CARMEL, Ind. (WOWO) — Business is booming in Carmel after the city officially launched its Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA. Carmel is the latest to join the more than 30 Indiana communities with areas like it.

A typical weekend in Carmel usually includes at least one walk on the Monon. Now, that walk could include a little booze by your side.

On Saturday afternoon, Jessica Ciccarello and Steven Thompson were taking a stroll…and a sip.

“We can just walk around and enjoy a drink,” Ciccarello said while holding a DORA cup.

Just a few weeks ago, the couple would have to drink their booze before walking out of Wine and Rind’s door in Carmel. But, ever since the DORA launch on Memorial Day Weekend, they’re able to bring their brews along.

“It’s been a big boost, because we can now do glasses of wine,” Wine and Rind’s General Manager Madeline Gordon said. “We have 30 wines by the glass. We have a bunch of new summer wines, we also just won our second Wine Spectator award. So, for people to be able to come in and get a really nice glass of wine to go, I think is going to be huge.”

Wine and Rind is just one of the 13 establishments that have been approved to participate and are already seeing a boom in business.

All DORA drinks have to be served in recyclable aluminum cups and must stay within the city’s designated DORA. The area stretches from just north of Main Street to Carmel Drive and from west of the Monon Greenway to east of Range Line Road.

Each establishment will place a color-coded sticker on their door. Green indicates all DORA drinks are welcome, blue means DORA drinks are sold there, and red means DORA drinks are not welcome.

Longtime Carmel staple Muldoon’s say this helps them cash in on nearby events, too.

“We are right here on Main Street,” Muldoon’s Manager Christie Blanton said. “So. we are hosting most of the festivals downtown that we have … we have all the art shows and automobile shows all those are right down here on Main, so we wanted people to be able to come in and grab a cocktail or beer and be able to go out legally with it.”

Both business leaders say they believe the increased foot traffic will also be beneficial to surrounding storefronts.