Liquor — District of Columbia
District of Columbia runs an open system. A restaurant license here typically takes 1–6 months. The quota math: No state population quota on on-premise licenses; local approval/zoning may still apply..
| License | Covers |
|---|---|
| ABCA Restaurant (CR) License - Retailer's Class C | Full liquor |
| Restaurant Wine/Beer endorsements under ABCA Class C/D licenses | Beer & wine |
State fee: see note — DC fees are set by ABCA class and capacity tier and change by rulemaking; verify the current ABCA fee schedule. Moratorium zones cap new tavern licenses in certain neighborhoods..
1–6 months — Common documented band for open-issuance states with a complete application; local approvals can extend it.. 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: not a standard feature here.
Transfers: Licenses are generally premises- and owner-specific; a buyer typically applies for a new license or a state-approved transfer - confirm with the agency.
Don't read the table — run your verdict. Your sq ft, seats and food split decide exception eligibility — the checker does that math.
District of Columbia, every door: District of Columbia hub · sell from home in District of Columbia · District of Columbia restaurant permits · District of Columbia 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 1–6 months for a restaurant, per the dated sources on this page. Transfers and protests run longer.
The state fee is in the note above.
Sources: DC Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA). Some fields in this row are compiled from secondary tables and are still being re-verified — the issuing office named here is the authority.. 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.