What Is a Mixed Beverage Permit, and Which Texas Businesses Are Required to Hold One?

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The Mixed Beverage Permit (MB) is the Texas permit for selling distilled spirits by the drink. Under Section 28.01 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, it lets the holder sell mixed beverages, including liquor, for consumption on the licensed premises, and also sell wine and beer there. Any business that wants to pour cocktails or spirits for customers to drink on site, such as a full-bar restaurant, bar, lounge, or hotel bar, needs an MB, and it is available only where local voters have legalized mixed beverages.

What the permit authorizes

Section 28.01 gives an MB holder three sets of authority:

  • Spirits by the drink. Sell, offer for sale, and possess mixed beverages, including distilled spirits, for consumption on the licensed premises, poured from open containers or served from sealed containers of one to two fluid ounces or any other legal size.
  • Wine and beer on the premises. Buy wine and malt beverages of up to 24 percent alcohol from suppliers authorized to sell them for resale, and sell them for consumption on the premises.
  • Hotel delivery. An MB in a hotel may deliver drinks, including wine and beer, to guest rooms and other places in the hotel building or grounds, other than a parking area or another alcohol business’s premises.

The permit’s core authority is on-premises service. Selling alcohol to go or for delivery with food is a separate authority tied to the Food and Beverage Certificate; without it, to-go sales are limited to narrow exceptions, such as a customer taking home wine ordered with a meal.

Which businesses need it

The deciding question is whether distilled spirits will be served for drinking on site. If they will, the business needs an MB. That covers:

  • restaurants with a full bar;
  • bars, lounges, and nightclubs serving cocktails or spirits;
  • hotel bars and hotel room service that includes spirits; and
  • event venues that sell mixed drinks on their own premises.

A business that will serve only wine and beer does not need an MB; the Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s Permit or the Retail Dealer’s On-Premise License covers those. Private clubs operate under their own registration permit.

Where an MB can be issued

Spirits by the drink require a location where local voters approved one of the ballot issues legalizing mixed beverages. In an area that legalized them only “in restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders,” an MB is available only together with a Food and Beverage Certificate, a designation TABC calls a Mixed Beverage Permit with FB Required.

What changes the answer

Fact about the business How it changes the MB question
no spirits will be poured on site no MB needed; a Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit or a Retail Dealer's On-Premise License fits
the address legalized mixed beverages only in restaurants with a Food and Beverage Certificate the MB is available only with an FB, so the kitchen and menu become conditions of having a bar
drinks will go out the door with food orders the FB is also needed for to-go and delivery, apart from narrow exceptions such as wine ordered with a meal
service will run past the standard closing hour a late hours certificate and an address in an extended hours area are needed on top of the MB
the MB is in a hotel delivery across the hotel building and grounds is available, and minibars run under the same permit

What comes with it

  • Events away from the premises. Under Section 28.19, an MB holder may sell at picnics, celebrations, and similar events, and at other temporary locations in areas where mixed beverages are legal, following TABC’s notice or approval procedures; spirits sold at a temporary location must be bought from a local distributor.
  • Add-on certificates. The permit can carry a Food and Beverage Certificate and a Late Hours Certificate, each with its own requirements.
  • Obligations that attach to MB holders. These include the conduct surety bond unless the business holds an FB or qualifies for an exemption, the mixed beverage gross receipts and sales taxes, and, for an MB that is not a restaurant, TABC’s annual opioid overdose training for the holder and staff required to take seller training.

This article is general information about Texas alcoholic beverage law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and TABC rules change; confirm current requirements with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the relevant city or county, or a licensed Texas attorney before acting.

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