How to get an ABC liquor license: state-by-state steps

Last updated 2026-07-26

how do you get an ABC liquor license?

You get an ABC liquor license by applying to your state's Alcoholic Beverage Control authority, or in some states a county or municipal board that works alongside the state. There's no single federal "liquor license." The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) handles a separate federal permit for producers, importers, and wholesalers called a Basic Permit, but a bar or restaurant serving drinks to customers needs a state or local retail license, not a TTB permit ^[1]. The general path looks the same almost everywhere, even though the forms and fees differ wildly. First, you figure out which license type fits your business (beer and wine only, full liquor, restaurant vs. tavern, etc). Second, you check whether your county or city caps the number of licenses available, because in many states you can't just apply and get one, you have to find an existing license to buy or wait for a slot to open. Third, you gather your entity paperwork, lease, floor plan, and personal background information for every owner with a qualifying stake. Fourth, you file with the state ABC agency and often a parallel local application (city council, county commission, or local ABC board). Fifth, you wait through a posting or public notice period, pass inspections, and get approved. Because this process runs through 50 different state systems plus thousands of local jurisdictions, the honest answer to "how do I get one" is: start with your state ABC agency's licensing page, because that's the only authoritative source for your specific fees, forms, and timeline. If you want a structured way to work backward from your lease and opening date, our state guides break down what states like Florida and California require.

how much is a liquor license?

It depends entirely on your state, your license type, and whether your area is under a quota. A basic beer and wine license in a non-quota state can run a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars in state fees. A full liquor (spirits) license in a quota-controlled county, where licenses are capped and only available by buying one from an existing holder, can cost anywhere from tens of thousands to well over $100,000, sometimes into the high six figures in dense urban markets. That premium isn't a government fee, it's the market price for a scarce asset. A few real numbers to anchor this: Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board runs public auctions for expired or forfeited restaurant liquor licenses, and winning bids have topped $100,000 in some counties in recent years ^[2]. Virginia ABC lists mixed beverage license annual fees that scale with gross receipts, with base fees generally in the low thousands depending on the tier ^[3]. These are just two data points. Confirm the actual current fee schedule with your state ABC authority before you budget, because fees change and vary by license class, seating capacity, and sometimes by whether you're inside city limits. Beyond the license fee itself, budget for: local application or investigation fees, a security bond in some states, background check costs for each owner, possible broker or legal fees if you're buying a quota license, architectural/health department sign-off, and renewal fees every year or two afterward. None of that is optional and all of it varies. For a full state-by-state cost breakdown methodology, see our license type guides.

how much is a liquor license in Florida?

Florida runs a quota system for its full-liquor "4COP" license tied to county population, so the cost depends heavily on whether you're getting a new quota license through the state lottery/drawing process or buying an existing one on the open market. Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco issues new quota licenses through a public drawing when population growth opens up new slots in a county, and the state filing fee for that drawing is separate from what a quota license actually trades for afterward ^[4]. On the open resale market, Florida quota liquor licenses (4COP) commonly trade from the tens of thousands of dollars in smaller counties up into the hundreds of thousands in counties like Miami-Dade or Broward, because demand far outstrips the fixed quota. That resale price is not set by the state, it's negotiated between buyer and seller, often through a license broker. Non-quota options exist too: Florida's SFS (special food service, restaurant-only) license and beer/wine-only licenses (1COP, 2COP) cost far less in state fees and don't require buying an existing license, but they come with restrictions, like the SFS license generally requiring a minimum percentage of food sales. Because exact current fees and quota counts shift, confirm the specific numbers for your county with the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco before you sign a lease around a target opening date ^[4]. Our Florida bar guide walks through the quota math and how to check current availability.

how do you obtain a liquor license (the application steps)?

Obtaining a liquor license is a sequence, and skipping a step usually means restarting a clock, more than paying a late fee. Here's the general order most states follow, though names and agencies vary: 1. Form your business entity (LLC, corporation, etc) and get your federal EIN, since most ABC applications require a registered legal entity, more than a DBA. 2. Confirm zoning allows alcohol sales at your address, and check for local distance rules (from schools, churches, or other licensed premises) that some states and cities still enforce. 3. Determine your license type and check quota status with the state ABC agency, since quota-restricted license classes may mean you need to buy an existing license rather than apply fresh. 4. Submit the state application with your lease or proof of premises control, floor plan, entity docs, and financial disclosure for every owner with a qualifying ownership percentage (often 10% or more, but this threshold varies by state). 5. Submit fingerprints and consent to a background check for each qualifying owner and manager; most states run this through their own state police or a designated vendor. 6. Post public notice, if required, which can mean a sign in your window, a newspaper notice, or a formal hearing where neighbors or local boards can object. 7. Pass any required inspections (fire marshal, health department, building code) before final approval. 8. Pay final fees and receive your license, then post it as required (many states require the license be physically displayed on premises). The realistic timeline for all of this ranges from about 6 to 12 weeks in a simple non-quota state license with no objections, to 6 months or longer if you're buying a quota license, dealing with a local hearing, or working in a state with a slower agency backlog. Build that range into your lease negotiation and target opening date, not the optimistic end of it.

can you serve alcohol without a liquor license?

No. Selling or serving alcohol for on-premise consumption without the correct state and local license is illegal almost everywhere in the US, and it's typically both a criminal and civil violation, more than a fine. State ABC statutes generally make unlicensed sale of alcohol a misdemeanor or felony depending on volume and repeat offenses, and it can also void your liability insurance for anything alcohol-related. There are narrow exceptions. Some states allow limited "BYOB" setups where a restaurant lets patrons bring their own wine or beer and charges a corkage fee, without the restaurant itself holding a full liquor license, but corkage rules vary by state and sometimes by city. Private events, like a wedding where alcohol is a gift and not sold, can also fall outside licensing requirements in some states, but the line between "private event" and "unlicensed sale" gets scrutinized closely if money changes hands for drinks specifically. If you're opening a bar or restaurant and plan to serve alcohol on your opening date, you need your license (or an approved temporary permit, where your state offers one) in hand before you pour a single drink for a paying customer. Some states offer temporary or interim operating permits while a full application is pending, which can bridge the gap if your buildout finishes before your permanent license clears. Ask your state ABC agency specifically about temporary permit options when you file.

how do you get a bartending license?

"Bartending license" usually means one of two different things, and mixing them up costs people time. The first is a responsible beverage service (RBS) certification, sometimes called TIPS, TAM, or a state-specific name, which trains bartenders and servers on checking IDs, recognizing intoxication, and cutting people off. Many states require this training for anyone who serves alcohol, and some, like Oregon, mandate it by statute for all servers and sellers of alcohol ^[5]. The second thing people mean is a state alcohol server permit, a card or certificate you personally must hold to legally pour drinks, separate from any training course. Not every state requires one; some only require the training itself, others require both a course and a state-issued permit or registration, and some states have no individual server permit requirement at all, leaving it to the employer's establishment license. Either way, this is different from the business's liquor license. The business license belongs to the bar or restaurant and its owners; the server certification or permit belongs to the individual employee and usually needs renewal every few years (commonly every 2 to 5 years depending on the state). If you're opening a bar, you'll need to get your own establishment license through the steps above, and separately make sure every bartender and server on staff completes whatever RBS training or permit your state requires before their first shift.

can anyone take the bar exam?

This is a completely different "bar" from the liquor kind, worth clarifying since people search both terms in similar phrasing. The bar exam is the test aspiring attorneys take to get licensed to practice law, administered state by state through each state's bar admission authority, and it has nothing to do with alcohol licensing. No, not anyone can take it. Eligibility generally requires graduating from an ABA-accredited law school (or meeting an alternative path some states allow, like reading the law under a practicing attorney, which California and a handful of other states still permit) ^[6]. Each state's bar admission agency sets its own character and fitness review, education requirements, and exam schedule. If you're researching this because you searched "bar exam" while researching a liquor license for a business named "Bar" or in the bar/restaurant industry, that's a coincidence of naming, not related requirements. For actual attorney licensing questions, check your state's bar admission page, like the Florida Bar or the Florida Bar member search tool people use to verify attorney status.

how do you obtain a liquor licence (spelling variations and other countries)?

If you're searching "licence" with a C, you're likely either using UK/Canadian/Australian spelling conventions or you're actually looking outside the US. In the United States, the correct spelling in official state statutes is "license," and every state ABC agency uses that spelling in its forms and code sections. If you're actually asking about a different country: the UK's system runs through local licensing authorities under the Licensing Act 2003, administered by district and borough councils, not a single national ABC agency ^[7]. Canada licenses alcohol provincially, through bodies like Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission, not federally. Australia licenses through each state and territory's own liquor licensing authority. None of these use the term "ABC" the way US states do; "ABC" (Alcoholic Beverage Control) is specifically an American term tracing back to post-Prohibition state control systems set up after the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933 ^[8]. If you're opening a bar or restaurant in the US, use "license" in your searches and filings, and go straight to your specific state ABC agency's page rather than a generic search, since spelling variants sometimes surface outdated or non-US results that don't apply to your situation.

what license types exist and which one do I need?

beer & wine off-premise	liquor/grocery stores	rarely
beer & wine on-premise	casual restaurants, cafes	sometimes
full liquor on-premise (bar)	bars, nightclubs	often, in many states
restaurant liquor license	full-service restaurants w/ food minimum	sometimes
club license	private membership clubs	rarely
caterer's/temporary permit	events, festivals	no	If you're not sure which category fits, that decision should come before you sign a lease, not after, since some categories require specific square footage, kitchen equipment, or seating counts that affect your buildout. Our license type comparisons go deeper on how states structure these categories.

Most states break retail alcohol licenses into a few core categories, though the exact names differ. Common types include: beer-only or beer-and-wine off-premise (for stores), beer-and-wine on-premise (for restaurants that don't want to serve spirits), full liquor on-premise (for bars and restaurants serving spirits, wine, and beer), and restaurant-specific licenses that require a minimum percentage of revenue from food, often in exchange for an easier or cheaper path than a full bar license. Some states also have a separate "club" license for private membership organizations, a "caterer's" license for off-site event service, and seasonal or temporary event permits for one-off festivals or tastings. The type you need depends on what you're actually pouring and how your revenue splits between food and alcohol. Here's a simplified comparison of the general categories you'll run into, though you must confirm exact names, fees, and quota status with your own state ABC authority since terminology and structure vary by state: | license category | typical use case | quota-restricted? |

what is a quota system and how does it affect getting a license?

A quota system caps the total number of a certain license type available in a given county or municipality, usually tied to population. Florida is the best-known example: its 4COP quota liquor license count is set by county population under state statute, and new quota licenses only become available when population grows enough to trigger a new allotment, distributed through a public drawing ^[4]. When a license type is quota-restricted in your area and the quota is full, you generally have two options: enter a lottery or waiting list if your state runs one, or buy an existing license from a current holder on the open market. Buying an existing license means negotiating price, doing a transfer application with the state (which still requires background checks and approval, it's not automatic), and often working through a broker who specializes in that state's license market. Quota status is the single biggest variable in both cost and timeline, so check it before you assume a straightforward application process. A non-quota beer and wine license might clear in under two months. A quota full-liquor license in a capped county might take months of searching for a seller, negotiating price, and then still going through the same background check and approval process as a brand new application. This is exactly the kind of variable our $199 State Liquor License Roadmap is built to map out against your specific opening date, since quota status changes your whole timeline, more than your budget.

how do I plan my timeline backward from my opening date?

Start from your target opening date and work backward, because liquor licensing is almost always the longest pole in your opening tent, longer than buildout in many cases. If your state has a non-quota license and a clean background check for all owners, budget at minimum 6 to 12 weeks from a complete application to approval, and add time for any local hearing or public notice period your city requires. If you're in a quota county, add the time it takes to find and negotiate a license purchase before the state transfer clock even starts, which can be weeks to months depending on market supply. If you're building out a new space, your local health and fire inspections often can't happen until construction is substantially done, which means your license application timeline and your buildout timeline need to run in parallel, not one after the other. A realistic backward plan looks like: opening date, minus 2 weeks for staff training and final walkthroughs, minus your state's stated processing window (confirm this directly with your ABC agency, since posted timelines are estimates, not guarantees), minus time for corrections if your application gets kicked back for missing documents (common, and it resets part of the clock), minus time to source a quota license if applicable. Nobody guarantees approval or timing, including us, but planning backward from a real date instead of hoping the paperwork moves fast is the difference between opening on schedule and paying rent on an empty space for an extra quarter.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a liquor license?

It ranges from a few hundred dollars for a basic beer and wine license in a non-quota state to well over $100,000 for a full liquor license in a quota-restricted county. Confirm the exact fee schedule and quota status with your state ABC authority, since it varies by license type, county, and whether you're buying an existing license.

How do I get a bartending license?

Complete your state's required responsible beverage service (RBS) training, sometimes called TIPS or TAM depending on the provider, and if your state requires a separate server permit, apply for that through the state ABC agency. Requirements vary: some states mandate only training, some require a permit too, and a few have no individual requirement at all.

How can I get a liquor license?

Apply through your state's Alcoholic Beverage Control agency (not the federal government), after confirming your license type, checking quota status in your county, and gathering entity documents, a lease, and background check information for all owners. Timelines run 6 weeks to 6 months or more depending on quota status and local requirements.

How do I obtain a liquor license?

Form your business entity, confirm zoning, determine your license type and quota status, then file with your state ABC agency along with your lease, floor plan, and owner background checks. Most states also require passing fire and health inspections before final approval, and some require a local public notice period.

How much is a liquor license in Florida?

Florida's quota 4COP full-liquor licenses often resell for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on county, since they're capped by population under state law. Non-quota options like beer/wine-only licenses or the restaurant-only SFS license cost far less in state fees. Confirm current numbers with Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.

Can you serve alcohol without a liquor license?

No, selling or serving alcohol for on-premise consumption without the proper state and local license is illegal in essentially every US state and typically carries criminal penalties. Narrow exceptions exist for BYOB corkage setups and some private events in certain states, but a bar or restaurant needs its license in hand before serving paying customers.

Can anyone take the bar exam?

No. The bar exam, for licensing attorneys, generally requires graduating from an ABA-accredited law school or completing an alternative path like reading the law, which a few states including California still allow. This is unrelated to liquor licensing; check your state's bar admission authority for attorney licensing requirements.

How do you obtain a liquor licence (with a C)?

In the US, official documents use the spelling "license," and you'd apply the same way, through your state ABC agency. If you're searching with the British/Canadian/Australian spelling, you may actually be looking for licensing rules outside the US, which run through different national or provincial systems entirely.

What's the difference between a beer and wine license and a full liquor license?

A beer and wine license only permits selling beer and wine, while a full liquor (spirits) license permits all alcohol types including cocktails and hard liquor. Full liquor licenses are more often quota-restricted and cost significantly more, since many states cap the number available per county.

Do I need a lawyer to get a liquor license?

It's not legally required in most states, and many small beer-and-wine license applications are straightforward enough to file yourself. For quota license purchases, complex ownership structures, or contested local hearings, many owners hire an attorney or licensed broker to reduce risk of delay or denial, though this isn't legal advice and requirements vary by state.

How long does it take to get a liquor license?

For a non-quota license with a clean application, expect roughly 6 to 12 weeks from a complete filing to approval, though this varies by state workload and local hearing requirements. Quota license purchases can take several additional months just to find and negotiate a seller before the state transfer process even begins.

What happens if my liquor license application gets denied or delayed?

Most states allow you to correct and resubmit missing information, though this restarts part of the review clock. Denials for cause (like a failed background check or zoning conflict) usually come with an appeal process through the state ABC agency or a local licensing board; check your specific state's procedure.

Sources

1. TTB, Federal Alcohol Administration Act permit requirements: TTB issues federal Basic Permits for producers, importers, and wholesalers, separate from state retail licenses
2. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, restaurant liquor license auctions: PA LCB runs public auctions for restaurant liquor licenses with winning bids reaching six figures in some counties
3. Virginia ABC, mixed beverage license fees: Virginia mixed beverage license annual fees scale with gross receipts
4. Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, quota license information: Florida issues quota liquor licenses tied to county population through a public drawing process
5. Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, alcohol server education requirements: Oregon mandates responsible beverage service training by statute for alcohol servers and sellers
6. California Bar Examiners, admission requirements: California allows alternative paths to bar admission such as reading the law instead of ABA-accredited law school
7. UK Government, Licensing Act 2003 overview: The UK licenses alcohol sales through local authorities under the Licensing Act 2003, not a national ABC system
8. National Archives, 21st Amendment to the US Constitution: The 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933, leading states to set up Alcoholic Beverage Control systems