SALT LAKE CITY -- Forget about taking a side shot of tequila while having margaritas with a plate of nachos.

Utah lawmakers are working to prohibit customers from having a shot of the same liquor that's already in their drink. Margarita and a shot of vodka? That would still be OK under a bill approved Tuesday in the Senate.

The change is part of the first major overhaul of Utah's quirky liquor laws in years.

As part of the proposal, the amount of liquor in a cocktail would increase to 1.5 ounces from 1 ounce, matching the standard elsewhere. An additional 1 ounce of flavoring containing liquor would also be allowed, down from 1.75 ounces.

"It is a major change. It's bringing Utah into the 21st century, so to speak," said the bill's sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo.

Customers would no longer be allowed to order what's known in Utah as a sidecar -- an additional 1-ounce shot that customers can pour into a drink. Doubles would continue to be illegal, bringing the maximum amount of alcohol available in any one cocktail to 2.5 ounces.

Increasing the size of the standard shot by 50 percent is being billed by Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman as a way to normalize the state's liquor laws so tourists will stop finding the state so odd.

But lawmakers' desire to eliminate sidecars and prohibit serving shots of the same liquor that's in the primary drink is just as likely to leave tourists and locals alike scratching their heads.

Frequently, a group of customers will order a shot of a liquor that everyone will drink at the same time.

If Senate Bill 211 becomes law, bartenders and waiters will have to keep track of what liquor is already in each customer's drink before they can serve up the shot.

Bramble said selling a shot of the same liquor that's already in a drink is tantamount to serving a sidecar.

The difference between a sidecar and a shot is that shots aren't poured into a mixed drink. They're consumed in one gulp.

The prohibition on serving shots to someone who already has a drink with the same liquor in it isn't the only part of the proposal likely to raise eyebrows among tourists.

Under Bramble's proposal, Utah would become the only state in the country to banish wine coolers and other flavored malt beverages from supermarkets and convenience stores. Instead, they could only be sold in state liquor stores.

Huntsman told The Salt Lake Tribune that the proposal was "wrong-headed and bad for the state from an image standpoint," but he agreed to it in an effort to serve stronger cocktails.

The Utah Retail Merchants Association also opposes that provision, along with beer manufacturers.

Bramble contends the fruity drinks are marketed to underage girls, although the Federal Trade Commission has found no evidence.

In a hearing about the proposal, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, said Utah was going overboard in its efforts to hide flavored malt beverages.

He said if marketing is the issue, the state should address that. He said eliminating them from supermarkets is choosing "the nuclear option."

Customers would still have to be 21 to buy drinks like Mike's Hard Lemonade and Zima in liquor stores.

Like other products sold in state stores, flavored malt beverages would be marked up 86 percent. It's unclear if state stores would buy refrigeration units to chill the drinks. Beer is sold warm.

Under Bramble's bill, grocery stores only would be left with beer that contains no more alcohol than 3.2 percent by weight or 4 percent by volume.

SB 211 passed in the Senate, 23-6, and will now be heard in the House.