When liquor sales stop, how a Utah bar license is issued, what the pour and two-drink rules mean for a table, what the bill and the team cost, and the nights that fill the city, for anyone running a club, lounge or bar in Salt Lake City.
Downtown Salt Lake City has the beer bars, the speakeasies and the clubs, Sky SLC and Gem among them on Pierpont Avenue. The Granary District mixes breweries with a cluster of bars and restaurants, a gay karaoke bar among them, and Sugar House, offbeat and progressive, has its own bars and a fire-pit patio lounge. The nights run from Why Kiki’s silent disco to Latin DJs at Club Karamba, and the county’s visitor economy is worth billions a year. All of it works to the same few limits, every night of the week. Liquor sales stop at 1 a.m. The main spirit in a drink is capped at 1.5 ounces. And no guest may have more than two drinks in front of them at once.
Those limits come from the State, not the City. Utah writes most of a bar’s rules, down to the size of a pour, and Salt Lake City adds its own license and noise rules. Liquor licenses come from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services.
Utah sets bar hours statewide. A bar can’t sell or furnish liquor from 1 a.m. until 9:59 a.m. on any day, and the bar rules have no New Year’s Eve exception and no later-hours permit. After sales stop, the bar stays open for an hour so each guest can finish one drink, unless everyone has left or there is an emergency. Beer follows separate hours, so check them with DABS. No Salt Lake City hours rule was found.
Anyone working as licensee staff must complete an alcohol training and education seminar before the first day of work, in person or online, and pays the provider. The record is valid for three years.
MoreA licensee can’t let anyone without it serve, supervise service or manage. A violation can cost both the state license and the City business license.
Source: Utah trainingEach retail manager, meaning anyone who manages operations or supervises service, completes DABS’ manager training within 30 days of being hired, or by the day the license is issued if that is later.
MoreA second violation within 36 months for serving a minor or an intoxicated person sends all staff and managers to DABS’ violator training.
Source: Utah general rulesDOPL licenses unarmed private security officers. An applicant needs an approved 8-hour basic training course and fingerprint cards.
MoreDOPL’s page doesn’t say whether a bar’s own door staff need the license, and DABS has no page on door staff, so ask DOPL before you hire.
Source: DOPLNo one under 21 may be admitted to a bar, and a bar can’t employ a minor on the premises. A sign at least 8.5 by 11 inches at the entrance must say the premises is a bar and that no one under 21 is allowed.
MoreThe City or county may be stricter than the State about admitting minors.
Source: Utah bar rulesIn Utah, a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .05 or more is driving under the influence.
MoreThe limit is .05, not .08, so it is worth reminding guests and staff before they drive.
Source: Utah DUIThe Commission can’t issue more bar licenses than 15 plus the state’s population divided by a set number. That number falls every fiscal year, from 8,934 in fiscal year 2027 to 7,246 from fiscal year 2031.
MoreThe quota is statewide, not per city. A new owner of a business whose main activity isn’t alcohol can get a license for premises that already had one, even when none is free.
Source: Utah bar rulesNo bar license where a community location, such as a school, church, library, playground or park, is within 600 feet by the shortest walking route, or within 200 feet in a straight line.
MoreRestaurants use 300 feet and 200 feet. Some downtown streets and a project area are carved out, so check the address with DABS before you sign a lease.
Source: Utah general rulesServing beer or alcohol needs a license from both Salt Lake City and DABS. DABS asks for the City’s signed local consent and a copy of your business license certificate.
MoreA license officer reviews the online application within 3 business days, inspections follow, and the office has 30 days to approve or deny. The fee depends on the type of local consent.
Source: Salt Lake City licensingA drink’s main spirit can be sold only up to 1.5 ounces per drink, through a calibrated metered dispensing system the department approves.
MoreSecondary flavorings are exempt, and so are sealed drinks of 12 ounces or less at no more than 10% alcohol by volume. Flavorings must be listed on the floor plan and their containers labeled flavorings.
Source: Utah retail rulesA guest may not have more than two alcoholic drinks of any kind in front of them at once, and not two spirits drinks where one is only the main spirit of the other.
MoreOne wine portion counts as one drink. Table and bottle service has to run within the limit.
Source: Utah bar rulesA bar may buy liquor only from a state store or package agency, and beer only from a licensed beer wholesaler or the small brewer that made it.
MoreYou can carry liquor from the store to the premises yourself and pay as the Commission’s rules set. Buying elsewhere is a class A misdemeanor.
Source: Utah retail rulesA bar keeps a price list or menu that includes any set-up charge, service charge or chilling fee, and shows it to a guest who asks.
MoreA bar may limit entry to guests who pay a fee or are on a list, so a cover charge or a guest list is allowed.
Source: Utah bar rulesA bar can sell liquor from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on any day of the week. No liquor is sold or furnished from 1 a.m. until 9:59 a.m.
MoreThe bar stays open for an hour after sales stop so each guest can finish one drink, unless everyone has left or there is an emergency. Beer follows separate hours, so check them with DABS.
Source: Utah bar rulesFrom 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., or 9 a.m. before a Sunday or legal holiday, a radio, instrument or other sound device that is plainly audible at the property boundary of the source is a violation.
MoreThe same section makes any noise disturbance within the city unlawful at any hour.
Source: Salt Lake City noiseMeasured over at least 10 minutes at the boundary or inside the affected property, the limit at homes is 50 dBA from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. and 55 dBA by day; on commercial land it is 55 dBA and 60 dBA.
MorePure tones or repeated impulsive sound lower the limits by 5 dBA. The Salt Lake valley health department enforces and can grant relief for undue hardship. Each day of a violation is a separate class B misdemeanor.
Source: Salt Lake City noise levelsA nightclub, lounge or bar in Utah takes the bar establishment license. The Alcoholic Beverage Services Commission issues it: seven part-time members the governor appoints, who govern DABS. Salt Lake City licenses the business as well.
A bar license can be issued only when one is free under the statewide quota. No community location, such as a school, church, library, playground or park, can be within 600 feet by the shortest walking route, or 200 feet in a straight line.
Source: Utah bar rulesSource: Utah general rulesAsk DABS which license type you need and get the City’s local consent form. Apply for the City business license online: an officer reviews it within 3 business days, inspections follow, and the office has 30 days to approve or deny.
Source: Salt Lake City licensingSend a written application with the nonrefundable $300 fee, the local consent, copies of every local license, proof of distance to any community location, a $10,000 bond, a floor plan, a responsible alcohol service plan, a menu, proof that each hired retail manager has done the alcohol training seminar, and public liability and dramshop insurance.
Source: Utah retail rulesSource: Utah bar rulesIf a license is free, the Commission can’t deny an application that meets the rules, though it may for the applicant’s record of violations. It can issue a conditional license before every document is in, but you can’t sell until it becomes a valid license. The initial fee is prorated by the months left before 30 June.
Source: Utah retail rulesSource: Utah bar rulesEvery bar license expires on 30 June. File the renewal by 31 May; DABS charges $300 for a late one.
Source: Utah bar rulesSource: DABSIssued by the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services
General information, not legal advice. Laws and license conditions change and vary by venue. Confirm with DABS or the City before acting on it.
A cap on drinks per guest changes what a table looks like here. This is how one bill comes together under the city’s combined sales tax.
| Minimum spend | $1,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Service charge 20%, added by the venue | $200.00 |
| Salt Lake City sales tax 8.45% of the spend | $84.50 |
| Guest pays | $1,284.50 |
| Tip the guest chooses to add | No tax |
Salt Lake City’s combined sales and use tax rate is 8.45%, a point above the 7.45% in unincorporated Salt Lake County.
Source: Utah State Tax CommissionThe rate chart doesn’t say whether a mandatory service charge is taxed, so this example taxes only the table’s spend. Ask the Tax Commission before you print a bill.
Source: Utah State Tax CommissionThe chart also lists a tourism restaurant tax among its other rates. Whether it reaches drinks at a bar isn’t confirmed, so it isn’t in this example.
Source: Utah State Tax CommissionA bar’s price list or menu must include any set-up charge, service charge or chilling fee, and a guest can ask to see it.
Source: Utah bar rulesRough estimates for tickets and bottle-service tables, from public listings and venues’ own pages.
$10 to $25
Typically about $15
No Salt Lake City venue’s own prices were collected, so this is generalized from the Nashville, Atlanta and Denver guides ($10 to $30) and set lower, because liquor sales stop at 1 a.m. and a guest can have only two drinks at a time. Headliner and holiday nights run higher.
$250 to $700
A typical table, about $350
No Salt Lake City venue’s own table minimum was collected, so this is generalized from the Nashville, Atlanta and Denver guides ($400 to $1,000) and lowered for Utah’s 1.5 ounce pour and two-drink limit. Before sales tax and any 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.
Every server and bartender needs the State’s alcohol training before a first shift. Utah follows the federal minimum, with a lower cash wage for tipped staff, and these are the going rates in the metro.
| Role | Range, low to high | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Bartenders$8.50 to $37.04 | $14.32 | |
| Servers$10.26 to $29.40 | $15.54 | |
| Security and door$15.03 to $25.65 | $20.80 | |
| Cooks$13.94 to $22.74 | $17.65 | |
| Bar and floor leads$15.33 to $31.19 | $18.69 |
Minimum wage $7.25 an hourSource: U.S. Department of Labor
Bar: lowest to highest wage reported. Dot: median. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Utah follows the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Tipped staff can be paid a cash wage of $2.13, with a tip credit of $5.12, and the Department of Labor lists a $30 a month tip threshold.
Source: U.S. Department of LaborUtah’s own minimum wage law excludes employment covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Source: U.S. Department of LaborA bar’s price list must show any service charge. Ask the Utah Labor Commission whether a service charge counts as a tip owed to staff, and how tips may be pooled.
Source: Utah bar rules
Pioneer Day is the holiday Utah keeps for itself. Pride comes in June, and on New Year’s Eve, liquor sales stop at the usual time.
The morning after New Year’s Eve.
A long weekend.
A long weekend.
No city-wide dates
No city-wide dates
A long weekend.
Utah’s Pride festival and parade, a June event since its early years.
Official siteWhen it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
A holiday weekend. When it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
A Utah legal holiday, not a federal one. When it sits next to a weekend, it makes a long one.
Official siteNo city-wide dates
The last long weekend of summer.
A long weekend.
Costume nights. When it falls midweek, the parties run the weekend before or after.
A long weekend.
When it falls on a weekend, the federal holiday is observed on the nearest weekday.
One of the year’s biggest nights, but Utah’s bar hours apply on any day, so liquor sales still stop at 1 a.m.
Downtown has the bars and a free ride on TRAX within the downtown zone. The Granary went from industrial blocks to breweries, and Sugar House mixes bars, breweries and shops.
Watering holes, music and after-dark fun, with free TRAX and bus rides inside the downtown zone and a beer bar pouring more than 130 beers.
Once purely industrial, now a culinary and brewery destination, with a cluster of bars and restaurants on 900 South that includes a gay karaoke bar.
An offbeat, progressive neighborhood of restaurants, bars, breweries and shops, with a fire-pit patio lounge and a cocktail bar.
Downtown has most of the rooms below, led by Sky SLC on Pierpont Avenue, and Sugar House has one of its own.
| Rank | Venue | Nights | Music | Published price | Monthly searches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sky SLCClubDowntown · 149 Pierpont AveSource: Search estimatesSource: Sky SLC | Dated nights, doors 9 p.m. | Not listed | Not listed | 3,200 |
| 2 | Area 51ClubDowntown · 451 South 400 WestSource: Search estimatesSource: Area 51 | Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights | Top 40 upstairs, ’80s, goth and alternative downstairs | Not listed | 1,400 |
| 3 | FlankerLoungeDowntown · 6 N Rio Grande St, Suite 35Source: Search estimatesSource: Flanker Kitchen + Sporting Club | Fri 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., Sat noon to 1 a.m. | DJs every weekend | Not listed | 900 |
| 4 | Why KikiClubDowntown · 69 W 100 SSource: Search estimatesSource: Why Kiki | Silent disco Fri and Sat, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. | Rotating DJs on up to 10 channels | Not listed | 400 |
| 5 | EVE SLCClubDowntown · 609 S State StSource: Search estimatesSource: EVE SLC | Fri to Sun, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. | Not listed | Not listed | 150 |
| 6 | Gem NightclubClubDowntown · 134 Pierpont AveSource: Search estimatesSource: Gem Nightclub | Dated Friday and Saturday nights | Up to six DJs a week across three rooms | Not listed | 150 |
| 7 | MILK+ClubCentral City · 49 E. Harvey Milk BlvdSource: Search estimatesSource: MILK+ | Thu to Sun, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. | Resident DJs and a dance floor | Not listed | 100 |
| 8 | Club KarambaClubSugar House · 1051 E 2100 SSource: Search estimatesSource: Famous Karamba | Fri to Sun, 9 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. | Latin DJs | Not listed | 30 |
Ranked by monthly Google searches in the United States for each venue’s name with the city, as Ahrefs estimates them, so this measures demand, not size. Only rooms that their own site shows open are listed.
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.
Downtown counts its visits by the million, and the metro is several times the size of the city.
Who lives in and visits the area. These describe the city, the metro, the county and its visitors, 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.
$7.25 an hour, the federal rate; Utah’s own law excludes employment covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Tipped staff can be paid a cash wage of $2.13, with a tip credit of $5.12. In the Salt Lake City metro area, BLS data for May 2025 puts the median bartender wage at $14.32 an hour.
8.45%, the combined sales and use tax rate for Salt Lake City, against 7.45% in unincorporated Salt Lake County. The Tax Commission’s chart also lists a tourism restaurant tax; ask the Tax Commission whether it reaches drinks at a bar, and whether a service charge is taxed.
Utah sets bar hours statewide: liquor sales run from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on any day of the week, with no New Year’s Eve exception and no later-hours permit in the bar rules. The bar stays open for an hour after sales stop so each guest can finish one drink.
A bar, lounge or nightclub takes the bar establishment license from the Alcoholic Beverage Services Commission, which can issue one only when it is free under the statewide quota. Get Salt Lake City’s local consent and business license, then apply to DABS with the fees, a $10,000 bond, a floor plan, a responsible alcohol service plan, a menu, proof that each hired retail manager has done the alcohol training seminar, and public liability and dramshop insurance.
A blood or breath alcohol concentration of .05 or more, not .08.
A nonrefundable $300 application fee, a $2,750 initial license fee prorated by the months left before 30 June, and $2,000 to renew each year, plus a $10,000 bond. DABS charges $300 for a late renewal. The City’s fee depends on the type of local consent and is on its Consolidated Fee Schedule.
Yes. Anyone working as licensee staff must complete an alcohol training and education seminar before the first day of work, and the record is valid for three years. Retail managers also take DABS’ manager training within 30 days of being hired, or by the day the license is issued if that is later.
Two. A guest may not have more than two alcoholic drinks of any kind at a time, and not two spirits drinks where one is only the main spirit of the other. One wine portion counts as one drink.
The main spirit is capped at 1.5 ounces per drink, poured through a calibrated metered system the department approves. Secondary flavorings are exempt, and so are sealed drinks of 12 ounces or less at no more than 10% alcohol by volume.
The quota is 15 plus the state’s population divided by a set number, which falls every fiscal year, from 8,934 in fiscal year 2027 to 7,246 from fiscal year 2031. It is statewide, not per city.
From 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., or 9 a.m. before a Sunday or legal holiday, a sound device that is plainly audible at the property boundary of the source is a violation. Measured limits at homes are 50 dBA at night and 55 dBA by day, and each day of a violation is a separate class B misdemeanor.
DOPL licenses unarmed private security officers, who need an approved 8-hour basic training course and fingerprint cards. Its page doesn’t say whether a bar’s own door staff need the license, and DABS has no page on door staff, so ask DOPL before you hire.
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.
Read the guide
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.
Read the guide
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.
Read the guide
