Drinking out in Utah: bars, restaurants and the rules in between

Ordering a drink in Utah works much like anywhere else, with a few house rules. Most come down to one question: is this place licensed as a restaurant or as a bar?

Restaurant or bar? It changes the rules

Restaurants: you're there to eat

A licensed restaurant can serve you a drink only if you're dining there. That's the “intent to dine” rule, and it's why your server asks whether you'll be eating. You don't have to order food first, though: a 2013 change lets you start with a drink. Kids are welcome, and restaurants have to keep food sales at least 70% of the mix, which is why they feel like restaurants.

Restaurant licenses come in three strengths: full-service (cocktails, wine and beer), limited-service (wine and beer, no spirits), and beer-only.

Bars: 21 and over, food optional

Bars are for people 21 and over and scan every ID at the door, whatever your age. They must have food available, but you don't have to order any. Some bars are members-only by nature (country clubs, or fraternal clubs like the Elks and VFW), but an ordinary bar doesn't need a membership; that requirement ended in 2009.

Taverns and beer joints

Taverns sell only beer (5% or under) and are adults-only too. Bowling alleys, golf courses, ski resorts and arenas often hold a beer-only license.

Looking for one? Every licensed bar and tavern in Utah, by town, from DABS's license list.

Hours

Source: DABS residents & visitors information. Nobody serves past 1 a.m.

The pour: 1.5 ounces, and no doubles

Anywhere that serves liquor has to use a metered dispenser set to 1.5 ounces of the main spirit per drink. Recipes can add “secondary” liquors for flavor, up to 2.5 ounces of spirits total. So there's no ordering a double, and that Long Island iced tea will be a carefully engineered one. Wine by the glass is up to 5 ounces.

Since 2024, bars and full-service restaurants can sell canned cocktails (12 ounces or less, 10% alcohol or less), and since May 2026 they can open them for you.

No happy hour

Utah law prohibits happy hours and other drink discounts aimed at certain times of day. Bars adapted with all-day specials, which is why you'll see “Taco Tuesday” pricing and never “4 to 6.”

ID: who gets carded

• Bars and taverns check and scan every ID before you walk in.
• Restaurants check and scan the ID of anyone who looks 35 or younger and is ordering alcohol.
• Passports, U.S. driver licenses and state IDs work, and since May 2026, foreign driver licenses too.

A short-lived rule required checking everyone's ID everywhere from January 2026, but the legislature rolled it back in March 2026 for everyone except bars, taverns and stores.

Where did the “Zion curtain” go?

For years, restaurants had to mix drinks behind a partition, nicknamed the Zion curtain, so diners couldn't see them being made. Since a 2017 law, restaurants can instead keep a 10-foot zone around the bar where people under 21 aren't seated, so in many restaurants you'll now just see a bar.

Bringing your own wine, and taking it home

You can bring a bottle of wine (not beer or spirits) to a licensed restaurant or bar if the place agrees; staff serve it, and they can charge a corkage fee. Bringing any other alcohol into a restaurant isn't allowed.

Didn't finish a bottle you ordered with dinner? You can take the rest home. Put it in the trunk for the drive: an opened bottle can't ride in the passenger area.

Breweries, wineries and distilleries

Local makers can sell every day of the week, including Sundays, to drink there or to go. To-go containers have to stay closed while you're still at the business.

Walking around with a drink

Generally, your drink stays where you bought it. A few exceptions are new: hotels can mark a route from the bar to guest rooms where you can carry a drink, and a bar can walk you and your drink to its own restaurant next door (under 35 feet, staff escort, no public sidewalk). Parks and public buildings are off-limits without a permit.