Yes, you can buy alcohol on Sundays in Utah, with one significant exception: state liquor stores are closed every Sunday. Beer up to 5% ABV is on the shelves at grocery and convenience stores seven days a week, restaurants and bars serve drinks as usual, and many breweries, wineries, and distilleries are open for tastings and to-go sales. What you cannot do on a Sunday is walk into a state-run liquor store for packaged wine, spirits, or heavy beer.
Why Sunday Is Different
Utah is a control state. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS) runs more than 50 retail liquor stores that hold the exclusive right to sell packaged wine, spirits, and beer above 5% ABV.1State of Utah. Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services Regular beer at 5% ABV or below moves through a separate channel and is sold directly by grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations.2Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Statutes and Rules
Because DABS stores close on Sundays, the only packaged products you can buy that day are the ones sold outside the DABS system.
Where You Can Buy on a Sunday
Grocery and Convenience Stores
Beer up to 5% ABV is available seven days a week at grocery stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets.2Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Statutes and Rules That covers most mainstream domestic brands, many imports, and a fair range of craft options. Wine, spirits, and heavy beer are never sold at these stores on any day of the week.
Restaurants
Restaurants serve alcohol on Sundays, and what they can pour depends on their license. A full-service restaurant can serve liquor, wine, heavy beer, flavored malt beverages, and regular beer. A limited-service license covers wine, heavy beer, and beer but not spirits or flavored malt beverages.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 32B-6-305.2 – Specific Operational Requirements for a Limited-Service Restaurant License Beer-only restaurants serve just that.
You need to show intent to dine before you can be served. Being seated at a table or counter and telling your server you plan to order food is enough; you do not have to order the food first. At a full-service restaurant, you can order one drink in the bar or waiting area while you wait for a table, provided you tell staff you plan to eat.4Utah Legislature. Utah Code 32B-6-205.2 – Specific Operational Requirements for a Full-Service Restaurant License
Bars
Bars serve the full range of drinks on Sundays without any food requirement for you. Food has to be available on the premises, but staff do not check whether you eat.5Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Residents and Visitors Information Minors are not allowed inside. State law caps a mixed drink at 2.5 ounces of hard liquor, so pours run lighter than you may be used to.
Breweries, Wineries, and Distilleries
Many of Utah’s breweries, wineries, and distilleries open on Sundays and are allowed to serve their products every day of the week.2Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Statutes and Rules To-go purchases are available at many of them, which is one of the only Sunday paths to taking home a higher-ABV product. Containers must stay sealed while you are still on the premises.
Taverns and Other Beer-Only Venues
Taverns, bowling alleys, ski resorts, golf courses, arenas, and similar beer-only venues sell beer on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., on draft or in bottles and cans.5Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Residents and Visitors Information Taverns are the one license type that does not need to generate revenue from anything besides beer. Minors are not allowed in taverns.
Sunday Service Hours
Sunday counts as a weekend day for licensing, so service starts earlier than it does on weekdays. The windows depend on the license:
- Full-service restaurants: liquor, wine, and heavy beer from 10:30 a.m. to midnight; beer from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Limited-service restaurants: wine and heavy beer from 10:30 a.m. to midnight; beer from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Beer-only restaurants: beer from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Bars: all alcoholic beverages from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Beer-only venues such as taverns: beer from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.5Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Residents and Visitors Information
Bars start a half hour earlier than restaurants and keep serving liquor an hour later. Grocery and convenience stores sell beer during their normal operating hours with no separate alcohol cutoff.
Taking Alcohol Home on a Sunday
With state liquor stores closed, your Sunday options for packaged alcohol to bring home are beer from a grocery or convenience store, or to-go products from a brewery, winery, or distillery that happens to be open.2Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Statutes and Rules If you order a bottle of wine at a restaurant and do not finish it, Utah lets you take the rest home as long as the bottle is recorked or recapped before you leave. Ask your server to reseal it.6Utah Legislature. Utah Code 32B-5-307 – Bringing Alcoholic Product Onto or Removing Alcoholic Product From Premises
Once alcohol is in your car, every container must be sealed and stored outside the passenger compartment. Utah prohibits any opened, unsealed, or partially consumed container in the area accessible to the driver or passengers while the vehicle is on any highway.7Utah Legislature. Utah Code 41-6a-526 – Drinking Alcoholic Beverage and Open Containers in Motor Vehicle Prohibited The trunk is fine. Glove compartments and center consoles are not. Utah’s DUI threshold is 0.05% BAC, lower than the 0.08% standard used in most other states.8Utah Highway Safety Office. 0.05 BAC Law
If you need packaged wine, spirits, or heavy beer and it is a Sunday, you will have to wait until Monday. DABS stores are generally open from 11:00 a.m. to either 7:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. depending on the location, and the DABS website lists each store’s specific hours.2Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. Statutes and Rules
Carry ID Every Time Starting January 1, 2026
Beginning January 1, 2026, every establishment licensed to sell alcohol in Utah must check the ID of every customer buying a drink, no matter how old the customer looks.9Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. New 100% ID Law Begins Jan 1, 2026 The check is not only for age. Staff are also required to look for “interdicted person” status, a court-imposed prohibition on buying alcohol that typically follows a DUI conviction and is mandatory after an extreme DUI.10Utah Driver License Division. New Legislation 2025 An interdicted person’s license or state ID carries a red “NO ALCOHOL SALE” banner above the photo.
A Utah driver’s license, a state-issued ID card, or a passport will all work. The check applies when you order a drink and when you enter a bar or tavern. If you are visiting from a state where restaurants rarely ask, plan on carrying ID every time.