Liquor — Maryland
Maryland runs an hybrid system. A restaurant license here typically takes 2–6 months. The quota math: No statewide retail quota and the STATE does not issue retail licenses: each county/city Board of License Commissioners issues licenses under local rules (some boards apply population/density limits). Montgomery County is a control jurisdiction - the county Dept. of Alcohol Beverage Services is the spirits (and wine/beer wholesale) monopolist there, though private on-premise licensees still operate..
| License | Covers |
|---|---|
| County/City Board of License Commissioners Class B Beer, Wine & Liquor (restaurant) | Full liquor |
| Class B Beer & Wine License | Beer & wine |
State fee: see note — Fees are set county-by-county by each licensing board - no single state fee exists. Verify with the county board..
Open-market price (quota): No statewide quota market - license value and transferability are set by county board rules; no reliable published statewide range..
The exception: Montgomery County control system (county-level, not a restaurant exception) — Montgomery County ABS controls wholesale (and operates retail stores) inside the county only; the rest of Maryland is license-state. Statewide control flag is false because Maryland as a state is not a NABCA control state. Run your floor plan and menu split through the Liquor Path Checker before you shop for a quota license.
2–6 months — County board hearing calendars drive timelines; Montgomery County wholesale sourcing differs from the rest of the state.. 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: Transfer rules are county-specific; most boards require board approval of any transfer and many licenses are premises-specific.
Don't read the table — run your verdict. Your sq ft, seats and food split decide exception eligibility — the checker does that math.
Maryland, every door: Maryland hub · sell from home in Maryland · Maryland restaurant permits · Maryland 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 2–6 months for a restaurant, per the dated sources on this page. Transfers and protests run longer.
The state fee is in the note above. In quota territory the real price is the open-market range on this page — labeled secondary, because no official price exists.
Sources: County Boards of License Commissioners; Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services; NABCA control-jurisdiction list. This row was compiled from the named sources; confirm final figures with the issuing office before you rely on them.. 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.