59: Test Your Knowledge

The Liquor Code provides the following permissible hours:

a. Club licensees: 7 a.m. to 3 a.m., Monday to Sunday

b. Distributor licensees: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday (to non-licensees), 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday by permit only.

c. Restaurant, Hotel and Limited Winery licensees: 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday (Effective January 17, 2017, Act 166 removed the Sunday sales with a meal requirement and permits licensees to begin selling at 9 a.m. Sunday)

d. Eating Place Retail Dispenser license: 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday***

***Sunday Sales with a Meal – Act 113 of 2011 allows the holder of an Eating Place Retail Dispenser license, who also holds a Sunday Sales Permit to sell alcohol on Sundays between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., provided that the licensee offers a “meal” beginning at 9 a.m. A “meal” is defined as “food prepared on the premises, sufficient to constitute breakfast, lunch or dinner; it shall not mean a snack, such as pretzels, popcorn, chips or similar food.”

The Liquor Code requires the following:

a. Club licensees: patrons must vacate by 3:30 a.m.

b. Restaurant, Hotel and Eating Place Retail Dispenser licensees: patrons must vacate by 2:30 a.m.

NOTE: Licensees holding an Extended Hours Food Permit, pursuant to Section 499 of the Liquor Code [47 P.S. 4-499] may allow patrons to remain on the premises until 7 a.m. No alcohol may be served, however.

NOTE: Employees may remain on the premises after the legal closing hour only if the employees are actively working. Once an employee finishes working, he/she must vacate.

Yes. There is nothing in the Liquor Code or PLCB regulations limiting where a minor may go on the licensed premises, as long as they are on the licensed premises legally with a parent, legal guardian or a proper supervisor. If a Restaurant, Hotel, or Retail Dispenser licensed premises has gross sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages equal to 50 percent or more of its combined gross sales of both food and alcoholic beverages, then minors are permitted on the premises. The presence of a parent, legal guardian, or proper supervisor is not necessary, but minors present under the “Pizza Hut Exception” are not permitted to sit in the bar section of the premises. A licensee may implement a house policy prohibiting minors from sitting at the bar.

There is nothing in the Liquor Code or PLCB Regulations limiting the number of drinks that may be sold to one person at one time. However, because a licensee may not sell, furnish or give or permit to be sold, furnished or given alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, licensees should use care in selling more than one drink to one patron.

No. The Liquor Code prohibits the refilling of any liquor bottle or container with any liquid whatsoever.

The Liquor Code provides that a Restaurant, Hotel or Eating Place Retail Dispenser licensee may sell up to 192 fluid ounces in a single sale. Patrons may pay for 192 fluid ounces and may thereafter return to purchase additional quantities as long as each purchase is a separate transaction.

No. The Liquor Code prohibits a club from selling alcohol for off-premises consumption.

Yes. The Liquor Code permits a patron to leave with a partially consumed bottle of wine, providing it was purchased in conjunction with a meal. However, the bottle must be resealed. It should also be noted that, outside of the Liquor Code and the PLCB regulations, there are two (2) types of open container laws that may be implicated when removing a partially-consumed bottle of wine from a licensed premises. One (1) type involves local ordinances that are passed by some municipalities in an attempt to regulate the carrying of open containers of alcohol within that municipality. Local ordinances vary in their language and scope. The other type of open container law is a state law found in the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, formerly found in the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, that makes it unlawful for people in motor vehicles to possess an open alcoholic beverage container or to consume such while the vehicle is on a highway. [75 Pa. C.S. § 3809].

Licensees may hold happy hours up to four (4) hours per day but no more than twenty-four (24) hours per week. The hours need not be consecutive. Notice of all happy hours must be posted on the licensed premises seven (7) days in advance.

No. All happy hours must end before midnight.

No. Daily specials must end before midnight.

No. A retail licensee is permitted to offer one (1) specific type of alcoholic beverage at a discounted price all day or for a portion of the day, if he/she chooses. [40 Pa. Code § 13.102(b)(2)]. A specific type of alcoholic beverage means either a specific registered brand of malt or brewed beverage, a type of wine, a type of distilled spirits or a mixed drink. [Id.]. As a daily drink special, a specific brand of beer such as “Blue Hound Pilsner” or “Brendan’s Cream Stout” or “Oil City Light” may be discounted, but not “all draft” or “all bottled” beer or “all Blue Hound products.” Daily wine drink specials could be “Chardonnay” or “Merlot,” but not “all white wine” or “all red wine” or “all Kendall’s wines.” Permissible spirits specials would be “Rum and Cola” or “all brandy drinks,” but not “all well drinks” or “all Jackson’s products.” [See Board Advisory Notice No. 16 (Amended)].

Yes. There is nothing in the Liquor Code or PLCB regulations prohibiting the sale of a pitcher of beer to someone at the bar. A licensee may choose to implement a house policy prohibiting this, since a licensee is strictly liable if a visibly intoxicated patron continues to drink at the premises.

No. There is nothing in the Liquor Code or PLCB regulations requiring beer to be placed in a bag prior to lawfully removing it from licensed premises. A licensee may have its own house policy requiring the bagging of take-out beer.

Yes. There is nothing in the Liquor Code or PLCB regulations prohibiting a minor from frequenting a Distributor licensee. However, a licensee may implement its own house policy to restrict access to minors.

Midnight. For example, if an individual is born on Nov. 9, he/she may be served on the evening of Nov. 8, once it becomes midnight.