Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 545 - Liquor Control Act
Section 30-22a. - Cafe permit. Off-premises consumption of wine purchased with meal. Compliance provisions.

(a) A cafe permit shall allow the retail sale of alcoholic liquor to be consumed on the premises of a cafe. The holder of a cafe permit shall keep food available for sale to its customers for consumption on the premises during a majority of the hours such premises are open. The availability of food from outside vendors located on or near the premises shall be deemed compliance with such requirement. The licensed premises shall at all times comply with all the regulations of the local department of health. Nothing herein shall be construed to require that any food be sold or purchased with any alcoholic liquor, nor shall any rule, regulation or standard be promulgated or enforced requiring that the sale of food be substantial or that the receipts of the business other than from the sale of liquor equal any set percentage of total receipts from sales made therein. A cafe permit shall allow, with the prior approval of the Department of Consumer Protection, alcoholic liquor to be served at tables in outside areas that are screened or not screened from public view where permitted by fire, zoning and health regulations. If not required by fire, zoning or health regulations, a fence or wall enclosing such outside areas shall not be required by the Department of Consumer Protection. No fence or wall used to enclose such outside areas shall be less than thirty inches high. Such permit shall also authorize the sale at retail from the premises of sealed containers supplied by the permittee of draught beer for consumption off the premises. 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 four liters 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 shall be two thousand dollars, except the annual fee for a cafe permit for a prior holder of a tavern permit issued pursuant to section 30-26 shall be eight hundred dollars for the first year, twelve hundred dollars for the second year, one thousand six hundred dollars for the third year and two thousand dollars for each year thereafter.

(b) (1) A cafe patron may remove one unsealed bottle of wine for off-premises consumption provided the patron has purchased a full course meal and consumed a portion of the wine with such meal on the cafe premises. For purposes of this section, “full course meal” means a diversified selection of food which ordinarily cannot be consumed without the use of tableware and which cannot be conveniently consumed while standing or walking.
(2) A partially consumed bottle of wine that is to be removed from the premises pursuant to this subsection shall be securely sealed and placed in a bag by the permittee or the permittee's agent or employee prior to removal from the premises.
(c) As used in this section, “cafe” means space in a suitable and permanent building, vessel or structure, kept, used, maintained, advertised and held out to the public to be a place where alcoholic liquor and food is served for sale at retail for consumption on the premises but which does not necessarily serve hot meals; it shall have no sleeping accommodations for the public and need not necessarily have a kitchen or dining room but shall have employed therein at all times an adequate number of employees.
(d) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include any location in the Bradley International Airport passenger terminal complex or any location adjacent to and attached by common partition to said complex, which is open to the public and or to airline club members or their guests, with or without the sale of food, for consumption on the premises.
(e) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include all of the land and buildings in which the principal business conducted is racing or jai alai exhibitions, with pari-mutuel betting licensed by the Department of Consumer Protection.
(f) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include any commercial bowling establishment containing ten or more lanes, or any commercial racquetball or tennis facility containing five or more courts, with or without food, for consumption on the premises.
(g) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include the premises and grounds of a golf country club, defined as (1) an association of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, that has been in existence as a bona fide organization for at least one year prior to applying for a permit issued as provided by this chapter, or that at the time of applying for the permit is in existence as a bona fide organization and has not less than twenty members who have paid annual membership fees or dues and have signed affidavits of their intention to remain members of the association for not less than one year after that time, not including associations organized for any commercial or business purpose the object of which is money profit, which maintains a golf course of not less than eighteen holes and a course length of at least fifty-five hundred yards and a club house with facilities that include locker rooms, a dining room and a lounge; provided the club shall file with the department, upon request, within ten days of February first in each year, a list of the names and residences of its members, and shall similarly file, within ten days of the election of any additional member, his name and address, and provided its aggregate annual membership fees or dues and other income, exclusive of any proceeds of the sale of alcoholic liquor, shall be sufficient to defray the annual rental of its leased or rented premises, or, if the premises are owned by the club, shall be sufficient to meet the taxes, insurance and repairs and the interest on any mortgage thereof; and provided, further, its affairs and management shall be conducted by a board of directors, executive committee or similar body chosen by the members at their annual meeting, and no member or any officer, agent or employee of the club shall be paid or, directly or indirectly, shall receive in the form of salary or other compensation any profits from the disposition or sale of alcoholic liquor to the club or to the members of the club or its guests introduced by members, beyond the amount of such salary as may be fixed and voted at annual meetings by the members or by its directors or other governing body and as reported by the club to the department, within three months after the annual meeting, and as is, in the judgment of the department, reasonable and proper compensation for the services of such member, officer, agent or employee; or (2) an association of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, which has been in existence as a bona fide organization for at least one year prior to applying for a permit issued as provided by this chapter, or which at the time of applying for the permit is in existence as a bona fide organization and has not less than twenty members who have paid annual membership fees or dues and is directly or indirectly wholly owned by a corporation which is and continues to be nonprofit and to which the Internal Revenue Service has issued a ruling classifying it as an exempt organization under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, which maintains a golf course of not less than eighteen holes and a course length of at least fifty-five hundred yards and a club house with facilities which include locker rooms, a dining room and a lounge; provided the club shall file with the department, upon request, within ten days of February first in each year, a list of the names and residences of its members, and shall similarly file, within ten days of the admission of any additional member, his name and address. The nonprofit corporation shall demonstrate to the commission an ability to pay any operating deficit of the golf country club, exclusive of any proceeds of the sale of alcoholic liquor; and provided, further, the affairs and the management of the nonprofit corporation are conducted by a board of directors, executive committee or similar body at least forty per cent of the members of which are chosen by the members of the nonprofit corporation at their annual meeting and the balance of the members of the board of directors are professionals chosen for their knowledge of the business of the nonprofit corporation, and all moneys earned by the golf country club shall be used to defray its expenses of operation or for charitable purposes, and any balance shall be directly or indirectly remitted to the nonprofit corporation.
(h) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include the sale and public consumption of alcoholic liquor by passengers with or without meals upon any one designated boat engaged in the transportation of passengers for hire to or from any port in this state.
(i) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include any corporation that operates a railway in this state or that operates club, parlor, dining, buffet or lounge cars upon the lines of any such railway in this state. It shall allow the sale and public consumption of alcoholic liquor in any club, parlor, dining, buffet or lounge car of a passenger train operated in this state. It shall be subject to all the privileges, obligations and penalties provided for in this chapter except that it shall be issued to a corporation instead of to a person and if it is revoked, another application may be made by the corporation for the issuance of another railroad permit at any time after the expiration of one year after such revocation.
(j) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” shall include a facility designed, constructed and used for corporate and private parties, sporting events, concerts, exhibitions, trade shows, entertainment presentations, conventions, banquets, meetings, dances, fund-raising events and similar functions, located on a tract of land of not less than twenty acres containing an enclosed roofed pavilion constructed to seat not less than two hundred fifty people, where hot meals are regularly served in an adequate and sanitary dining area, such meals having been prepared in an adequate and sanitary kitchen on the premises, and employing an adequate number of employees who shall serve only persons who are at such outing facility to attend an event, function, private party or banquet.
(k) For purposes of compliance with this section, “cafe” includes: (1) A room or building that is subject to the care, custody and control of The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees; (2) land and buildings which are subject to the care, custody and control of an institution offering a program of higher learning, as defined in section 10a-34, which has been accredited by the Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education or otherwise is authorized to award a degree pursuant to section 10a-34; or (3) on land or in a building situated on or abutting a golf course which is subject to the care, custody and control of an institution offering a program of higher learning, as defined in section 10a-34, which has been accredited by the Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education or otherwise is authorized to award a degree pursuant to section 10a-34.
(1967, P.A. 365, S. 2; P.A. 79-604, S. 2, 5; P.A. 92-15, S. 2; P.A. 93-139, S. 19; P.A. 95-195, S. 26, 83; P.A. 97-175, S. 3; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(d); P.A. 04-11, S. 2; 04-33, S. 2; 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 339; P.A. 15-244, S. 79; P.A. 19-24, S. 22; P.A. 21-10, S. 2; 21-37, S. 97.)
History: P.A. 79-604 added provisions re serving liquor at outdoor tables under cafe permit; P.A. 92-15 amended section to provide that prior approval of the department of liquor control is necessary for serving of alcoholic liquor at tables in outside areas not screened from public view where permitted by fire, zoning or health regulations and to specify that a fence or wall enclosing such outside areas would not be required by the department of liquor control if no fire, zoning or health regulations required same; P.A. 93-139 made technical changes, added the annual fee for a cafe permit and added Subsec. (b) defining “cafe”; P.A. 95-195 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting Department of Consumer Protection for Department of Liquor Control, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-175 amended Subsec. (b) to require alcoholic liquor and food to be served for sale at retail and to make a technical change; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Department of Consumer Protection with Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-11 amended Subsec. (a) to permit the serving of alcoholic liquor at tables in outside areas which are screened, in addition to tables in outside areas which are not screened; P.A. 04-33 added new Subsec. (b) permitting a patron to remove one unsealed bottle of wine for off-premises consumption, and relettered former Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c); P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 increased fee in Subsec. (a) from $1,750 to $2,000; P.A. 15-244 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re sale of draught beer in sealed containers for consumption off premises, effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 19-24 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “premises operated under a cafe permit shall regularly keep food available” with “The holder of a cafe permit shall keep food available”, replacing provisions re availability of food with new provisions re same, and adding provision re exception to annual fee for cafe permit for prior holder of tavern permit, amended Subsec. (c) by redefining “cafe”, added Subsecs. (d) to (m) re meaning of cafe, and making a technical change, effective July 1, 2020; P.A. 21-10 deleted former Subsec. (h) re clubs and former Subsec. (i) re nonprofit clubs and redesignated existing Subsecs. (j) to (m) as Subsecs. (h) to (k), effective May 13, 2021; P.A. 21-37 amended Subsec. (m), codified by the Revisors as Subsec. (k), by making a technical change, adding new Subdiv. (2) re land and buildings subject to care, custody and control of accredited institution offering program of higher learning and redesignating existing Subdiv. (2) as Subdiv. (3), effective July 1, 2021.

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