What Signage a TABC Application and an Operating Permit Require
There are two kinds of TABC signage, and they belong to two different stages. One announces that an application is pending and runs before the permit…
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100 articlesHow a TABC Violation Is Defended at a SOAH Hearing
Defending a TABC violation at the State Office of Administrative Hearings is closer to defending a civil lawsuit than to filling out a form, and applicants…
How a Variance Request Proceeds Before a County Commissioners Court
For a proposed alcohol location in an unincorporated, county-governed area, the body that adopts distance ordinances is the county commissioners court, and it is also the…
How Sales-to-Minors Violations Arise, and What Defenses Are Available
Sales to minors are among the violations TABC pursues most actively, including through undercover operations where a minor attempts a purchase at a licensed business. Because…
Distance Requirements Between Alcohol Businesses and Schools, Churches, and Hospitals
Whether an alcohol location in Texas has to keep its distance from a school turns first on a question that has nothing to do with the…
How TABC License Renewal Works, and What Triggers a Renewal Problem
Most renewal holds have nothing to do with how the bar or store is run day to day. They come from something left unattended over the…
What Unlawful Local Overreach Looks Like in Practice
A city clerk refuses to certify an application, pointing to an ordinance and a reading of the Code they are sure is right. The applicant assumes…
How TABC’s Penalty Schedule Turns a Violation Into a Fine, Suspension, or Cancellation
TABC consequences run along a spectrum: a monetary penalty at one end, suspension of the permit in the middle, cancellation at the far end. Where a…
How TABC Distance Measurements Are Calculated, and Why Applicants Get Them Wrong
For a church, the distance to an alcohol location is measured from front door to front door along the street fronts. For a school, it is…
What Types of TABC Violations Can Put a Permit at Risk
Selling to a minor can cost a permit. So can a missing sign or a late excise tax report. The conduct that puts a TABC license…
How do local option elections change the wet or dry status of a precinct or city?
A business owner who finds a promising location in a dry area sometimes assumes the status is fixed, a permanent feature of the place. It is…
How can an FB certificate remove the 51% firearms sign-posting requirement depending on the alcohol sales ratio?
The red "51%" sign at the door of some Texas businesses is not decoration and not a choice the owner makes for style. It is a…
Which arrangements, such as loans, equipment, or shared branding, trigger Tied House scrutiny?
It is natural to assume the Tied House law is about ownership: don't own a piece of two tiers, and you are clear. Ownership is the…
How did SB 911 redefine “restaurant” under the TABC Code and lift the 60% alcohol sales cap?
For years, a restaurant that served alcohol had to watch a single number: keep alcohol at or below a set share of total sales, or risk…
How do Tied House violations happen accidentally through shared ownership or financial interests?
The phrase "Tied House violation" sounds like something a bad actor does on purpose, scheming to wire a brewery to a bar for an unfair edge.…
How do local population thresholds and ordinances determine whether a Late Hours Permit is available at all?
Two bars in different parts of Texas hold the same Mixed Beverage Permit. One can obtain late hours authorization and serve until 2:00 a.m.; the other…
What is the difference between wet and dry areas in Texas, and how does it limit which permits are possible?
People outside Texas are often surprised to learn that "alcohol is legal in Texas" is too blunt to be useful. Texas is a patchwork. Through local…
What is the Texas three-tier system, and what does the Tied House law forbid between retailers, distributors, and manufacturers?
Most people describe the three-tier system as "how alcohol is sold in Texas," which is true and also misses the point. The system is not just…
What is the TABC AIMS system and how has it changed the way licenses are obtained?
Owners who licensed a business years ago remember paper packets, mailed forms, and trips to a local office. Today most of that runs through AIMS, the…
Why is the TABC wet/dry spreadsheet only a starting point, and who issues the official determination?
There is a TABC reference that lists wet and dry status across Texas, and it is genuinely useful. It is also frequently treated as the final…
What is a Food and Beverage Certificate (FB) and which permits can it attach to?
An owner reads that their restaurant "needs an FB" and files it away as one more form in the stack, somewhere between the health permit and…
What licensing path applies to a combined production and hospitality concept such as a taproom restaurant?
The concept on the napkin is simple: brew the beer on site, serve it alongside a full menu, maybe pour some guest taps and a few…
How does an FB certificate exempt a business from conduct surety bond requirements?
Two restaurants apply for the same kind of permit. One is told it must post a conduct surety bond before the permit issues; the other is…
How should multiple related alcohol businesses be structured so ownership interests never cross tiers?
An entrepreneur with a winery wants to open a wine bar. A restaurant group eyes a stake in a distributor. The moment a person holds interests…
Why is a Tied House violation often permanent, and how is tier compliance verified before applying?
There is a comforting assumption that runs underneath a lot of business planning: if something is wrong, it can be fixed later. With Tied House problems,…