Downtown Evansville’s newly created Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area aptly debuts on a holiday — the Fourth of July — and allows adults over age 21 to purchase alcoholic beverages from most Downtown establishments and then carry and consume them outside.
Similar rules exist in more than 30 locations in Indiana, as well as throughout Kentucky and Ohio. In other communities, DORAs have boosted businesses, according to Adam Trinkel, executive director of the Downtown Evansville Economic Improvement District.
“It’s been on our radar to explore,” Trinkel says. “We had a lot of business feedback that it would be great and beneficial.”
Twenty-two businesses (see list at bottom of the story) applied to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission to be part of DORA, which the City Council unanimously approved March 10. At those establishments, an alcoholic beverage may be bought and carried out, with a couple of rules.
- The beverage must be in a plastic Evansville DORA-branded cup, the cost of which will be built into the price of the beverage purchase at each business.
- Drinks must be consumed within the DORA district, which includes Main and cross streets, as well as Bally’s Evansville and the riverfront. The district extends northwest to include businesses such as 2nd Language and Warehouse 410. Signs will be posted at boundary points.
Cups are meant for single use, Trinkel says. Amcor (formerly Berry Global) contributed 100,000 cups to help businesses kick off the DORA district on July 4.
Trinkel says his EID counterparts in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Dayton, Ohio, report positive results with DORAs, and even smaller cities such as Huntingburg and Jasper, Indiana, also are having success.
Downtown visitors and residents will appreciate the change, Trinkel says, because “it’s something that’s not been possible before for most Downtown restaurants and bars due to their liquor licenses.”
These 22 businesses are participating in Evansville’s DORA:
- 2nd Language, 401 N.W. Second St.
- Angelo’s, 305 Main St.
- Arcademie, 22 N.W. Sixth St.
- Bally’s Evansville Casino & Hotel, 421 N.W. Riverside Drive
- BRU Burger Bar, 222 Sycamore St.
- COMFORT by the Cross-Eyed Cricket, 228 Main St.
- DoubleTree by Hilton of Evansville, 601 Walnut St.
- Entwined Wine & Cocktail Bar, 303 Main St.
- Hadi Temple, 6 Walnut St.
- Hush on Main, 323 Main St. (basement level)
- Industry Bar, 101 S.E. First St.
- Just Rennie’s Catering, 100 S.E. Fourth St.
- Main Street Food & Beverage, 900 Main St.
- Pangea Pizzeria, 401 N.W. Second St.
- Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub, 203 Main St.
- Peephole Bar & Grill, 201 Main St.
- River Kitty Cat Cafe, 226 Main St.
- Robert’s by the River, 6 Walnut St.
- Samuel’s, 113 S.E. Fourth St.
- Someplace Else Nightclub, 930 Main St.
- Tiki on Main, 524 Main St.
- Warehouse 410, 410 Carpenter St.
