Sayreville, in Middlesex County, recently tried to regulate the type of restaurants that can allow “BYOB” (bring your own booze), a practice common in most municipalities. The apparent purpose of the regulation was to discourage those establishments that featured “adult” entertainment. Some guys weren’t too thrilled at the prospect of not being allowed to bring their own suds when they, uh, … went out. The borough was sued by an establishment that was affected by the new ordinance. The appeals court that heard the case ruled that towns and municipalities can say whether or not BYOB is allowed within their borders, but they cannot regulate it beyond that.
For towns, this means a simple yes or no to BYOB. For restaurants of all types that lack liquor licenses, this should be good for business. And for patrons of the “gentlemen’s” clubs of Sayreville, this means that bringing a six-pack or bottle of wine with them to see Gypsy Lee is probably safe for now. That is unless Sayreville is willing to go the extra mile and ban BYOB across the board.
