Utah Liquor Laws

Yes You Can Get A Drink In Utah

But not any more. As of July 1, 2009, Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. signed historic legislation hurtling Utah liquor laws into the 21st century. It was a day many thought wouldn’t come.

With the stroke of a pen, Utah’s archaic private club requirement was abolished. Changing the way restaurants, bars, and clubs can serve drinks in Utah. And taking away one of the few weak arguments other states could use to try and get people to visit their state instead.

No More Private Clubs

I found when I got here, though, that if you wanted a drink, you could get one. But Utah liquor laws seemed to make it so much more difficult than in other places. And, even if it wasn’t, everyone I knew believed it was.

What Has Changed And Why Is It Better?

• Patrons no longer have to be members of a private club. Bars can remain private clubs if they choose and some of them have decided to do so. But there won’t be many of them left.

• The so-called “Zion Curtain” has been torn down. It’s the partition that kept restaurant servers from simply passing a drink across a bar.

• A compromise - it does increase the potential liability for bars serving patrons who go out afterwards and cause an accident. To as much as $2 million. The highest in the nation. But that doesn’t affect visitors does it?

• State liquor stores can now open on election days.

• And it was all done with at least the tacit approval of the Mormon Church hierarchy. Always a major hurdle in Utah.

What Does It Mean For Visitors?

So if you’ve heard about the weird Utah liquor laws and think you can’t get a drink, it's not true.

As local long-time radio host Tom Barberi recently said, he never thought he’d see the day when adulthood was legislated in Utah. A bit tongue in cheek, I believe, as anyone I know who wanted to drink alcohol in Utah had no problem doing so.

It’s just a whole easier now for you if you’re coming here to visit.

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