Wristbands and To-Go Cups: How Santa Monica’s New Booze Zone Actually Works

Come for the beach, stay for the booze. That’s what business owners in Santa Monica are banking on. Earlier this month, council members from the upscale coastal community in Los Angeles County voted unanimously to approve an open container ordinance. It specifically applies to a three-block stretch of the city’s pedestrian-only 3rd Street Promenade, which will be designated as an “Entertainment Zone.”  

Individuals over the age of 21 who are eager to drink al fresco in Los Angeles can have their IDs checked at participating bars and restaurants within the zone. They’ll then receive an official wristband that permits them to move freely on the streets with drinks in approved plastic to-go cups. This pilot program will begin in June during weekend evenings, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. However, the legislation allows for an extension that could operate from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week. 

Public consumption isn’t new in cities like Las Vegas, New Orleans, and a handful of other cities across the country that have long embraced the practice. However, it marks a new development in the Golden State, primarily due to California Senate Bill 969. Its passage in 2024 led to the establishment of these so-called Entertainment Zones, the first of which was set up on Front Street in San Francisco late last year. 

Local businesses believe that their implementation will revitalize business districts that faded in the wake of COVID-19. The 3rd Street Promenade is a prime example. Once a vibrant commercial corridor, it now has a vacancy rate of 25%. Yet, even if the intentions are noble, both locals and industry professionals are concerned about how the implementation might unfold. 

“It’s certainly exciting that this will attract more outsiders from the neighborhood to visit Santa Monica and Third Street Promenade, but as a bar owner and manager, I have concerns for what this could affect,” says Brynn Smith of Bar Next Door in West Hollywood. “Running a bar or any hospitality space that serves alcohol requires a lot of regulation and strong security to curtail differing personalities, and it’s not clear who is responsible for enforcing these elements — whether the small business owners or the city itself.”

Venice resident, spirits journalist, and author Dan Dunn is quick to point out the rising crime rates and instances of homelessness in the area. He maintains that adding more alcohol into the mix is a recipe for disaster. “Kudos to the City of Santa Monica for finally realizing that what the 3rd Street Promenade really needed was more cognitively impaired people staggering around,” he says sarcastically. “Nothing says ‘urban renewal’ like daiquiris in Solo cups and a dude screaming at a busker covering Coldplay. Why fix public safety when you can just allow everyone to get hammered and let natural selection sort it out?”

Not everyone is so pessimistic, of course. There is a well-established path to success when it comes to responsibly managed open container communities. Indeed, some of the most notable entertainment zones in the country are those that happen to permit drinking in public. 

“I think it will breathe new life into an area that is in desperate need of revival,” says Milo Roban, a lifelong Angeleno who has been frequenting the Promenade since childhood. “We’ve seen other cities allow people to carry alcoholic beverages out in the open and they haven’t descended into anarchy. You can still maintain order while allowing adults to enjoy themselves.”

City officials will have the final say on that. They plan to review the program after a six-month trial period at the end of the year.