Where in your state can you buy liquor? A state store only? Any supermarket? Convenience store? Does it vary with respect to beer or wine vs hard liquor? In my state of AZ, all forms of alcohol are available in "all" supermarkets and most convenience stores. We do have liquor stores, where one would go to find a much larger selection of beer, wine, and liquor.
Wisconsin's laws regarding liquor stores hours are fairly restrictive compared at least to their neighboring states, particularly that 9 p.m. closing law for liquor stores and other non-tavern outlets, while taverns could sell "package goods" (i.e., carry outs) until midnight. I always heard that was due to the politically powerful tavern lobby. Unlike some, though, they do allow Sunday morning sales.
In Texas only at liquor stores. Although, Kroger's weekly ads have a section labeled liquor but only sell beer and wine and that goes along with their boneless brisket ads. Go figure.
Yep, in Texas its at liquor stores and no sales on Sundays or holidays. Grocery stores and convenience stores can sell beer and wine, even on Sunday. We do have drive through beverage barns where you can get daiquiris and other drinks to go.
Panhead John That is not to say that all store owners or managers know about the change. I had to educate the Sunday staff at Bruce's one Sunday at 10am. And some store policies might not have changed. These rules are leftovers from the old Blue Laws (old morality laws). Same with car dealerships not being allowed to open on Sundays (WHY?? - stupid government interference with free trade).
In Maryland now it depends on the County. Forever in our county all hard liquor was controlled by the county’s Liquor Control Board. (LCB). LCB liquor stores. Beer and wine only allowed for sale other places. If you ran a bar you bought all your liquor from the LCB, and they might grant you a limited off-sale permit. That has changed recently. Private liquor stores, gas and beer shops carry wine and beer. However the licensing commission still controls all else related to the sale of beer, wine, and liquor including hours and days of operation, what if any entertainment you can have, and a host of other things.
And, at least in our and surrounding counties, you will never see a supermarket, Sam’s Club, Costco, or the like ever sell beer, wine or liquor, (small convenience stores excepted for beer), and besides in most instances, you cannot buy any of these from the internet either.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
In Pennsylvania it’s at “Fine Wine and Spirits”, which used to be called State Stores. And you can’t buy beer there. We only started having beer in supermarkets in 2007, and wine in supermarkets in 2017, but only in supermarkets that also serve prepared food. And there’s a max of 192 ounces of beer or 3 liters of wine. Before that you had to buy beer by the 6 pack at a bar that served food, or by the case at a beer distributor, and wine was only at State Stores. Supermarkets have to have a separate register for alcohol purchases.
There’s more, but it’s really confusing. Don’t bother to try to buy alcohol before 9AM or after 10PM on Sunday.
In Washington we can buy liquor at grocery stores and some convenience stores. It used to be only in state run stores only, but a few years ago there was a big push, primarily backed by Costco to privatize. The state didn’t like losing the revenue so now they tax the crap out of liquor. A 1/2 gallon of Crown Royal is $65.00 at Costco, compared to what, $35.00 in Arizona..
State owned liquor store, or on base, maybe the Indian reservations as well? Can't buy beer on a Sunday at any store (maybe doesn't apply to on base but never drove to base to get wine or beer that early on a Sunday) until after I think 10am? Used to not even be able to buy beer at an establishment on Sunday before a certain time too... there was an uproar when they changed it a few years ago because the sports venues and brunch places petitioned for it.
Here's my slightly humorous Texas story. When my wife and I got our first apartment, we moved to Brazoria county, which, unbeknownst to me was a dry county. I had no idea what a dry county was.
So on one of the first nights out there I decide I wanted to do a wine reduction sauce (I was very much in my 'Emeril' phase as this was the year 2000) and went to the nearby Kroger's to get some. No wine. Just beer. I drove to Randall's. No wine. Just beer. I drove to a convenience store....a four pack of those little Sutter Home bottles would have done just fine! No wine. Just beer.
I exclaimed to the clerk, "where does one get wine around here?" "You can't buy wine in Brazoria," he replied. I looked at him like it was the most nonsensical thing I had ever heard. He explained that Brazoria was a dry county (I had never heard the term) and if I wanted anything above 5% alcohol, I'd need to go to nearby Harris or Galveston counties. (Which is what I did, befuddled all the way.)
Brazoria is no longer a dry county.....but wow that was just odd. You could load your truck up with countless cases of beer, but nothing 'stronger.'
Last edited by Michael_in_TX; June 16, 2024, 12:12 PM.
I remember growing up in a dry county. Restaurants were only allowed to sell alcohol to "members" so when you went out to eat you bought a $5 membership card good for a year, then you could buy booze at that restaurant. Got expensive if you went out to eat at a lot of different places
58limited I had forgotten about that! Yes! I remember going out to eat at a Casa Ole and having to become a member for $5 to order a margarita. (Of course, the first drink upon becoming a member was free lol.)
Growing up in W. Texas, you had to go outside the city limits to buy liquor or wine. You could buy beer inside the city limits, BUT it was only by voting precinct. One precinct would vote to approve selling beer, but the one right next to it would vote against the sale. All across the city you would have 7-11's across the street from each other where you could buy beer but the other couldn't sell beer.
In California, I think the stores are only open from 6AM to 10PM and customers have to be 21 unless they have a medicinal use prescription, in which case they can be 18.
Oh, that's for the cannabis dispensaries, sorry.
Alcohol you can get almost anywhere that's licensed for alcohol sales though you have to be 21. You can buy beer at a gas station if it's licensed for it though I've always thought that a bit weird.
I grew up in a college town and it used to be that you couldn't sell liquor within 1 mile of the campus. You always knew when you were exactly 1 mile from campus because you'd see a liquor store or bar.
My county used to be a dry county. We liked it because you could bring your own drinks to a restaurant. It was only a 5 minute drive to next county. That’s history now…..🙄
In Oregon liquor has to be sold in state regulated stores. Beer and wine can be sold wherever. Prices are set by the state so it's always the same price at all locations. The one really nice thing is the liquor search web page that can be searched to locate bottles. It tells you where they are located in relation to you, how many bottles are at each location, and how much the bottle will cost.
Find your favorite distilled spirit and the liquor stores that carry it. Search by brand, a distilled spirits category such as vodka or cognac, or by store.
The first night I lived in Ochiltree county Texas I went into the Pizza Hut ready for a large order of pizza and draft beer. The waitress said that we were in a dry county and they couldn’t serve beer. After some further exploring I found that there were no alcohol sales of any kind unless you were either a member of the Elks lodge or the high dollar Perryton club. Needless to say I was an Elk shortly there after. It wasn’t until many years later that we voted to go wet. The promised wave of crime and drunk drivers never materialized.
Comment