The Future of Liquor License in NJ

Although this could negatively impact many like myself, overall I think this is the best for the state. The current system is archaic as best.

Thatā€™s whacko. I always thought Kansas was ridiculous, but wow!
For my knowledge, beer and wine are considered the same category as hard liquor,
so no what Iā€™ve always called taverns exist?
Or this is all about food establishments that serve alcohol, not bars that serve food?

In NJ a liquor license allows for the sale of beer, wine and spirits aka hard alcohol. There are few exceptions like if you are an affiliate of a winery you can sell your product(s) and similarly if you are a brewery. Otherwise it doesnā€™t matter if you are a restaurant serving alcohol or a bar/tavern serving food, you are required to have the same full license. (there are a couple forms of full license which are, consumption only, consumption and packaged goods, packaged goods only/non-consumption)

Wow! I realize Iā€™ve lived 30+ years in a state that derives a significant amount of income from Beer, Wine, Liquor and Pot producers and seeks to create favorable economic conditions for them to succeed, but Iā€™m still amazed other places are 50 years away. Iā€™m just not sure in what direction.

I donā€™t think expanding freedoms exists in the lexicon of any legislative body anywhere in the U.S.

Watch for the ā€œqualifiersā€ businesses have to meet to get newly authorized liquor licenses, then decide if your state government is working to grow their state economy.

I donā€™t like the idea of a set # of licenses, making them an asset unto themselves.
Almost like Michael Cohenā€™s cab placards.
Thatā€™s anti-capitalism, not capitalism.

1 Like

Thatā€™s the part that seems screwiest to me - not even having a ā€œsecondaryā€ tier license that allows on-premises consumption of wine and beer, if not spirits. NYā€™s ABC system is pretty thoroughly screwed up too, but at least we have thatā€¦

I mean, ā€œnot encouraging public drunkenessā€ (said with tongue planted firmly in cheek) aside, I think reasonable arguments can be made that ā€œā€˜barsā€™ that serve foodā€ have a different impact on neighborhoods/ā€œpublic welfareā€ than ā€œā€˜restaurantsā€™ that serve wine and beerā€ (or even ā€œwine barā€ or ā€œbrew pubā€ sorts of places) do and while maybe that could be addressed differently, restrictive liquor licensing isnā€™t an entirely unreasonable way to to handle that. (ETA: And while thereā€™s also a difference between a restaurant without a separate bar serving spirits and ā€œbarsā€, thatā€™s a distinction thatā€™s harder to draw in the abstract, at least without leaving a lot of wiggle room, than a clear line between lower ABV beverages and ā€œspiritsā€.)

But it seems to me that much like NYā€™s arcane distributor and retailer licensing system, NJā€™s existing state of affairs has a lot more to do with the political clout of businesses that benefit from the status quo than from a real interest in ā€œpromoting the public interestā€ and ā€œprotecting public welfareā€. Surprise, surpriseā€¦:wink:

1 Like

This countryā€™s alcohol laws are a spaghetti bowl of varying standards. In California beer and wine are licensed separately from spirits. A wine bar can sell both beer and wine for on premise consumption or to take out. In the city of Las Vegas a wine/beer bar can sell bottles and cans for on premise consumption but not for takeaway. Thatā€™s a separate, much more expensive, license. Cities bordering Las Vegas donā€™t have the same restriction. Go figure.

2 Likes

The morass of laws is totally explicable when looked through the lens of GREED. Someone had a brother-in-law and that was that for rational ordinances.

It was explained to me that the NJ three tier system was put in place to ensure ā€˜organized crimeā€™ could not control product from creation to retail sale

With that lens on, it kinda becomes a- ha!

Then you start questioning why an establishment cannot do off sales (read: bottle store) and wander down that morass!

That is completely true about the organized crime aspect here in NJ. When I held certain license in Vegas I had to give information on my and my spouses family going back two generations. No joke.

1 Like

and if anyone thinks this is a joke, read this ABC newsletter http://www.nj.gov/lps/abc/downloads/abc-bulletin-2486.pdf okay it is from 2015 but the rules really havent changed

BTW the same level of dillegence by the ABC applies to anything that has a liquor license - basically if you have your ducks in a row, you are goodā€¦ if you and your attorney try to skip thingsā€¦ expect the worst

Thereā€™s a thread about this over in Culture and Media, but I thought the Jersey board might get some talk from people who knew more about it.

Nobody in the article mentions (ahem) money, but I imagine this must be like running a members-only club out of your own garage?

1 Like

Good idea although my post was intentional; asking the community at large.

Iā€™m from NJ and entertaining out of a garage isnā€™t uncommon. Opening your garage doors to a more bar like setup is news to me.

1 Like

Oh, I agree. Party in the garage is one thing, but ā€œwelcome to my garage barā€ is something new to me as well. Why is it just a thing in Maplewood? or maybe it isnā€™t? I was thinking maybe the state-specific barriers to getting a liquor license in NJ had something to do with it.

1 Like

I see it more as gig commerce expanding. Self employment a la Lyft in a diff trade.

But if the drinks are free, how are they making money?

Tips

1 Like

Just like real life!

1 Like

From their invited neighbors!!??? I really find that hard to believe. To open a private bar so theyā€™d have a cool place for all their friends to hang out - I can easily believe that.

But Iā€™m curious for sure.