Texas liquor laws

[Mark Twain]

Moving to a new state always brings some changes. Let me relate a few of my experiences that I’ve had thus far in the great state of Texas. :blush:

1). Some (I would say all, but I haven’t gone to all of them) businesses refuse to sell alcohol to anyone who doesn’t have a Texas State id. Excuse me for thinking that my MO state issued drivers license would be valid in the other 49 states in the Union. It is apparently a felony offense for a bartender/ shop owner to sell alcohol to someone with a fake out of state id. It is NOT a felony to sell alcohol to someone with a fake Texas State id. This means that I had to pay $15 and stand in line at the DMV for two hours to get a damned id so I could go to the grocery store and pick up a six-pack of beer.

2.) Liquor stores cannot sell spirits past 9:00 pm. This is no big deal, right? I’ll just go to a bar for the rest of the night. Bars stop serving liquor at 12:00 on weeknights and at 1:00 on the weekend. This is bullshit. :angry:

3.) The worst part is that there’s a little liquor store just down the street from me that carries Zaya 12 yo rum and Ron Z 23 yo rum. The cost is $42 for the Zaya and $53 for the Ron Z! I am now looking for websites that ship the stuff into Texas. I haven’t found one that will do it because of all of the liquor laws.

 

[tomthirtysix]

2.) Liquor stores cannot sell spirits past 9:00 pm. This is no big deal, right? I’ll just go to a bar for the rest of the night. Bars stop serving liquor at 12:00 on weeknights and at 1:00 on the weekend. This is bullshit. :angry:

When I was going to school in CT, they couldn't sell past 8pm, and not at all on Sundays. This meant if you didn't remember by 8pm on Saturday(yeah, right) to grab beer for Sunday football, you were heading to East Hartford to grab some 40s from the bodegas.

I feel your pain.

 

[Marcos]

Getting a firearm in Texas is probably easier. I miss it there greatly.

 

[jfields]

Welcome to the Bible Belt Marc. :laugh:

 

[AVB]

Here you go.

 

[Mark Twain]

Here you go.

It was the first place I checked Ray. This is taken from their shipping page.

1.Mission Liquor does NOT ship Alcohol to Alabama, Arizona, Georgia,Ohio(ship wine only),Utah, Michigan, New Hampshire. Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon, Washington,DC, Indiana, Kentucky, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Carolina and South Carolina. Freight calculations are estimated and include: freight, packaging, handling , within the continental US. Shipping and handling charges may vary and will be adjusted prior to shipping.

 

[AVB]

Ack! My bad. Try here

"Shopper’s Vineyard only ships within the contiguous continental United States. Shopper’s Vineyard does not ship to the states of: Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Tennessee, or Utah. Nor, do we ship to Puerto Rico, or other countries."

No mention of Texas

 

[Turk10mm]

Moving to a new state always brings some changes. Let me relate a few of my experiences that I’ve had thus far in the great state of Texas. :blush:

1). Some (I would say all, but I haven’t gone to all of them) businesses refuse to sell alcohol to anyone who doesn’t have a Texas State id. Excuse me for thinking that my MO state issued drivers license would be valid in the other 49 states in the Union. It is apparently a felony offense for a bartender/ shop owner to sell alcohol to someone with a fake out of state id. It is NOT a felony to sell alcohol to someone with a fake Texas State id. This means that I had to pay $15 and stand in line at the DMV for two hours to get a damned id so I could go to the grocery store and pick up a six-pack of beer.

2.) Liquor stores cannot sell spirits past 9:00 pm. This is no big deal, right? I’ll just go to a bar for the rest of the night. Bars stop serving liquor at 12:00 on weeknights and at 1:00 on the weekend. This is bullshit. :angry:

3.) The worst part is that there’s a little liquor store just down the street from me that carries Zaya 12 yo rum and Ron Z 23 yo rum. The cost is $42 for the Zaya and $53 for the Ron Z! I am now looking for websites that ship the stuff into Texas. I haven’t found one that will do it because of all of the liquor laws.

In response to your observations.

1. All states require that when you make permanent residence there that you procure a valid state ID identifying your new resedency. I believe you have 90 days to do this in Texas, I'm not sure. I know that if you live in texas and move within texas you have to update your address within 30 days. This is a ticketable offense. Any liquor sold to a minor is a felony. The location of a fake id is meaningless. The point is that many places refuse to serve to anyone without a valid Texas ID to prevent any problems with TABC (texas alchoholic beverage comm.) One violation can have a liquor license suspended. Your nights purchases are not worth the loss of a license and the fines that accompany that. The bartender and/or door man go to JAIL for an offense, no questions asked. If they serve a minor they go to jail that night. You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride. If a fifty year old is carded and provides an out of date drivers license it is illegal to serve them alchohol. You will many times see bars that are already under scrutiny id'ing EVERYONE. Yes, I have taken the TABC class that you are required to take in order to serve booze.

2. The state law for liquor licensed bars is 2am every night of the week. They can't open till 12pm on Sunday, and they can open at 8 or 9am every other day of the week. An icehouse (sells beer and wine only, BYOB) can only be open till 12am weeknights and 1am saturday night. But you can bring your own booze there. If you are limited on time its a city ordinance, such as many college towns implement to keep kids from drinking all night and splattering themselves along the highways. FYI liqour stores are closed on Sundays, so if you need booze for the game, get it saturday.

3. My local liquor store sells them for 37 and 42 respectively on the shelf all day. So don't blame texas for a gouging liquor store. Lastly, shipping alcohol across state lines is a federal offense as far as I'm aware, so don't blame Texas for that.

Sorry yer not enjoying your stay so far.. This is the bible belt, and it sounds like you are in a small town by the time restrictions on bar hours. There are MANY states where liqour laws are much more strict.

 

[Mark Twain]

In response to your observations.

1. All states require that when you make permanent residence there that you procure a valid state ID identifying your new resedency. I believe you have 90 days to do this in Texas, I'm not sure. I know that if you live in texas and move within texas you have to update your address within 30 days. This is a ticketable offense. Any liquor sold to a minor is a felony. The location of a fake id is meaningless. The point is that many places refuse to serve to anyone without a valid Texas ID to prevent any problems with TABC (texas alchoholic beverage comm.) One violation can have a liquor license suspended. Your nights purchases are not worth the loss of a license and the fines that accompany that. The bartender and/or door man go to JAIL for an offense, no questions asked. If they serve a minor they go to jail that night. You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride. If a fifty year old is carded and provides an out of date drivers license it is illegal to serve them alchohol. You will many times see bars that are already under scrutiny id'ing EVERYONE. Yes, I have taken the TABC class that you are required to take in order to serve booze.

I’m 24 years old and I have a valid id. A Missouri drivers license that is unexpired and completely legal in my state and should be recognized as a valid form of identification in the entire United States. So how does a bar serve a tourist that doesn’t have a Texas State id or members of our armed forces with a military id who want to stop in for a cold one?

You can claim permanent residency after 90 days, not before. I got a Texas State id the week I moved here. It has nothing to do with permanent residency. I didn’t have to show them proof of residence. Hell, all I had to do was give them my SS# and my driver’s license and they gave me a temporary permit on the spot and mailed me the new one. The temporary permit is a white sheet of paper with a seal in the middle of it that a photocopier could make! What pisses me off is the fact that this little piece of paper does not have a picture of me or any visual security barriers, yet I was able to buy liquor with this and not with my valid MO id? This makes no sense what so ever.


2. The state law for liquor licensed bars is 2am every night of the week. They can't open till 12pm on Sunday, and they can open at 8 or 9am every other day of the week. An icehouse (sells beer and wine only, BYOB) can only be open till 12am weeknights and 1am saturday night. But you can bring your own booze there. If you are limited on time its a city ordinance, such as many college towns implement to keep kids from drinking all night and splattering themselves along the highways. FYI liqour stores are closed on Sundays, so if you need booze for the game, get it saturday.

Yes. I am also told that this varies from county to county and even city to city. I’ve also heard that there are even some dry counties in Texas. There are also clubs where you have to buy a membership to drink.

3. My local liquor store sells them for 37 and 42 respectively on the shelf all day. So don't blame texas for a gouging liquor store. Lastly, shipping alcohol across state lines is a federal offense as far as I'm aware, so don't blame Texas for that.

If you’re going to defend the great state of Texas, then at least capitalize it in your sentence. :blush: No it’s not a Federal offense! State laws and Federal laws are two different matters.

Sorry yer not enjoying your stay so far.. This is the bible belt, and it sounds like you are in a small town by the time restrictions on bar hours. There are MANY states where liqour laws are much more strict.

Don't be sorry. I'm just a guest in your state for a few years. As far as worse liquor laws go, Yeah, there's always Utah.

 

[Turk10mm]

In response to your observations.


I’m 24 years old and I have a valid id. A Missouri drivers license that is unexpired and completely legal in my state and should be recognized as a valid form of identification in the entire United States. So how does a bar serve a tourist that doesn’t have a Texas State id or members of our armed forces with a military id who want to stop in for a cold one?

You can claim permanent residency after 90 days, not before. I got a Texas State id the week I moved here. It has nothing to do with permanent residency. I didn’t have to show them proof of residence. Hell, all I had to do was give them my SS# and my driver’s license and they gave me a temporary permit on the spot and mailed me the new one. The temporary permit is a white sheet of paper with a seal in the middle of it that a photocopier could make! What pisses me off is the fact that this little piece of paper does not have a picture of me or any visual security barriers, yet I was able to buy liquor with this and not with my valid MO id? This makes no sense what so ever.

Yes. I am also told that this varies from county to county and even city to city. I’ve also heard that there are even some dry counties in Texas. There are also clubs where you have to buy a membership to drink.


If you’re going to defend the great state of Texas, then at least capitalize it in your sentence. :blush: No it’s not a Federal offense! State laws and Federal laws are two different matters.

.[/b]

As a cashier at a store, it isn't worth going to jail over to make you happy. I understand it was probably frustrating, but its a big deal here.

The memberships thing is just a gouge by a dry county to make a little extra money. Many "clubs" cost a buck. Its more like a sam card than a club. Just a way to illegaly tax people. Its done all over the south.

Sorry, i been workin all weekend, and my capitalization is hit or miss right now.

 

[MX]

Have you been asked for the Uni-Card yet? I have no idea what this is about, but it seems to be creeping up all over the Fort Hood area. Its free, and only one person in a group needs one

Other than that, I drink until 2am at every bar I go too. You are in San Marcos right, if I remember they are a bit stupid about the drinking up there.

Sorry it is causing so much trouble, I will do my best to make it up too you when I get home, San Marcos is only a few hours away.

Tim

 

[Turk10mm]

Have you been asked for the Uni-Card yet? I have no idea what this is about, but it seems to be creeping up all over the Fort Hood area. Its free, and only one person in a group needs one

Other than that, I drink until 2am at every bar I go too. You are in San Marcos right, if I remember they are a bit stupid about the drinking up there.

Sorry it is causing so much trouble, I will do my best to make it up too you when I get home, San Marcos is only a few hours away.

Tim

the uni-card is a buck.. basically free and the person with card has to purchase all the booze, so everyone usually ends up buying one therefore giving the county a buck each time. Then since you typically aren't where you have to have a unicard you get home and throw it away because it was only a buck.. untillll the next time you go to that place, and you spend another buck on a uni-card..

Its just an illegal form of county taxing alcohol.

 

[Mark Twain]

As a cashier at a store, it isn't worth going to jail over to make you happy. I understand it was probably frustrating, but its a big deal here.

The memberships thing is just a gouge by a dry county to make a little extra money. Many "clubs" cost a buck. Its more like a sam card than a club. Just a way to illegaly tax people. Its done all over the south.

Sorry, i been workin all weekend, and my capitalization is hit or miss right now.

I don't think it's about making me happy. I think it's about me walking into three liquor stores and getting told no three different times and not being given an explanation why they couldn't sell me beer. This makes me angry.

 

[denverdog]

I lived near Tyler, TX several years back. At the time it was a dry couny. That my friends is worst case scenario.

 

[Turk10mm]

I lived near Tyler, TX several years back. At the time it was a dry couny. That my friends is worst case scenario.

The funniest thing about a dry county is the county line into the closest Wet County. There's two or three liqour stores on either side of the highway that are always packed.

 

[PSTAN]

Living in Oklahoma I have never had a problem, to date, purchasing in Texas with my license.

Thanks for the links Ray, glad to see that they are not listing Oklahoma as a No ship to state. No one handles the RZ within 80 miles of me.

Phillip

 

[dav1041]

Hey Marc, so how's Texas :sign:

Seriously though the liquor laws may be strange but I am pretty sure you can legally shot someone that is Trespassing on your property!

Don't mess with Texas man :laugh: