When service ends, how the City liquor license works, what the bill and the team cost, and the nights that fill the city, for anyone running a club, lounge or bar here.
The City sets the hours and issues the local liquor license through its License Review Board and the Mayor, and the Georgia Department of Revenue issues the state license. Liquor licenses come from the Georgia Department of Revenue.
The hours are the City’s own, in Sec. 10-209, and the code says they apply except as Georgia law provides. The state statute wasn’t read, and 20 City ordinances weren’t yet in the code when this was checked, so confirm with the City. The special entertainment district is the Underground Atlanta area only. Outside it, no license or permit extends service past 2:30 a.m. Sunday and Monday holiday rules reach only stadiums and restaurants, and a normal December 31 keeps the 2:30 a.m. close.
The City code requires no alcohol awareness training and no server permit for bartenders and servers. Your license application must include your plans for training employees. Staff must be 18 or older to sell, serve or pour.
MoreA Georgia server training rule wasn’t found, but the state statutes weren’t read, so ask the Department of Revenue before you hire.
Source: City code, trainingNo one under 21 may enter, stay in or loiter in a room licensed to sell drinks. Restaurants, stadiums and similar event venues, and hotels outside the bar area are among the exceptions. Accepted ID is any government document with a name, date of birth and photo.
MorePost the City’s sign at the entrance, which says guests may be asked to show no more than one picture ID. You must make a good faith effort to check age, and selling to anyone under 21 is grounds to lose the license.
Source: City code, age and IDDrinks on the premises need a City license: $5,000 to start, a $300 filing fee, and another $5,000 for each extra lounge, nightclub, patio or other area in the same building. It runs by calendar year and can’t be transferred.
MoreA nightclub means a room with room for at least 100 people under the Fire Code, with booths and tables in view, where entertainment is the main business.
Source: City code, feesA venue licensed for spirits by the drink can’t sell distilled spirits by the bottle or package. It can sell wine, champagne and beer by the bottle to drink on the premises.
MoreTables are built from drinks and from wine, champagne and beer by the bottle. Sell a table as a reservation or a package, not a spirits bottle.
Source: City code, bottlesYou can’t let the price of a drink be credited against any minimum, admission or cover charge you set.
MoreA table minimum or a cover can’t be spent down on drinks. Price the table or the entry as its own charge.
Source: City code, coversThe City adds a 3% tax on the full price of spirits sold by the drink. Add it to the price where you can, list spirits separately on the bill, and send it in by the 20th of the next month.
MoreIt applies to spirits only, not beer or wine. It sits on top of sales tax.
Source: City code, spirits taxNo discount deeper than 50% of the menu price you advertise, and no all you can drink for a set price. Ring a discounted drink at full price and record the discount. Private functions closed to the public are not covered.
MorePlan happy hours and specials inside those limits.
Source: City code, promotionsNo bar license within 300 feet of a private residence (150 feet inside a large shopping center), a public library branch, a hospital or a tattoo studio, within 500 feet of a church or public park, or within 600 feet of a school or college campus. Many exemptions apply.
MoreCheck the address before you sign a lease. A nightclub outside the special entertainment district must also show parking within 400 feet.
Source: City code, locationSales to drink on the premises run until 2:30 a.m. the next morning, Monday to Saturday nights. Within 30 minutes after that, the room is closed to the public and cleared of patrons, and it stays closed until 6 a.m.
MorePlan last call well before 2:30, since guests must be out by 3:00. There is no general extension for New Year’s Eve.
Source: City code, hoursA bar or club that isn’t a restaurant can sell in the early hours of Sunday, until 2:30 a.m., and can’t sell on Sunday daytime or evening. Restaurants, and places earning at least half their sales from prepared food, can sell on Sunday.
MoreOnly stadiums, coliseums and auditoriums seating more than 3,500, restaurants and food-led places have Sunday trade.
Source: City code, hoursIn the district, wine, malt and spirits sell until 4 a.m. Monday to Friday nights and until 2:55 a.m. on Saturday night. The code defines it as a publicly financed festival marketplace of at least 200,000 square feet in the central business district, and names the Underground Atlanta area.
MoreIt is the only later hours regime in the code.
Source: City code, hoursThe City uses a plainly audible test, not a decibel meter. Sound that can be heard 300 feet away, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and to midnight Friday and Saturday, or 100 feet away at night, is unlawful. For businesses the limits are 500 feet and 300 feet in mixed use districts. Outdoor amplified music or live entertainment stops at midnight, and isn’t allowed at all within 500 feet of single-family zoning.
MoreEach day is a separate offense. You can apply for a temporary variance.
Source: City code, noiseDining on the public right of way needs a permit from the Department of Transportation, a City business license, insurance and a scaled site plan with at least 5 feet clear for walkers. The area can’t exceed the width of your front or 50% of your total seating.
MoreGuests must be seated at a table to drink there. The fee and the season weren’t confirmed.
Source: City code, diningA bar needs two licenses: the City’s, which goes through the Atlanta Police Department’s License and Permits Unit, the License Review Board and the Mayor, and one from the Georgia Department of Revenue. The City license is cancelled automatically if the state revokes its own. In Atlanta the steps run in this order.
File the written application with the $300 filing fee and the license fee. It names the owners, the hours, the entertainment, your security plans, your plans for training employees, and parking for a nightclub.
Source: City code, licenseSource: City code, feesPut a sign on the property within 7 days of applying, at least 6 square feet, one on each street it faces. Update it with the Board’s date, time and place no later than 15 days before the meeting.
Source: City code, licenseNo new license if an owner, partner or main stockholder, or their spouse, was convicted of a felony or a non-traffic misdemeanor, or pleaded no contest, within the past 10 years. The Board can waive misdemeanors after investigating.
Source: City code, licenseYou get the right to appear before the NPU within 60 days. It votes to support or not support the application. If it doesn’t hold the hearing in that time, its form reads no recommendation.
Source: City code, licenseSource: NPU-F AtlantaThe Board doesn’t act until 20 days after filing. It investigates, holds a public hearing and sends its recommendation to the Mayor.
Source: City code, licenseThe Mayor decides within 60 days of receiving the recommendation, plus letters from Fire Rescue, the county board of health and Buildings. If there is no decision in 60 days, the Board’s recommendation becomes final. If the letters don’t arrive within 6 months, the application expires with no refund.
Source: City code, licenseOnce approved, the City issues the license within 30 days.
Source: City code, licenseApply to the Department of Revenue’s Alcohol and Tobacco Division through its Centralized Alcohol Licensing Portal.
Source: DOR alcoholSource: DOR feesOpen within 9 months or the license is forfeited. It is also forfeited after 9 months in a row without operating.
Source: City code, licenseIssued by the Georgia Department of Revenue
General information, not legal advice. Laws and license conditions change and vary by venue. Confirm with the Atlanta Police Department’s License and Permits Unit or the Georgia Department of Revenue before acting on it.
How a table’s bill adds up once tax and a service charge are on it, and what guests pay at the door.
| Minimum spend | $1,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Service charge 20%, added by the venue | $200.00 |
| Sales tax 8.9% of both lines | $106.80 |
| Guest pays | $1,306.80 |
| Tip the guest chooses to add | No tax |
Food and drink inside the City of Atlanta carry 8.9% sales tax, which includes the state’s 4%. The Department of Revenue’s rate chart lists Fulton (Atlanta) at 8.9 and two special districts, Central Yards and South Downtown, at 3.9.
Source: Georgia Department of RevenueThe City adds 3% on the price of spirits sold by the drink, listed on its own line. It applies to spirits only, so the example leaves it out; it depends on what the table drinks.
Source: City code, spirits taxThe example taxes the service charge. A 2014 firm alert, a secondary source, summarizes a Georgia Department of Revenue regulation as taxing mandatory gratuities. The regulation itself wasn’t read, and whether a service charge counts as a tip owed to staff isn’t confirmed, so ask the Department of Revenue before you print a bill.
Source: Smith HowardA spirits bottle can’t be sold, so a table is a reservation or a package of drinks and wine, champagne or beer by the bottle. No drink can be credited against the minimum or a cover.
Source: City code, bottlesWhether Georgia sales tax applies to a cover charge isn’t confirmed here.
Source: Georgia Department of RevenueRough estimates for tickets and bottle-service tables, from public listings and venues’ own pages.
$10 to $30
Typically about $20
Atlanta venues publish door prices from free to about $25, and one club’s cover starts at $20. The range is rounded and widened toward the club night prices published in comparable US cities: Chicago $10 to $20, Brooklyn $15 to $25 and Miami $20 to $60.
$500 to $1,000
A typical table, about $600
No Atlanta club publishes a table minimum on its own site, so this is generalized from the table packages and minimums published in comparable US cities: Chicago $400 to $600, Brooklyn $450 to $950 and Las Vegas $750 to $1,500, before tax and tip. Atlanta tables are sold as reservations or packages, not spirits bottle minimums, because the City bars selling spirits by the bottle.
Figures are estimates from the sources and samples listed. They change often and may be wrong. Check with the venue or the relevant authority before relying on them. Venues and events named here aren’t affiliated with VenueStack and haven’t endorsed this guide.
Hourly wages for the roles a night runs on, and the rules on tips.
| Role | Range, low to high | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Bartenders$7.83 to $23.86 | $11.23 | |
| Servers$7.25 to $22.50 | $8.88 | |
| Hosts$9.62 to $16.84 | $13.73 | |
| Security guards$14.42 to $23.08 | $16.90 | |
| Cooks$13.16 to $21.01 | $17.90 | |
| Bar and floor leads$13.70 to $30.37 | $18.87 | |
| Managers$19.23 to $46.50 | $32.49 |
Minimum wage $7.25 an hourSource: DOL minimum wage
Bar: lowest to highest wage reported. Dot: median. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Georgia’s own $5.15 applies to employers of six or more who aren’t covered by it.
Source: DOL minimum wageGeorgia has no separate tipped wage, so the federal rule applies: a tip credit of $5.12 and a minimum cash wage of $2.13 an hour.
Source: DOL tipped wagesThe pages read show no separate City of Atlanta minimum wage.
Source: DOL minimum wage
The nights that fill a room, or empty it, month by month.
A federal holiday that follows the biggest night of the year.
A federal holiday Monday makes a long weekend.
The dinner and date crowd. When it falls midweek, couples book the weekend before too.
A federal holiday Monday makes a long weekend.
One of the year’s biggest bar nights, whatever the weekday.
No city-wide dates
A long weekend that opens the summer season.
When it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
When it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
No city-wide dates
Held on Labor Day weekend every year since 1987, it brings costumed visitors to downtown and Midtown hotels and bars all weekend and late.
Official siteThe last long weekend of summer.
Held in October around National Coming Out Day on October 11, it is a big weekend for Midtown’s LGBTQ bars and clubs.
Official siteA federal holiday Monday makes a long weekend.
When it falls midweek, the parties run the weekend before.
When it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
A federal holiday that starts a long weekend.
When it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
Played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal, it fills downtown with visiting fans.
Official siteUnderground Atlanta starts at 7 p.m. and drops its 800-pound Peach just before midnight, billed as the largest New Year’s Eve celebration in the Southeast.
Official site
Atlanta’s nightlife districts and the rooms each is known for.
Upscale shops and hotels, with rooftops around every corner and Michelin-starred restaurants.
A walkable district with lively bars on one corner and award-winning restaurants next door.
Where tourism takes center stage, around Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena and the convention center.
The exuberance of the Beltline and the Old Fourth Ward, with bars along Edgewood Avenue.
The surging street life of the Eastside, with indie shops and music venues.
The gritty energy of the Eastside, with local shops, music spots and bars.
Who lives in the city. These describe Atlanta’s population, not any venue’s guests.
Sell tickets, take table bookings with deposits, run the guest list and check guests in at the door, in one place. Built for clubs, lounges and bars.
Food and drink inside the City of Atlanta carry 8.9% sales tax, which includes the state’s 4%. The City adds 3% on spirits sold by the drink, listed separately on the bill. Two special districts, Central Yards and South Downtown, are listed at 3.9%.
The City license for drinks on the premises is $5,000 to start, plus a $300 non-refundable filing fee and another $5,000 for each extra lounge, nightclub, patio or other area in the same building. The state adds a $100 investigation fee. The state fee for a spirits license isn’t confirmed here.
In Atlanta you apply to the City first: file the application, post a sign within 7 days, appear before the Neighborhood Planning Unit within 60 days, wait for the License Review Board, which acts no sooner than 20 days after filing, then the Mayor decides within 60 days and the license is issued within 30 days. You then apply to the Georgia Department of Revenue and must open within 9 months.
Sales to drink on the premises run until 2:30 a.m., Monday to Saturday nights. The room must be cleared of patrons within 30 minutes after that and stays closed until 6 a.m. The special entertainment district, the Underground Atlanta area, runs to 4 a.m. Monday to Friday nights and 2:55 a.m. on Saturday night.
Not for spirits. A venue licensed for spirits by the drink can’t sell distilled spirits by the bottle or package. It can sell wine, champagne and beer by the bottle to drink on the premises, so tables are sold as reservations or packages.
No. The City bars crediting the price of a drink against any minimum, admission or cover charge a venue sets.
Employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must pay $7.25 an hour. Georgia’s own $5.15 applies to employers of six or more who aren’t covered by it. For tipped staff the federal rule applies: a minimum cash wage of $2.13 an hour with a $5.12 tip credit.
Atlanta uses a plainly audible test, not a decibel meter. Sound heard 300 feet away in the day, or 100 feet away at night, is unlawful. Outdoor amplified music or live entertainment stops at midnight and isn’t allowed within 500 feet of single-family zoning.
The City code requires no alcohol awareness training and no server permit for bartenders and servers, only that your application describes how you train staff. Staff must be 18 or older. A Georgia training rule wasn’t found, so confirm with the Department of Revenue.
A bar or club that isn’t a restaurant can sell in the early hours of Sunday, until 2:30 a.m., but not on Sunday daytime or evening. Restaurants and places earning at least half their sales from prepared food can sell on Sunday.
No one under 21 may enter, stay in or loiter in a room licensed to sell drinks, with exceptions such as restaurants and event venues. Staff must be 18 or older. Accepted ID is a government document with a name, date of birth and photo.
VenueStack publishes this guide for general information. We take care to keep it accurate and list our sources and review dates, but we can’t guarantee it is complete, current or correct, and we aren’t responsible for decisions made on it. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice. Prices, minimums and wages are estimates from the samples described and don’t represent any particular venue. Venues, events and organisations named here aren’t affiliated with VenueStack and haven’t endorsed this guide.
Data gathered in October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
New YorkNew York, United States
Closing time, getting an SLA liquor license, temporary permits, the noise code, sales tax on service charges, door staff, wages and the year’s big nights.
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MiamiFlorida, United States
The state closing default and city hours, quota and restaurant liquor licenses, City of Miami and Miami Beach business licenses, sales and resort tax, door licensing, wages and the year’s big nights.
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ChicagoIllinois, United States
Closing times and the Late Hour license, the City and state liquor licenses, the amusement license and tax, BASSET training, sales tax, the tipped wage and the year’s big nights.
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