San Francisco · On-Sale Beer
San Francisco Type 40 applications
The beer-only class: a tavern, a beer bar, a taproom. We hold no Type 40 for resale in San Francisco. What we run on this class is the application with the ABC, and we will say plainly if a different class, or a purchase, is the better route for the room you are describing.
- San Francisco County
- Type 40 · On-Sale Beer
- Applications, not resale stock
On the book
Type 40 on the book right now: none
There is no San Francisco Type 40 license for sale on this desk today.
Obtaining one can involve quota, local approval and ABC review. Which of those three bear on your address is established with the Department, and with San Francisco, for the specific premises, it is not something to guess at from a page.
Tell us what you are opening and we will tell you whether to apply or to buy, then handle whichever it is. That is the same offer we make on every class here; it is simply the whole offer on this one.
Every other class in this directory shows you the count and the price range before you ask for anything. This one shows you a zero, for the same reason.
The class
What a Type 40 covers
The beer-only class, with the hedges the ABC position actually carries.
Class rules, quota position and local approval are confirmed with the ABC, and with San Francisco, for your specific premises during qualification. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and nothing here is a promise that a license will be issued.
- Class
- Type 40, On-Sale Beer
- What you pour
- Beer, for drinking on the premises. A draft list, cans and bottles, a room built around beer rather than around a bar program.
- What you cannot pour
- Wine and distilled spirits are not permitted on this class.
- Food
- No full restaurant is required, but the ABC expects food to be available, sandwiches, pizza, packaged snacks are the register of it.
- Packaged beer to take away
- Generally within reach on this class, in packaged form and within the ABC’s rules. We confirm the position for your premises rather than promise it here.
- Minors
- Generally permitted to enter and remain, provided they do not buy or drink alcohol and your local rules and house policy allow it.
- Live music and events
- Not governed by the license. Entertainment, noise and occupancy sit with local permits and conditions, and we coordinate the two.
- Adding wine or spirits later
- A different license type and ABC approval, which is not guaranteed. Choose on the room you intend to run, not only the one you are opening.
- What you are buying here
- Our work on the application. There is no license price on this page because there is no license on the book to price.
The decision
Apply, or buy one on the book
Both routes are ours. This is how we tell them apart for a beer room.
| What you are deciding | Apply to the ABC | Buy one on the book |
|---|---|---|
| What you end up with | A new Type 40 issued to you for your premises, if the ABC approves it. | An existing license transferred into your name, on the terms in the confidential file. |
| What decides it | Whether the concept and the address qualify, and what the district asks of you. | What is on the book, and at what price. |
| What we do | Prepare and run the application, and handle the ABC through review. | Broker the purchase and run it through a licensed escrow holder. The money is never held by us, at any point, on any file. |
| What it costs you | Our fee for the application work, quoted in writing before we start. | our fee, quoted in writing before we start, paid by the seller at closing. No buyer-side fee. |
| How long | Typically several months from filing to issuance, depending on district workload, background checks, and any local hearing or protest. | |
| Which one we will tell you to do | When beer is the whole point of the room and you are opening new. | When you need wine or spirits as well, or your opening date will not wait. |
Commission, escrow and the 78-day median are our own terms and our own closed files. The ABC’s fees and calendar are the Department’s, and we confirm those against your file rather than publish them here.
The service
What we actually do on a Type 40
The application with the ABC, and the local permits that sit beside it.
- Read the concept first: a beer bar, a tavern or a taproom, and whether Type 40 carries it now and in three years.
- Read the address: the San Francisco Planning district, the zoning, and any conditional use or local condition.
- Say plainly whether to apply for a new license or to buy and transfer an existing one.
- Prepare the application and the new-issue paperwork, and handle the ABC through review.
- Coordinate the entertainment, noise and occupancy permits that sit beside the license rather than inside it.
- Coordinate with your landlord, your counsel and escrow so nothing falls out of step.
Classes with San Francisco stock
Licenses you can buy here today
Four classes change hands in San Francisco often enough to have a market, and every one of them is priced on its own page.
Type 47 · 18 licenses on the book
Type 21 · 10 licenses on the book
Type 48 · 1 license on the book
Type 20 · 1 license on the book
Type 41 · applications
All 30 San Francisco licenses
Identifying detail, license number, licensee, premises address, terms, is not published for any license on this site. It goes to a qualified buyer under a mutual NDA, and that is a reason to inquire rather than a reason to wonder.
Type 40 questions
What operators ask us first
Do you have a San Francisco Type 40 for sale?
Not today. There is no Type 40 on our San Francisco book. What we run on this class is the application, and if one comes to us for resale it goes on the book priced, like every other license here.
Do I have to serve food on a Type 40?
You do not need a full restaurant, but the ABC expects food to be available. Sandwiches, pizza or packaged snacks are the register of it, and we will tell you what your district expects to see.
Can I serve wine or cocktails too?
No. Wine and distilled spirits are not permitted on this class. A beer and wine room is a Type 41; a full bar is a Type 47 or a Type 48, depending on whether the kitchen carries the business.
Are minors allowed in?
Generally yes, provided they do not buy or drink alcohol and your local rules and your own house policy allow it.
Can I put a band on?
The license governs alcohol service, not entertainment. Live music, noise and occupancy run on local permits and conditions, and we coordinate the license with them rather than leaving you to find out they were separate.
How long does a Type 40 take?
Typically several months from filing to issuance, depending on district workload, background checks, and any local hearing or protest. A transfer runs on a different clock: a different clock.
Should I apply, or buy a license instead?
Tell us what you are opening and we will tell you. If beer is the whole point of the room, applying is usually the conversation; if you need wine or spirits as well, one of the classes with stock is, and we handle either.
Start here
Tell us what you are opening
One reply from the desk, inside one business day: whether to apply for a Type 40 or buy a license on the book, what your address does to the timetable, and what the work costs. No newsletter, no drip sequence.
Or talk to the desk now: (800) 799-9081
Email the desk: mike@liquorlicenseagents.com
What you send goes to the desk and nowhere else. We do not publish, sell or trade it, and there is no charge for the conversation.