How to Get a Virginia Liquor License

Last updated: September 11, 2026

Virginia will still license your restaurant to pour cocktails and then check, every year, that the food side holds up — but since July 1, 2026 the test is no longer one 45% number. A mixed beverage license costs $1,050 to $3,100 a year by seating at tables, plus a $195 application fee. The ratio is now keyed to monthly food sales: $48,000 and the ratio does not apply; $25,000 to $48,000 and food must be at least 30%; below that it stays 45% for most rooms, 30% for small ones. You prove it in an MBAR filing. Server training is not required, but the free state course cuts your penalty when something goes wrong.

No Card Required — and Beware the Course Sellers

Virginia issues no bartender or server license and does not mandate server training. Virginia ABC provides three free courses, taught regionally by ABC special agents:

• MART — Managers’ Alcohol Responsibility Training, for managers and owners.
• RSVP — Responsible Sellers & Servers: Virginia’s Program, for sellers and servers.
• RADD — Responsible Alcohol Delivery Driver.
• ★ A warning about what you will read elsewhere: several national course sellers advertise that Virginia requires all servers and managers to certify “in the RBS portal within 60 days” of hire. That is California’s rule with Virginia’s name attached — RBS is the California program. Virginia ABC’s own training page describes its courses as assistance for licensees, not a mandate.
• Certified training still pays — see below. And ABC runs a Seller/Server Training Approval Program (STAP) that certifies third-party courses for that purpose.

The License, and the Ratio Attached to It

Mixed beverage license fees are set in the Code of Virginia by seating capacity at tables:

• Up to 100 persons — $1,050. More than 100 but not more than 150 — $1,495. More than 150 but not more than 500 — $1,980. More than 500 but not more than 1,000 — $2,500. More than 1,000 — $3,100.
• Application fee — $195, nonrefundable, plus the actual fingerprint-processing charge, on every license application.
• Local mixed beverage restaurant fee on top of the state fee: $200 (up to 100 seats) to $800 (over 1,000), by the same seating bands.
• Mixed beverage caterer’s license — $1,990. On-and-off-premises wine and beer, no spirits: $450.
• The food-to-beverage ratio, since July 1, 2026: average monthly food sales of at least $48,000 — the ratio does not apply. At least $25,000 but less than $48,000 — food at least 30%. At least $4,000 but less than $25,000 — food at least 45%, except a room with fewer than 30 seats and occupancy under 60 people drops to 30%.
• Seats at tables must at least equal seats at counters. Meals with substantial entrees have to be regularly sold.
• The MBAR: mixed beverage licensees — restaurants, caterers and clubs — must submit a Mixed Beverage Annual Review to Virginia ABC once a year, within 30 days after the end of the mixed beverage licensee year.
• Spirits retail is closed — Virginia is a control state and sells distilled spirits through ABC stores.

What It Costs

Item	Cost	Notes
Bartender/server card	$0	Virginia issues none and mandates no training
MART / RSVP / RADD training	Free	Taught by Virginia ABC special agents
Application fee	$195	Nonrefundable, per license application
Mixed beverage — up to 100 seats	$1,050/yr	State fee; seating capacity at tables
Mixed beverage — 101–150 seats	$1,495/yr
Mixed beverage — 151–500 seats	$1,980/yr
Mixed beverage — 501–1,000 / over 1,000	$2,500 / $3,100
Local mixed beverage restaurant fee	$200–$800	Same seating bands; $200 up to 100 seats, $800 over 1,000
Mixed beverage caterer	$1,990/yr
On-and-off-premises wine and beer	$450/yr	No spirits
Food-to-beverage ratio	None / 30% / 45%	By average monthly food sales, since July 1, 2026
Private liquor store	Does not exist	Control state — spirits sold through ABC stores
Virginia LLC	$100	Articles of organization, Va. Code 13.1-1005

The Ratio Is No Longer One Number

Virginia’s mixed beverage fee is unremarkable — $1,050 a year for a restaurant seating up to 100. What makes Virginia different is the condition riding on it, and that condition changed on July 1, 2026.

For decades every mixed beverage restaurant lived under a single 45% food-to-beverage ratio. House Bill 975, now Chapter 719, replaced that with three bands keyed to average monthly food sales:

• $48,000 a month or more: the ratio does not apply.
• $25,000 but less than $48,000: food must be at least 30%.
• $4,000 but less than $25,000: food must be at least 45%, except a room with fewer than 30 seats and occupancy under 60 people drops to 30%.

A high-volume kitchen is now out of the ratio business entirely. A cocktail-forward room that cannot clear $4,000 a month in food is still in trouble. And every mixed beverage restaurant must keep at least as many seats at tables as at counters — a physical layout rule, not a sales rule.

Then you prove it. Mixed beverage licensees file a Mixed Beverage Annual Review (MBAR) with Virginia ABC once a year, within 30 days after the end of the mixed beverage licensee year. That is what converts the ratio from a rule nobody checks into an annual test with your license attached to the result. ABC’s own MBAR webpage still describes the old flat 45% test; the statute and ABC’s July 1, 2026 legislative update are what currently govern.

Plan the concept around the band you will actually land in. And note the other structural fact: Virginia is a control state, so a private liquor store is not an option — spirits for taking home move through ABC stores.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Model monthly food sales against the three ratio bands before anything else — $48,000, $25,000, and $4,000 decide which test you live under.
2. Count seating at tables, and keep table seats at least equal to counter seats — tables set the fee band and the layout rule.
3. Register the entity with the State Corporation Commission ($100).
4. Apply to Virginia ABC with the $195 application fee, and budget the local mixed beverage fee ($200–$800) alongside the state license.
5. Book the free ABC training — MART for managers, RSVP for servers — and keep the records, because certified training reduces suspensions and civil penalties.
6. Set up the bookkeeping to track food versus mixed beverages from day one, so the MBAR — due within 30 days after the licensee year ends — is a report rather than a scramble.

Staying Licensed

Mixed beverage licenses renew annually at the fee for your seating band. The obligation that actually needs managing is continuous: land in the right food-sales band ($48,000 / $25,000 / $4,000 a month), hit the matching ratio (none / 30% / 45%), keep table seats at least equal to counter seats, and file the MBAR within 30 days after the mixed beverage licensee year ends. Keep staff through the free ABC courses too — certified training is what buys a shorter suspension and a smaller civil penalty if a violation ever lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need a license to serve alcohol in Virginia?

Virginia does not require alcohol server training by state law and issues no bartender card. Virginia ABC offers three free licensee courses — Managers’ Alcohol Responsibility Training (MART), Responsible Alcohol Delivery Driver (RADD), and Responsible Sellers and Servers: Virginia’s Program (RSVP) — taught regionally by ABC special agents. Be careful with course sellers online: some advertise a Virginia mandate with a sixty-day deadline, which describes California’s rule, not Virginia’s.

What does server training actually get a Virginia licensee?

A smaller penalty when something goes wrong. Virginia law provides for a reduction in the length of any suspension and a reduction in the amount of any civil penalty for a retail licensee that can demonstrate it provided its employees alcohol server or seller training certified in advance by the Board. That certified training must include a course on recognizing and reporting suspected human trafficking, developed or approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

How much is a mixed beverage license in Virginia?

The annual state fee is set by seating capacity at tables: up to 100 seats is $1,050, more than 100 but not more than 150 is $1,495, more than 150 but not more than 500 is $1,980, more than 500 but not more than 1,000 is $2,500, and more than 1,000 is $3,100. A mixed beverage caterer’s license is $1,990. Every application also pays a nonrefundable $195 application fee. Localities charge their own mixed beverage restaurant fee on top — $200 to $800 by the same seating bands. Wine and beer without spirits is $450 a year for an on-and-off-premises license.

What is the Virginia food-to-beverage ratio now?

It is no longer one number. Since July 1, 2026, the ratio is keyed to average monthly food sales: at least $48,000 a month, the ratio does not apply; at least $25,000 but less than $48,000, food must be at least 30 percent; at least $4,000 but less than $25,000, food must be at least 45 percent, except a room with fewer than 30 seats and occupancy under 60 people drops to 30 percent. Restaurants must also have at least as many seats at tables as at counters.

What is an MBAR in Virginia?

The Mixed Beverage Annual Review — the filing where you demonstrate you met the food-to-beverage ratio. Mixed beverage licensees including restaurants, caterers and clubs must submit an MBAR to Virginia ABC once a year, within 30 days after the end of the mixed beverage licensee year. It is the compliance event that makes the ratio a real test rather than a rule nobody checks.

Can I open a liquor store in Virginia?

Not as a private business. Virginia is a control state: distilled spirits are sold through Virginia ABC stores rather than by private retailers. Beer and wine retail is conventional and uses ordinary ABC licenses, but spirits for taking home run through the state system.

Forming the company, taxes, insurance, and hiring are covered in our full guide to starting a business in Virginia.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
Code of Virginia § 4.1-231.1 — Fees on state licenses	Mixed beverage restaurant license fees by seating capacity: $1,050 up to 100 persons, $1,495, $1,980, $2,500 and $3,100; mixed beverage caterer $1,990; on-and-off-premises wine and beer $450
Code of Virginia § 4.1-230 — Applications for licenses	Each license application fee shall be $195, plus the actual fingerprint-processing charge, and is not refunded
Code of Virginia § 4.1-233.1 — Fees on local licenses	Local mixed beverage restaurant fees by seating: $200 up to 100 persons, $350, $500, $650, and $800 over 1,000
Code of Virginia § 4.1-227	Reduction in the length of any suspension and the amount of any civil penalty where a retail licensee demonstrates it provided employees alcohol server or seller training certified in advance by the Board, including a human trafficking course developed or approved under 9.1-102
HB 975 Enrolled (Acts of Assembly Chapter 719, effective July 1, 2026)	Monthly food sales at least $48,000: ratio shall not apply; $25,000 but less than $48,000: at least 30 percent; $4,000 but less than $25,000: at least 45 percent, except fewer than 30 seats and occupancy under 60 people: 30 percent; at least as many seats at tables as at counters
Virginia ABC — Legislative Update	HB 975 effective July 1, 2026: $48,000 monthly food not subject to the MBAR ratio; $25,000 but less than $48,000 and certain low-occupancy restaurants a reduced 30% ratio; all other mixed beverage restaurants remain at 45%
Virginia ABC — Licensee Publication FY26	MBAR due once a year within 30 days after the end of the mixed beverage licensee year, 3 VAC 5-70-90(D)(2)
Virginia ABC — Licensee Training	The three free licensee courses: MART, RADD and RSVP, taught regionally by Virginia ABC special agents
Virginia ABC — Seller/Server Training Approval Program	STAP, under which ABC certifies third-party seller/server courses
Code of Virginia § 13.1-1005 — Fees	$100 fee for filing articles of organization