Who issues a liquor license.
In the US, the license comes from your state. Each one runs its own system through an alcohol regulator, such as the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control or New York’s State Liquor Authority. Cities and counties add their own layer: zoning, a local license or certificate, inspections and sometimes a hearing. In Chicago, for example, the City runs its own liquor license process through its business affairs department, and Illinois issues a state retailer’s license as well.46112021
There is a federal step too. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau says no one may sell alcohol without first registering the business with it, and that every location registers.1
Canada works at the provincial level. In Ontario the Alcohol and Gaming Commission issues the liquor sales licence, and applicants check with their municipality that the address is zoned for the business. In England and Wales a licensing authority, usually the local council, grants the premises licence, and the person who runs the business day to day, the designated premises supervisor, must hold a personal licence.2224
Because every layer differs, use this page for the shape and your city guide for the detail. Our city guides and the rules pages for Texas, California and the UK walk through each path step by step. The first decision is the same everywhere, though: which license you are asking for.
Choose the right class of license.
Every state sorts licenses into classes by what you sell and how you trade. For a club, two questions matter most: whether you sell spirits or only beer and wine, and whether alcohol or food is the main business. Choose the class that matches the way you will really run the room, because that is how inspectors will judge you. A few examples show how differently the same idea is named.
- California, Type 48Issued to bars and nightclubs, for beer, wine and spirits to drink on the premises. Type 47 is the restaurant version, and Type 42 covers beer and wine only.
- Texas, Mixed Beverage PermitAuthorizes selling spirits, wine and malt beverages to drink on the premises.
- Tennessee, Limited Service RestaurantThe liquor-by-the-drink license for a restaurant or bar where prepared food is 50% or less of gross revenue.
- Chicago, Tavern licenseFor bars, nightclubs, taverns, pubs and lounges whose main business is selling alcohol to drink on the premises.
- New York, On-premises liquorThe State Liquor Authority’s two-year license for liquor, wine, beer and cider by the glass.
If your concept mixes dinner with a late club, ask the regulator which class fits before you file, not after.
With the class chosen, the application itself follows much the same pattern almost everywhere.
The application, step by step.
The order and the names change from place to place, but an application for a bar or club tends to move through these stages. The examples come from the regulators’ own pages.
- Check the addressBefore you sign a lease, confirm the zoning allows a bar or club and look for distance rules. New York bars an on-premises license within 200 feet of a school or place of worship on the same street. Chicago allows no liquor license within 100 feet of a school, church or library, and some wards have moratoriums on new tavern licenses.
- Set up the businessForm the company and register it for tax. California says every licensee needs a seller’s permit. Regulators ask exactly who owns what, so settle the ownership before you file.
- Gather the fileExpect to supply the lease, floor plans, disclosures for owners and managers, and in some places a security plan and proof of insurance. Ontario asks for floor plans drawn to scale with the licensed areas marked.
- Background checksOwners and managers are checked. Chicago fingerprints everyone with 5% or more of the business, and the Illinois Liquor Control Act bars a license for people convicted of a felony and some misdemeanors. Ontario may run police and financial checks.
- Public noticeNeighbors get a say. In Texas, a location not licensed for drinking in the last two years posts a sign outside for 60 days before the permit can issue. California has a 30-day posting period. In New York City you give the community board 30 days’ notice. Chicago mails voters within 250 feet, who then have 35 days to comment or object.
- InspectionsFire, building and health inspectors visit. Chicago’s include plumbing and ventilation.
- DecisionThe license is granted, sometimes with conditions, or refused. Chicago allows an appeal within 20 days of a denial.
- RenewLicenses run for a set term: a year in California and Tennessee, two years in Texas and New York, two or four in Ontario. Put the renewal date in the calendar the day the license arrives.
Every one of these steps costs something, though rarely as much as people fear for the fee itself.
What a liquor license costs.
The fee the state charges is published, so it is one part of opening a club you can price exactly. These are the fees for an on-premises liquor license in a few places, as each regulator publishes them.
Liquor license fees for bars and clubs in the United States
| Where | License | Fee | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | Mixed Beverage Permit, new | $5,300 | Two years; $2,650 to renew |
| Texas | Late Hours Certificate | $1,100 | Two years |
| California | Type 48, in a city over 40,000 people | $1,545 | Each year |
| California | Type 48 person-to-person transfer, application | $1,565 | Plus the annual fee |
| California | New general license, drawing winners | $19,840 | Plus the annual fee |
| New York | On-premises liquor, New York City except Staten Island | $4,352 | Two years; plus $200 filing fee |
| New York | On-premises liquor, areas outside the listed cities | $1,792 | Two years; plus $200 filing fee |
| Florida | Full liquor license, county over 100,000 people | $1,820 | Each year |
| Florida | New quota license | $10,750 | Once, on top of the annual fee |
| Tennessee | Limited Service Restaurant | $2,000 to $5,000 | Each year; less as food sales rise |
| Tennessee | Application | $300 | Every license |
| Chicago | Tavern license (City) | $4,400 | Two years; plus $40 publication fee |
| Chicago | Late Hour license (City) | $6,000 | Two years; plus $40 publication fee |
| Where | Licence | Fee | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Liquor sales licence, new, with public notice | C$1,055 | Two years; C$1,355 for four |
| Ontario | Renewal | C$300 | Two years; C$600 for four |
| Ontario | Transfer when the business sells | C$1,000 | Once |
| England and Wales | Premises licence, by rateable value band | £100 to £635 | Plus £70 to £350 a year |
| England and Wales | Premises licence, top two bands, mainly drinking on site | £900 or £1,905 | Plus £640 or £1,050 a year |
| England and Wales | Personal licence | £37 | Application fee |
A handful of things move the fee. Population is one: Florida and New York charge more in bigger counties and cities. Hours are another: Texas and Chicago charge separately for serving late. Tennessee charges more the less food you sell. Quotas change everything. Florida allows one full liquor license for every 7,500 residents of a county and holds a public drawing when there are more applicants than licenses. California offers new general licenses once a year, by county population, so the other way in is to buy an existing license, with the full price in escrow until the state approves the transfer.1412319181615910
Then there is what sits outside the fee: a lawyer or consultant to prepare the file, rent while you wait, insurance and, where quotas apply, the price of an existing license. That last price is agreed between buyer and seller, so get it from a broker and a lawyer, not a forum.
Ask for a license contingency in the lease, so you aren’t paying for a room you can’t open.
The other cost is time, and it is the one first applicants underestimate.
How long it takes to get a liquor license.
Regulators publish their own processing times. Read each as the time from a complete file, not from the day you start.
| Where | What the regulator says |
|---|---|
| Texas | 30 to 35 days from a complete application. A location not licensed for drinking in the last two years posts a sign for 60 days first. |
| California | About 75 days for a transfer and 90 for an original license. Most investigations take about 45 to 50 days. |
| New York | About 22 to 26 weeks for most applications. |
| Chicago | As early as 36 days after you pay, and a decision within 60 days of the last required document. |
| Ontario | No published time. The AGCO says it tries to process applications promptly. |
A complete file is the part you control. Chicago gives you 30 days after you pay to hand in every required document, then suspends the application and charges $500 to restart it. California’s regulator says circumstances often mean a longer wait, and advises caution about large financial commitments and grand opening plans until the license is issued. Take that advice literally.2010
Those are only a few places. The details that decide your opening are local, which is why the next step is your own city.
Where the rules differ by state and city.
The shape above holds almost everywhere, but the details are local: who you notify, how far you must be from a school, whether there is a quota and how late you can pour. Our guides cover each place with its sources.
- TexasThe state permit and late hours on the Texas rules page, and what each city adds in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
- CaliforniaType 48, transfers and drawings on the California rules page, and what each city adds in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
- New YorkThe State Liquor Authority, community boards and the 500-foot rule in the New York guide.
- FloridaQuota licenses and city approvals in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.
- Elsewhere in the USChicago, Nashville, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Washington, DC and more in the city guides.
- CanadaToronto and Ottawa under the AGCO, and Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal under their own provinces.
- The UKThe premises licence application, step by step, the UK rules page, and London, Manchester, Glasgow and the other UK guides.
If you are opening a room from scratch, the license is one part of a longer list. How to open a nightclub puts it in order with the business plan, the build, the team and the first nights. Before that, it helps to know where applications tend to go wrong.
Where liquor license applications go wrong.
- Signing the lease firstAn address that fails a distance rule or a zoning check can’t be fixed with paperwork. Check before you commit.
- The wrong classA late-night club on a restaurant license will be judged on how it actually trades.
- Leaving someone offDisclose every owner, investor and manager the form asks for. A name found later is far harder to explain than one listed now.
- Building before approvalCalifornia advises seeking prior approval before new construction or considerable remodeling. Wherever you are, ask before you build.
- Ignoring the neighborsPublic notice exists so residents can object. Meet the neighbors and the local council member or community board early, and bring your security and noise plans.
- An incomplete fileSend everything at once, keep copies, and answer the regulator’s questions the day they arrive.
Then the license arrives, and what is printed on it becomes part of how you run every night.
Once the license is on the wall.
Read every condition printed on the license before the first night: hours, capacity, security, whatever yours sets. On a busy Saturday the people checking them are inspectors and police, not the office that issued it. Train the team on them, keep staff certifications current, and keep the license where inspectors can see it.