Drink a beer, eat a burrito and get gas…

Sheridan Ricker’s serving cold beer

If you are a fan of eating burritos and drinking beer, and if you live in Sheridan, you won’t have far to drive to enjoy the two.

Ricker’s convenience store located at the intersection of State Roads 47 and 38 has been tagged as one of only two Ricker owned locations in the state to sell cold beer.

Indiana law allows gas stations to sell warm beer but not cold beer. But the Anderson-based chain found a way to serve and sell cold beer to its customers.

The Sheridan Ricker’s location offers a Tex-Mex made-to-order restaurant offering burritos and tacos inside the convenience store. Indiana law does allow restaurants to serve beer cold.  Ricker applied for, and was granted, a liquor license from the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

Some Indiana lawmakers feel the company’s founder, Jay Ricker, took advantage of a loophole in the law.

Speaker for the Indiana House of Representatives, Brian Bosma, was recently quoted saying,  “The public policy of this state is that we don’t sell cold beer and spirits at the same place that you buy gas.”

All Ricker’s employees serving alcoholic beverages maintain a “servers license.”  Employees are not permitted to hand beer over the counter and must step around the counter and hand it to the customer.  Customers are allowed to drink the beer inside the restaurant area of the convenience store or carry it out.

Ricker has 56 locations throughout Indiana.  The other location permitted to serve cold beer is located in Columbus, Indiana.