Connecticut § 30-22g - Cafe permit for wine, beer and cider.

§ 30-22g. Cafe permit for wine, beer and cider.

Sec. 30-22g. Cafe permit for wine, beer and cider. (a) For the purposes of this section:

(1) “Cafe” means a space that (A) is located in a suitable and permanent building, (B) is kept, used, maintained, advertised and held out to the public to be a place where alcoholic liquor and food are served at retail for consumption on the premises, (C) at all times has employed therein an adequate number of employees, (D) does not include public sleeping accommodations, and (E) need not necessarily have a dining room or kitchen; and

(2) “Full course meal” means a diversified selection of food which (A) ordinarily cannot be consumed without the use of tableware, and (B) cannot be conveniently consumed while standing or walking.

(b) A cafe permit for wine, beer and cider shall allow the retail sale of wine and beer, and of cider not exceeding six per cent of alcohol per volume, to be consumed on the permit premises of a cafe. The holder of a cafe permit for wine, beer and cider shall keep food available during the majority of the hours such permit premises are open under this subsection for sale to, and consumption by, customers on such permit premises. The availability of food from outside vendors located on or near the permit premises, delivered either directly by such outside vendors or indirectly through a third party, is sufficient to satisfy such requirement. The permit premises shall at all times comply with all regulations of the local department of health. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that any food be sold or purchased with any wine, beer or cider, and no rule, regulation or standard shall be promulgated or enforced to require that sales of food be substantial or that the business's receipts from sales of wine, beer and cider equal any set percentage of total receipts from all sales made on the permit premises. A cafe permit for wine, beer and cider shall allow, with the Department of Consumer Protection's prior approval and if allowed under fire, zoning and health regulations, wine, beer and cider to be served at tables in outside areas that are screened or not screened from public view. If fire, zoning or health regulations do not require that such areas be enclosed by a fence or wall, the department shall not require that such areas be so enclosed. No such fence or wall shall be less than thirty inches high. A cafe permit for wine, beer and cider shall also authorize the sale, at retail from the permit premises for consumption off the permit premises, of sealed containers supplied by the permittee of wine and draught beer. Such sales shall be conducted only during the hours a package store is permitted to sell alcoholic liquor under the provisions of subsection (d) of section 30-91. Not more than one hundred ninety-six ounces of such beer shall be sold to any person on any day on which the sale of alcoholic liquor is authorized under the provisions of subsection (d) of section 30-91. The annual fee for a cafe permit for wine, beer and cider shall be one thousand dollars.

(c) A cafe customer may remove one previously unsealed bottle of wine from the permit premises of a cafe, provided:

(1) The customer purchased a full course meal for consumption on such permit premises;

(2) The bottle of wine was unsealed on such permit premises for consumption with such full course meal on such permit premises;

(3) The customer consumed a portion of the wine contained within such unsealed bottle on such permit premises;

(4) The permittee, or the permittee's agent or employee, securely seals such bottle of wine and places such bottle of wine in a bag before such bottle of wine is removed from such permit premises; and

(5) Such bottle of wine is consumed off such permit premises.

(d) A cafe permit for wine, beer and cider issued pursuant to this section shall allow those additional permissible uses specified in a caterer liquor permit established in section 30-37j without an additional fee, but subject to compliance with the provisions of said section.

(P.A. 24-85, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 24-85 effective July 1, 2024.

Secs. 30-22h to 30-22z. Reserved for future use.