‘Florida isn’t a real place’: Tampa Bay woman pulls up to drive-thru and orders something that shouldn’t be legal

A woman from Tampa Bay posted a video on TikTok that got a lot of people talking. Maddy (@maddy.1414) showed something about Florida that surprised many viewers. Her video has now been watched more than 689,000 times.

In the video, Maddy drives up to a window and orders an espresso martini to go. That’s right, she ordered a cocktail from a drive-thru just like you would order a burger or coffee. Then she took it with her in the car.

According to Bro Bible, while waiting for her drink, Maddy talks to the camera. “OK, if you know me, you know that I always say Florida isn’t a real state because you can do things here that you shouldn’t be able to legally do,” she says.

This seems too good to be true

She tells viewers about The Blend Coffee & Cocktails, where she placed her order. The place serves coffee, but you can also buy mixed drinks and take them with you. After the worker checks her ID and she pays, Maddy drives away with her drink. “This is why I love that Florida is a fake state. Because you shouldn’t be able to do this, and I really actually just did this,” she says.

It sounds crazy, but buying alcoholic drinks from drive-thrus has been legal in Florida since July 2021. A law called Florida Senate Bill No. 148 made it okay for restaurants to sell alcohol to go. But there are some rules they have to follow.

The restaurant has to seal the drink in a tight container. You need to get a receipt with the date on it. And the container has to be clear so anyone can see if someone messed with it.

This whole thing started during the pandemic. Governor Ron DeSantis made a special rule to help restaurants that were losing money. Later in 2020, two senators named Jeff Brandes and Jennifer Bradley wanted to make the rule permanent. Their bills passed and became law on July 1, 2021.

Senator Bradley talked about why she supported it. “Now is no time for outdated restrictions. We need to allow our small businesses to use every tool in their toolbox. It’s been a long year, Floridians deserve a cosmo-to-go,” she said.

There are also rules for alcohol that doesn’t come in a sealed container. If you buy a bottle of wine from a restaurant, you can’t just put it in the front seat. It needs to go somewhere you can’t reach it easily, like in the trunk or a locked glove box. And you have to buy food with it too.

People had a lot to say about Maddy’s video. Lauren wrote, “Cocktails in a drive thru is crazy.” Lady Venom CA asked a good question: “Isn’t this drinking and driving?” Someone else said Wisconsin lets people do this too. And dakota wrote, “I’m too Canadian for this.” Just like a woman who found out something bad about her NYC hotel right before her trip, Maddy’s video caught people by surprise.

But Florida is not the only state that allows this. 30 states now let people buy alcohol from drive-thrus in some way. Even though weird things found in food and drinks usually get attention online, not many people knew about these laws until now.