ABC state; local option; state operates wholesale and retail sales of spirits, sold only at ABC stores; state has 351 ABC stores (2016); 9 of state’s 95 counties are dry; ABC granted full police powers against bootlegging since 1936 (employs 85 enforcement agents); agents oversee 18,900 retail businesses licensed to sell alcohol; beer and wine sold by private distributors that deliver to retail stores; no alcohol sales after 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, all day Christmas; food must be at least 45 percent of the business for restaurants to qualify to serve alcohol; tastings limited to 12 ounces at breweries, 5 ounces at wineries and 3 ounces at distilleries.
Licensed restaurants are permitted to extend a “corkage fee” to patrons who bring beer or cider in with them in sealed containers. Two-sided sidewalk signs outside a restaurant advertising a “happy hour” must not be more than 17 inches by 22 inches. And while pitchers of sangria were legalized statewide in 2008, it’s prohibited for bars, clubs and restaurants to serve pitchers of others kinds of mixed drinks such as margaritas.