In Massachusetts, alcohol sales hours depend on your license type: on-premises establishments like bars and restaurants can serve between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., while off-premises retailers like liquor stores can sell from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sundays. Local licensing authorities can tighten those windows, and holidays add another layer of restriction on top.
Hours for Bars, Restaurants, and Other On-Premises Licensees
Establishments licensed to serve alcohol for consumption on the premises operate under Section 12 of Chapter 138. The statute prohibits any sale between 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., which sets the outer window at 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 – Section 12
Within that outer window, the statute guarantees a floor. A local licensing authority cannot stop you from selling between 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on weekdays. The blocks on either side, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., are extensions the local board may grant or withhold.2Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. Most Frequently Asked Questions
That is why hours vary so much from town to town. A downtown Boston restaurant may serve until 2:00 a.m. while a suburban tavern closes at midnight, all depending on what the local authority has approved. Your license itself will state the specific hours you are permitted to operate.
Hours for Liquor Stores and Other Off-Premises Retailers
Retailers licensed to sell alcohol for off-premises consumption follow a different schedule. Standard hours run 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, sales begin at 10:00 a.m. and still close at 11:00 p.m.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 – Section 33
The two-hour delay on Sundays is the last remnant of Massachusetts’s old blue laws. Sunday liquor store sales were prohibited entirely until 1990, when the state first allowed them in towns within ten miles of the New Hampshire border. A 1992 change extended Sunday sales to the Thanksgiving-through-New Year’s holiday season, and broader legalization followed in the early 2000s.
Sunday and Holiday Rules
Holidays interrupt the normal schedule. Off-premises retailers cannot sell alcohol at all on Thanksgiving or Christmas. They also cannot sell before noon on Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday in May.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 – Section 33
Wholesalers and distributors licensed under Sections 18 and 19 face tighter limits. They cannot sell on any Sunday, and they share the same Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas blackouts.
On-premises establishments have more flexibility on holidays. A 2018 change allowed restaurants and bars to begin serving at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays, replacing the previous noon start, and the same 10:00 a.m. opening applies to certain legal holidays.4General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 – Section 33B On-premises licensees can also petition their local licensing authority for extended hours on special occasions such as New Year’s Eve. Those requests require a formal application and, in most cases, a public hearing.
How Local Authorities Set and Change Your Hours
The state sets the outer boundaries. Your local licensing authority, whether a board of selectmen, city council, or dedicated licensing commission, sets the specific hours you can operate within those boundaries. Local boards can also attach conditions, such as requiring security personnel on weekends or limiting outdoor service hours, and those conditions are enforceable just like the statute itself.
Once you are operating, a local authority cannot simply cut your hours at will. If it wants to reduce your approved hours, it must hold a public hearing and give you at least two weeks’ notice.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 – Section 12
Delivery and To-Go Sales
Massachusetts made to-go cocktails and alcohol delivery permanent after the COVID-era temporary allowances expired. The hours rule follows the license: you cannot deliver alcohol outside the sales window that applies to your license type. If your liquor store closes at 11:00 p.m., your delivery drivers cannot be handing off wine at 11:15.
Delivery drivers must also verify the recipient’s identity and confirm they are at least 21 years old at the point of delivery. Handing a bag of wine to whoever answers the door does not satisfy that requirement.
For direct shipping of beer and wine into Massachusetts from out-of-state producers, the shipper must hold a direct shipper license, label packages conspicuously, collect applicable excise taxes, and require an adult signature at delivery. Direct shipment of spirits is not permitted.
Penalties for Selling Outside Approved Hours
Selling outside your approved hours is one of the Chapter 138 violations that does not carry its own specific penalty, so the catch-all in Section 62 applies. The range is a fine between $50 and $500, imprisonment from one month to one year, or both. The same range applies to violating any condition of your license or any ABCC regulation.5General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138 – Section 62
Administrative consequences often matter more than the criminal fine. The ABCC and your local licensing authority can issue warnings, impose administrative fines, suspend your license, or revoke it outright. A first-time, minor violation such as selling a few minutes past closing typically produces a warning or a short suspension. Repeat offenses escalate quickly.
If your license is suspended, you can petition the ABCC within 20 days to pay a fine instead of going dark. Accepting that trade waives your right to appeal the underlying decision in court.6Mass.gov. Appeal a Decision Made by Your Local Licensing Authority
What You Cannot Do During Legal Hours: The Happy Hour Ban
Being open to serve is not the same as being free to price however you like. Massachusetts completely bans happy hours and virtually every form of drink-price promotion, under ABCC regulations at 204 CMR 4.00. The rules are broader than most operators expect. A licensed establishment cannot:7Mass.gov. Happy Hour Notice to Industry
- Offer free drinks to any person or group.
- Serve more than two drinks to one person at a time.
- Discount drink prices below the regular price charged that same calendar week, except at private functions closed to the public.
- Sell unlimited drinks for a flat fee, which rules out open-bar pricing for the general public.
- Sell pitchers of beer or mixed drinks to fewer than two people.
- Increase pour sizes without a proportional price increase.
- Run drinking games or contests on the premises, or award drinks as prizes.
Private events not open to the public are the only meaningful exception, and even those cannot involve drinking contests. Operators who assume they can run a two-for-one Tuesday or an industry-night discount are setting themselves up for an ABCC enforcement action.
Quick Reference
The core windows, before any local tightening or holiday adjustment:
- On-premises weekdays: 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. outer window, with 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. guaranteed by statute.
- On-premises Sundays and certain holidays: earliest start 10:00 a.m.
- Off-premises Monday through Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Off-premises Sundays: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Off-premises Memorial Day: no sales before noon.
- Off-premises Thanksgiving and Christmas: closed.
- Wholesalers and distributors: closed all Sundays, plus Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Your license controls the specific hours within these limits. Check it before setting your schedule, and check with your local licensing authority before assuming any extension applies.