Lakeland city commissioners have voted to expand the hours that businesses can serve alcohol on Sundays.
They have also dropped the ban on Sunday package liquor sales. They made the move to allow businesses that sell alcohol to make more money.
Bars and restaurants had to wait until noon on Sunday before they could serve drinks and they had to stop at midnight. Now they can start at 7 a.m. and continue until 2 a.m. Monday morning, the same hours as the other days the week.
"We'll be serving bottomless mimosas,” said Fresco’s bartender Seff Macias. He expects a lot of extra Sunday morning business at the restaurant.
"It'll be good for everyone else who enjoys brunch."
Not everyone is jumping on the changed rules. Henry Tucker doesn’t plan to open his Tucker’s Southside Package and Lounge store on Sunday.
"I'm going to continue to stay closed on Sundays to give my people time off so they can go to church and be with their family," Tucker said.
He said he will leave it up to bartenders at his lounge whether to open earlier and close later.
"There's no sense in staying open until 2 o'clock in the morning if there is nobody here,” he said.
Only a few residents offered mild opposition to relaxing the rules during Monday’s commission meeting.
A representative for Florida Southern College expressed concern that some students might be drinking at bars into early Monday morning instead of midnight Sunday.