How many licenses the city can grant, what the Licensing Board charges, what the bill and the team cost, and the nights that fill the city, for anyone running a club, lounge or bar in Boston.
What the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston ask of a licensed room, from the license itself to the tip pool. Liquor licenses come from the Boston Licensing Board.
State law bars sales between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. and lets the Licensing Board fix each license’s hours inside that, so the 1 a.m. line is illustrative: Board agendas show licensees asking for closing times from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. The Sunday lanes come from section 33 as summarized in the research. Confirm yours with the Board.
State law presumes any wage under $15.00 an hour to be oppressive and unreasonable. No separate Boston minimum wage was found.
MoreThe research did not show the date the $15 rate took effect or any later change, so check the current rate before you set pay.
Source: Minimum wageService staff can be paid a minimum cash wage of $6.75 an hour. If tips fall short of the regular minimum wage over the shift, the employer pays the difference.
MoreTips stay with the staff, and pooling is allowed among regularly tipped employees.
Source: Service rateAn employer may not cause, require or permit a wait staff employee, service employee or service bartender to join a tip pool that sends tips to anyone outside those roles. Tips include any amount a card patron designates.
MoreManagers and owners cannot share in the pool, and card tips are tips.
Source: Tips ActA service charge is a fee charged in lieu of a tip. It is treated as a tip and paid out by the end of the same business day.
MoreA house or administrative fee is allowed if the patron is told in writing that it is not a tip or a service charge.
Source: Tips ActThe Licensing Board may grant 677 licenses for all alcoholic beverages under section 12, up to 250 under section 15, and the number of wine and malt licenses may not exceed 320. Airport licenses do not count.
MoreThese figures are the section as read today and may not yet include the 2024 additions, which sit in the same section.
Source: Massachusetts General LawsA law signed on 11 September 2024 creates 225 new licenses over three years, the first significant increase since 2014. Most are neighborhood licenses that cannot be transferred, and some are for community spaces such as outdoor spaces and theaters under 750 seats.
MoreNeighborhood and community licenses go back to the Board if the business stops needing them. Which year’s allotment is open now was not confirmed.
Source: Boston license FAQMoving an existing license goes to a properly advertised public hearing in the neighborhood where it will be relocated.
MoreLicenses are tied to the premises and holder. No official price for a transferable license was found.
Source: Massachusetts General LawsThe Board grants and regulates alcohol and food licenses for restaurants, nightclubs and similar rooms. Hearings are typically Tuesdays for violations, Wednesdays for transactional matters and Thursdays for voting.
MoreAlcohol applications go through the Board’s own portal, and the Board lists every licensed premises in a public dataset.
Source: City of BostonThe City issues an annual Live Entertainment License for performers, DJs, karaoke, trivia, dancers and theater shows, and an annual Non-Live Entertainment License for piped-in music, jukeboxes, televisions and games such as darts.
MoreA venue with DJs or dancing needs the live license. The office is MOCAL Entertainment Licensing, which also inspects premises. The fee amounts were not confirmed.
Source: City of BostonState law bars sales between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. and lets the local licensing authority fix the hours, generally or for each licensee. Sunday rules turn on the kind of license.
MoreNo license runs past 2 a.m. Ask the Board what your own license allows.
Source: Hours of saleThe Mayor’s Office of Nightlife Economy works on programs and policy for the nightlife economy, and its N.I.T.E. Committee of 28 members from 14 neighborhoods reviews rules that affect it. A social district pilot on Temple Place tests open container policies.
MoreIt is the City’s contact for nightlife. Reach it at nightlife@boston.gov or 617-635-5702.
Source: City of BostonThe Licensing Board grants alcohol licenses for Boston, and the state ABCC approves them separately. The City’s FAQ lists three fees. The order of the steps and the processing time were not confirmed.
Licenses are capped by type. The 2024 law adds neighborhood, community-space and transferable licenses over three years.
Source: Massachusetts General LawsSource: Boston license FAQThe state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission takes an application fee.
Source: Boston license FAQAn advertising fee is paid to the Boston Herald.
Source: Boston license FAQA hearing fee is paid to the Boston Licensing Board. Hearings are typically Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with Thursdays for voting.
Source: Boston license FAQSource: City of BostonA license moving to a new location needs a properly advertised public hearing in that neighborhood.
Source: Massachusetts General LawsIssued by the Boston Licensing Board
General information, not legal advice. Laws and license conditions change and vary by venue. Confirm with the Licensing Board or the ABCC 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 |
| Massachusetts meals tax 6.25% of the spend | $62.50 |
| Guest pays | $1,262.50 |
| Tip the guest chooses to add | No tax |
The state meals tax is 6.25%. Cities can add a local meals tax, but Boston’s local rate was not confirmed from an official source, so this example uses the state rate only.
Source: Massachusetts Department of RevenueState law taxes the gross receipts of the sale, including any amount paid for services that are part of the sale. Whether a mandatory service charge is taxed was not confirmed, so the example taxes the minimum spend only. Check with the Department of Revenue.
Source: Massachusetts Department of RevenueUnder the Tips Act, a service charge is a fee charged in lieu of a tip and goes to the staff by the end of the business day. A house or administrative fee needs a written note that it is not a tip.
Source: Tips ActRough estimates for tickets and bottle-service tables, from public listings and venues’ own pages.
$15 to $40
Typically about $25
No Boston venue publishes a club night price on its own page, so this is generalised from the published ranges in Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Miami. Headliner and holiday nights cost more.
$500 to $1,000
A typical table, about $700
No Boston venue publishes a table minimum on its own page, so this is generalised from the published minimums in Atlanta, Nashville, New York and Dallas. Before tax and a customary 20% gratuity.
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$15.39 to $35.52 | $18.15 | |
| Servers$15.35 to $30.84 | $18.88 | |
| Hosts$15.00 to $20.33 | $16.89 | |
| Security and door$17.20 to $27.14 | $21.63 | |
| Cooks$17.70 to $28.22 | $22.03 | |
| Managers$29.75 to $63.81 | $44.55 |
Minimum wage $15.00 an hourSource: Minimum wage
Bar: lowest to highest wage reported. Dot: median. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
State law sets a $15 minimum wage and a $6.75 cash wage for service staff. If tips fall short of the minimum wage over the shift, the employer pays the difference. No separate Boston rate was found.
Source: Service rateA tip pool may not send tips to anyone outside wait staff, service employees and service bartenders. Pooling among regularly tipped staff is allowed.
Source: Tips ActA service charge is treated as a tip and paid out by the end of the same business day. A house or administrative fee is allowed with a written note that it is not a tip.
Source: Tips Act
The nights that fill a room, or empty it, month by month.
The morning after New Year’s Eve, and a long weekend when it falls near one.
A long weekend.
A long weekend.
A fixed-date bar night on any day of the week.
The marathon is run on Patriots’ Day, a long weekend with a large visitor crowd.
Official siteHome games bring crowds to the Fenway bars.
A long weekend and the start of summer.
The city’s Pride events fall in June, a big weekend for LGBTQ+ rooms.
Official siteA long weekend when it falls near one.
A holiday night and a long weekend when it falls near one.
No city-wide dates
The last long weekend of summer.
Game nights bring crowds to the bars near TD Garden.
A long weekend.
A three-day regatta that fills hotels and bars around the river.
Official siteCostume nights, with the weekend before or after often the busiest.
An observance, with a light night.
The night before Thanksgiving, a heavy bar night for many rooms.
A holiday, with the night before listed on its own.
Dark or slow for most rooms.
The biggest night of the year for most rooms.
Boston’s nightlife districts and the rooms each is known for.
Lively bars and clubs along Lansdowne Street, which draw undergraduates and young people from across the city.
Dance floors and live acts on weekends, lounges that run from dinner into the night, and theaters hosting bands and stand-up.
Numerous cocktail lounges around Copley Square and Newbury Street.
A vibrant LGBTQ+ community, with live jazz, blues and other entertainment every day at one bar.
Ranked by the capacity on each club’s Night Club entertainment licence in the City of Boston’s open data, a licensed figure. Big rooms that run as concert halls, hotels, or restaurants, or that publish no club nights of their own, are left out.
| Rank | Venue | Nights | Music | Published price | Licensed capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RoyaleClubDowntown and Theatre District · 279 Tremont StSource: Boston entertainment licences | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | 1,220 |
| 2 | The GrandClubSeaport · 58 Seaport Blvd, Suite 300Source: Boston entertainment licencesSource: The Grand | Fridays and Saturdays, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. | Not listed | Not listed | 1,014 |
| 3 | BijouClubDowntown and Theatre District · 51 Stuart StSource: Boston entertainment licences | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | 820 |
| 4 | IconClubDowntown and Theatre District · 100 Warrenton StSource: Boston entertainment licencesSource: Icon | Weekends, from 10:30 p.m. | Not listed | Not listed | 481 |
| 5 | Club CaféClubSouth End · 209 Columbus AveSource: Boston entertainment licences | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | 431 |
| 6 | VenuClubDowntown and Theatre District · 100 Warrenton StSource: Boston entertainment licencesSource: Venu | Weekends, from 10:30 p.m. | Not listed | Not listed | 420 |
Venues named here aren’t affiliated with VenueStack and haven’t endorsed this guide. Details come from each venue’s own pages and can change; a venue can ask us to correct or remove its entry.
Who lives in the city and who visits it. These describe Boston and its region, 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.
The Massachusetts meals tax is 6.25%. Cities can add a local meals tax, but Boston’s local rate was not confirmed from an official source, so the example on this page uses the state rate only. Whether a mandatory service charge is taxed was not confirmed either, so check with the Department of Revenue.
State law presumes any wage under $15.00 an hour to be oppressive and unreasonable, and no separate Boston minimum wage was found. The date the $15 rate took effect and any later change were not confirmed, so check the current rate before you set pay.
Service staff can be paid a minimum cash wage of $6.75 an hour. If tips fall short of the regular minimum wage over the shift, the employer pays the difference. In the Boston metro area, BLS data for May 2025 puts the median bartender wage at $18.15 an hour, with tips reported as wages included.
Whether Boston requires TIPS or similar training for managers or servers was not confirmed for this guide. Ask the Licensing Board what it expects of your license.
No later than 2 a.m. State law bars sales between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., and the Licensing Board sets each license’s hours inside that; Board agendas show licensees asking for closing times from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. On Sundays, other on-premises licensees may not sell between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. Confirm your own hours with the Board.
The Licensing Board may grant 677 licenses for all alcoholic beverages under section 12, up to 250 under section 15, and wine and malt licenses may not exceed 320. A law signed in September 2024 adds 225 new licenses over three years, mostly neighborhood licenses that cannot be transferred.
The City’s FAQ lists a $200 application fee to the ABCC, a $100 hearing fee to the Licensing Board and a $170 advertising fee to the Boston Herald. Annual renewal varies by license type and capacity, and the amounts were not confirmed.
Yes, a venue with DJs or dancing needs the annual Live Entertainment License from MOCAL Entertainment Licensing. Piped-in music, jukeboxes and televisions fall under the Non-Live Entertainment License. The fee amounts were not confirmed.
Under the Tips Act, a service charge is a fee charged in lieu of a tip and is treated as a tip, paid out by the end of the same business day. A house or administrative fee is allowed if the patron is told in writing that it is not a tip or a service charge.
No. A tip pool may not send tips to anyone who is not a wait staff employee, service employee or service bartender. Tips include any amount a card patron designates.
The Mayor’s Office of Nightlife Economy, set up in 2023, runs programs and policy work for nightlife, and its N.I.T.E. Committee reviews regulations that affect it. Reach it at nightlife@boston.gov or 617-635-5702.
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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