Savannah To Go Cup

The Heroic Genius of To-Go Cups

“Now just to make absolutely sure: you’re saying that you’ll put my beer in a cup, and then I can walk around outside, in front of cops, and there will be no problems?” The bartender was growing exasperated with me. “Yes, dude. For the hundredth time, yes. You’re golden.”

To-Go Cups In Savannah stock photo

I just couldn’t believe it. It was our first weekend in Savannah, and people were walking around on the streets and sidewalks, sipping beers. Outside! I mean, I’d seen Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and “To-Go” cups had been mentioned in city guides, but somehow the glorious reality of it hadn’t really clicked in my brain. The idea of legally walking around downtown in broad daylight with an open container was simply too good to be true. Savannah is one of just a handful of cities in the USA with this law (or rather, lack of a law).

Open Container To-Go Cup Savannah man drinking a beer in public

There are just two simple rules: 1) the cup must be plastic, and 2) you must be in the historic district, anywhere north of Jones Street. The To-Go cup is a Savannah institution, and one we would make persistent use of.

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7 responses to “The Heroic Genius of To-Go Cups”

  1. Allison Mol Avatar
    Allison Mol

    I love that “I am such a rebel!” look on your face. Classic. You haven’t seen anything until you have seen the madness of St Pats!!

  2. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    May I suggest the use of the word “traveler”? Or, “travelah” in Savannahese? Now, you are an old school local.

  3. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    Talk about random for me- I’m born and raised in New Orleans where go-cups are a way of life. Then I went to college in Savannah where they’re legal. I moved after college and flat out had no idea the only 2 places you could do this I had lived in my whole life and was shocked when I got yelled at for walking out a bar with my drink!

    Now, lets talk about drive up daiquiri places. The ultimate go-cup and legal so long as you don’t take the lid off or put a straw in it while driving! Also, cans and bottles are legal so long as they’re in a coozie (i.e. covered up mostly) but most people are lax with that rule to a point.

  4. Terri Avatar
    Terri

    The guy standing behind you with the beard and curly hair was our guide for The Haunted Pub Crawl his name is Sam and we had a blast with him! You should try it. He’ll take you to some very cool bars and yes you can take your drinks to go!

  5. Juergen Avatar
    Juergen

    If a rich leprechaun sponsors us a trip back we gladly come, hehe

  6. Suzanne Avatar
    Suzanne

    Haha, Allison is right! You definitely have to come back for St. Patricks Day — on a good year, Savannah gets 500,000+ visitors for the parade. Lots of fun.

  7. Angelo Avatar
    Angelo

    The fact that you can’t openly carry alcohol is not only completely stupid but absolutely pointless. Just another useless American infringement on freedom that benefits no one. Seriously, you can have it and you can drink it as long as you hide what it is? How about you can only smoke cigarettes in public if you wrap a toilet paper tube around it.

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