Do you want to try your hand as a New York City restaurateur, or perhaps have ambitions to open a specialty bourbon shop? Acquiring a license is the first step. In New York, liquor licenses are acquired through the state.
ABC Law
You will need an experienced New York liquor license attorney to navigate the increasingly complex laws. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, or ABC Law, regulates the sale, distribution, and manufacturing of alcoholic beverages. To newbies’ dismay, these laws were enacted in 1934 and don’t always provide clear answers.
Since ABC laws are outdated and open to interpretation, typically the SLA will allow your New York liquor license attorney to submit a declaratory ruling request on your behalf.
Need to Know: Liquor License FAQs
The Liquor Authority issues four different license types:
- On-premise for restaurants, bars and hotels
- Off-premise for liquor, wine, convenience, grocery and drug stores
- Wholesale for importers and wholesale distributors
- Manufacturing for wineries and breweries
Once you’ve defined the type of license, you’ll have to decide what kind of alcohol you will be selling. In New York State, licenses are specific to the type of alcohol offered:
Beer License
- Drug Store: Off-premise for take-out
- Grocery Store: Off-premise for take-out
- Grocery Beer/Wine Product, which is defined as beverages that contain wine and other ingredients like juice or flavoring. These cannot exceed 6% alcohol by volume.
- Eating Place: Food must be served; beer cannot be the main source of income.
- Hotel: Food must be served; license includes room service.
- Club: Meaning an organization of private individuals and not a bar or nightclub. It must be organized under nonprofit laws or other similar laws. An ABC officer will have to be appointed within the club to interact with the Liquor Authority.
- Ball Park: Baseball parks, football stadiums, racetracks, or athletic fields
Wine License
- Restaurant: Food must be served; wine and beer cannot be the primary source of revenue.
- Hotel: Food must be served; license includes room service.
- Club: Same as beer license, with an assigned ABC officer to deal with the Liquor Authority.
- Tavern: Allows the sale of wine and beer for consumption on premises.
- Wine Store: Sale of wine only for off-premises consumption.
Hard Liquor License
- Hotel: On premise consumption of liquor, wine and beer, includes room service and off-premise consumption of beer only, unless a special HOP permit is obtained.
- Club: Sale of liquor, wine, and beer to club members; an ABC officer must be appointed.
- Catering: Defined as on-premises consumption for an assembly of people at a function that is not open to the public.
- On-Premises: This is your standard bar license, allowing for on-premise sale and consumption of liquor, beer and wine; some food must be offered.
- Liquor Store: Retail sale of liquor and wine for off-premise consumption. There are restrictions on which alcohol products can be sold.
Brewer Licenses
- Microbrewery: Retail permit allows sale to public and licensees. If the brewery has a restaurant, an on-premises retail license will also be required.
- Restaurant or Brew Pub: Allows on-premise brewing and consumption of beer, wine, and liquor. Must have a bonafide eat-in restaurant. Retail chains can have up to five locations.
The ABCs of New York Liquor Laws
In summary, initially, it will be up to you to decide what you will sell, where you’ll be selling it and what type of license you need. From there, intricate liquor laws in NYC can be intimidating. But with the right New York liquor license attorney, your business will be up and running in no time. Cheers!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.