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MFoy t1_ja8tbb1 wrote

Reply to comment by fidel1o in Things DC does really well by erichinnw

Yes it is. All establishments in Virginia have to sell a certain percentage of their total sales in food if they want to have a liquor license. You can't just sell alcohol. There are also extreme limitations over happy hour specials and even advertising them. Until just a few years ago, you couldn't put a sign outside telling what happy hour specials an establishment had.

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moonbunnychan t1_jaa7cmx wrote

Also since all bars have to also technically be a restaurant, you get WAY more people bringing their kids to what is very clearly an adult environment and that gets annoying fast. Some places have a no kids after a certain time policy, but not many, and even the ones that do often don't enforce it.

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fidel1o t1_ja8v4bd wrote

okay so they have to sell food, how does that not make it a bar?

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MFoy t1_ja8wpa5 wrote

Because if you serve hard liquor, you have to maintain a 45%-55% food to mixed drink ratio (beer and wine don't count). You can't have a hole in the wall establishment that focuses on selling alcohol.

If you have a beer/wine only license, you have to sell $4,000 in food a month, no matter what. $2,000 of that must be in entrees.

Exceptions have been carved out over the years for entertainment venues, vineyards and breweries where alcohol is brewed on-premise, but these laws date back to the end of prohibition, and have basically stopped all dive bars from existing in Virginia.

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BirdLawyerPerson t1_ja9sipv wrote

There's a floor plan requirement, too, where at least half of the seats in an establishment must be at tables or booths, rather than at the bar. So there aren't the traditional narrow bars like in most cities, where you walk in and it's a few high tops plus the bar itself.

Throw in the food requirement (and more importantly, the requirement that the kitchen always be serving full entrees while alcohol is being served), and you basically don't have bars in Virginia.

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TechnoBagels t1_ja8wntb wrote

i think it's reasonable to categorize something as a restaurant or bar based on whether it sells mostly food or drinks

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