Several Fast Food Chains Try Selling Alcohol

Burger King, Sonic and Starbucks are among the fast food chains experimenting with selling alcohol, according to USA Today.

Two Sonic restaurants in South Florida will soon be selling beer and wine along with burgers, the newspaper reports. Burger King “Whopper Bars” that sell beer have opened in Miami, Kansas City and Los Angeles. Several Seattle Starbucks are now selling local wine and beer. These chains are adding alcohol to the menu in an attempt to boost sales during evening hours, the article notes.

Not everyone is enamored of the idea of serving alcohol alongside fast food. Michele Simon, Research and Policy Director at the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watch group, told the newspaper, “Fast food plus fast alcohol equals fast drunks.” Christopher Muller, Dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration, said adding alcohol to the menu could increase the risk of more people drinking and driving.

Sonic says it will not sell wine and beer to drive-through customers, according to the article.