Liquor — Arizona
Arizona runs an hybrid system. A restaurant license here typically takes 3–9 months. The quota math: Quota (Series 6 Bar, Series 7 Beer & Wine Bar, Series 9 Liquor Store) capped by county population - 1 additional license of each series per 10,000-person county population increase (A.R.S. 4-206.01), issued by DLLC lottery; Series 12 Restaurant licenses are NOT quota-capped..
| License | Covers |
|---|---|
| Series 12 Restaurant License | Full liquor |
| Series 6 Bar License (quota) | Full liquor |
| Series 7 Beer and Wine Bar License (quota) | Beer & wine |
State fee: $2,000 — Series 12 Restaurant full-year issuance fee $2,000 (plus $100 application fee); Series 6 Bar issuance $1,650, Series 9 $1,550 - DLLC fee schedule as compiled by secondary sources..
Open-market price (quota): $35,000–$200,000 on the open market (secondary sources, dated — Market/secondary (broker and legal-guide reports, not an official source): Series 6 in Maricopa County reported ~$175,000-$180,000; Series 7 in smaller counties ~$35,000; Series 9 reported $50,000 to over $200,000. Range shown spans series and counties - any single license price is county- and series-specific.).
The exception: Series 12 Restaurant License (non-quota path to full liquor) — Restaurant operation with food service; full liquor served with meals - no county quota and no lottery. Run your floor plan and menu split through the Liquor Path Checker before you shop for a quota license.
3–9 months — Series 12 (non-quota) follows the standard application/investigation path; buying a quota Series 6/7/9 adds negotiation plus DLLC transfer/investigation time.. At typical rents, every month of that clock is dead money: the Wait-vs-Burn visualizer inside the checker turns your rent × this timeline into the dollar figure.
Temporary permit: available — a transferred license can often pour during processing; ask by name.
Transfers: Interim permit available on transfer (A.R.S. 4-203.01, up to 105 days, extendable) so a buyer can keep operating while the transfer is processed. Quota licenses transfer only within the same county.
Don't read the table — run your verdict. Your sq ft, seats and food split decide exception eligibility — the checker does that math.
Arizona, every door: Arizona hub · sell from home in Arizona · Arizona restaurant permits · Arizona liquor license · what it costs · your Opening Map
Included in the $49 Opening Pack: the filled templates, trackers, calendars and worksheets for this door — built from the same dated datasets as the free checker above.
Typically 3–9 months for a restaurant, per the dated sources on this page. Transfers and protests run longer.
The state fee is $2,000. In quota territory the real price is the open-market range on this page — labeled secondary, because no official price exists.
Sources: Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (DLLC) - liquor lottery page and A.R.S. Title 4. This row was verified against the primary source named below.. Dataset checked October 23, 2026. Where a fee or rule is set by a county or city, this page says so instead of guessing a number.