Late-night cutoff for alcohol sales in Raleigh affects grocery, convenience stores as well as restaurants

The order comes after Baldwin announced her intention to institute such an order last Friday.

The new requirement is an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. People have been congregating in large crowds at restaurants that serve alcohol late into the night, causing concern due to the lack of social distancing taking place.

Glenwood South restaurants like Southern Charred and Hibernian Pub voluntarily cut off alcohol sales early last Friday night.

The order not only prevents restaurants from selling alcohol after 11, but also bans sales at convenience and grocery stores.

This makes it more restrictive than the county-wide order put into effect in Orange County recently.

At the Rockford restaurant on Glenwood South, the crowd got out of hand this past weekend after a social media staffer shared a video urging more people to join the group already at the restaurant.

Now, self-described "germaphobe" Tony Coulter is asking for forgiveness from the public.

"We have UV wands that we use that are really remarkable that we use in addition to the sanitation all of our staff has been serve safe certified," he said Monday.

Coulter said the situation was resolved within an hour and that they've implemented safety measures to ensure it doesn't happen again.

"It's important that the public know who we are," he said. "That we are committed to the safety of our community."