by tapping into Drizly’s customer base. The new partnership builds on the addition of Gopuff to the Uber Eats app in 2021 and will provide a more seamless shopping experience for customers.

A recent Boston.com article entitled “’Another learning year’: What the dining scene will look like in 2023” discusses the questions surrounding the fate of the Boston restaurant scene as 2023 commences. The restaurants that did survive the pandemic brought their creativity and adaptability to the table, so-to-speak, and as they embrace what modifications are worth keeping and following the changing landscape of what customers want, they are also considering the threats of an economic recession and what that means for their business. With these constantly shifting factors in mind, Boston.com surveyed industry professionals and readers on what they think – and what they hope – 2023 will bring for the restaurant scene.