OXFORD, MS-- If you're planning on taking your sweetheart out for Valentine's dinner this weekend in Oxford, be prepared for a dry evening.
The Mississippi city forbids alcohol sales on Sundays, and its request for a one-day exception has been denied by the state.
For restaurants on the Oxford Square, Valentine's Day is one of the busiest days of the year. This holiday some restaurant owners worry people may just stay home or go out of town.
“Some people will choose to just go up to Memphis” says John Allgood, manager of the Old Venice Pizza Company.
Allgood says not being able to sell liquor to lovebirds will hurt his bottom line.
“We get a lot of people here on Sundays who don't know that we can't sell them alcohol and they get kind of unhappy and upset” says Allgood.
In years past, Oxford has put in one-day sales requests on holidays and big sporting events.
This year, the city was denied permission by the Mississippi Tax Commission, for the first time ever.
“They think you either ought to have Sunday alcohol sales or not, but they don't want to make any more single exceptions” says Mayor Pat Patterson.
The Sunday ban on liquor sales has been in place in oxford for decades.
Mayor Patterson says it's an issue that really fires people up.
“There are some people that are adamantly opposed to Sunday sales and there are some people that are adamantly for it “ says Patterson. “I fall somewhere in the middle, maybe leaning against it.”
Patterson says he doesn't want to see the Square turn into Beale Street or Bourbon Street. A downtown task force of twelve is currently looking at ways to keep the downtown area safe, yet still fun.
