SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 23, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Five Utah Starbucks locations were given the approval Tuesday to allow them to start serving beer and wine to customers.
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has granted Starbucks a master license allowing the five stores to serve alcohol in the evening hours.
The stores, located in downtown Salt Lake City, Holladay, Park City, Farmington and Lehi, will first have to convert their coffee shops into restaurants by adding kitchens and a food menu to abide by current state liquor laws.
The company will also have to pour liquor where customers cannot see, a term known around Utah as the “Zion curtain,” and only 30 percent of the sales can come from alcohol.
The restaurant is the first chain to be granted this “master license” since being enacted by the Utah legislature in 2014.
It is unknown when Starbucks will start serving beer and wine.
