What Are Zion Curtains? Utah’s Liquor Laws After the 2017 Change

Zion Curtains were seven-foot opaque partitions that Utah required inside full-service restaurants from 2009 to 2017 to block seated diners from watching bartenders pour and mix drinks. The state repealed the mandate in 2017 and now lets restaurants pick from three ways to separate the bar from the dining room, so the floor-to-ceiling wall is no longer required, though some establishments still have theirs.

Where the Name Came From

The requirement grew out of a 2009 legislative compromise that loosened some Utah alcohol rules while tightening others. Supporters argued that hiding the physical act of mixing cocktails would keep children in restaurants from seeing drinks poured, which they said would reduce the normalization of alcohol for younger audiences. The nickname was a play on Utah’s dominant religious culture and the Cold War’s Iron Curtain, and it stuck almost immediately.

Under the 2009 framework, every new full-service restaurant had to install a barrier between its dispensing area and its dining room. Restaurants licensed before the rule took effect were grandfathered and could keep their open layouts. Two restaurants on the same block could look nothing alike inside: one with an open bar, the other with a wall hiding the bartender.

What the Original Barrier Had To Look Like

The partition had to be a seven-foot, opaque or translucent, permanent structural wall. The statute required the dispensing area to be “separated from an area for the consumption of food by a patron by a solid, translucent, permanent structural barrier such that the facilities for the dispensing of an alcoholic product are not readily visible to a patron and not accessible by a patron.”¹ Owners typically used frosted glass panels or permanent drywall.

Cost and layout were constant complaints. A seven-foot wall ate floor space, cut sightlines, and made smaller dining rooms feel cramped. Because the barrier had to be permanent, seasonal workarounds did not qualify, and a restaurant that removed or modified its partition without state approval risked fines or losing its liquor license.

What Changed in 2017

The legislature overhauled the rules through HB 442 during the 2017 session, dismantling the mandatory Zion Curtain and giving restaurant owners a choice of configurations. The core changes took effect July 1, 2017, with some provisions phasing in through July 1, 2018.

Restaurants that wanted to tear down their old partitions could not just rip them out. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, then called Alcoholic Beverage Control, required updated floor plans and an inspection before any barrier came down. Jumping the gun risked disciplinary action.

The Three Layout Options Today

Utah Code 32B-6-202 now defines a “dispensing area” using three alternative configurations. A restaurant picks one and builds the room around it. A single restaurant with more than one bar can even use a different option at each.

A full visual barrier that completely prevents seated diners from seeing drinks being dispensed. This is essentially the old Zion Curtain, and some establishments have kept theirs.
A ten-foot buffer zone between the dispensing structure and the nearest dining or waiting area, with no wall required. The distance itself does the separating, and if the layout already blocks the view a slightly shorter distance can qualify.²
A permanent barrier at least 42 inches tall between the dining and dispensing areas, with the dispensing structure sitting at least 60 inches behind it. The barrier has to meet Utah’s construction and fire codes.²

The 42-inch half-wall became the most common choice for restaurants short on square footage. It gives diners a view of the bar without eliminating the boundary. The ten-foot buffer suits larger rooms where the bar already sits well away from tables.

These same options apply to Utah’s limited-service restaurant license, which covers establishments serving only beer and wine. The dimensional rules are not tiered by license class.

Children and the Bar Area

Whichever layout a restaurant picks, the rules about minors are strict. A person under 21 may not sit, remain, or eat and drink in a dispensing area, and that holds even if a parent or guardian is with them.¹ Families eat on the dining side; the bar side is off-limits.

Two narrow exceptions apply. Employees who are at least 16 can work in the dispensing area as part of the job, and a minor can briefly walk through the dispensing area to reach somewhere they are allowed to be if the layout gives no other route, but they cannot stop, sit, or linger.¹

What Happens If a Restaurant Gets It Wrong

A restaurant that violates the dispensing area rules or the minor-access restrictions faces administrative action from the commission. The commission can suspend or revoke a liquor license, impose fines, assess the costs of the disciplinary proceeding against the licensee, or combine all three. Fines can reach $25,000 in total for a single enforcement action, with specific ranges set by rule.³

A revoked license carries a three-year wait before the owner can reapply. For individual staff, violations clear from the record after 36 consecutive months with no further infraction.

What You’ll See Dining in Utah Today

The Zion Curtain era is over, but its traces remain. Some restaurants still have the original seven-foot partitions because tearing one out requires a remodel and state sign-off. Others have put in a low glass wall. Others have simply left a visible gap of ten feet or more between tables and the bartender. All three are legal.

If you are with children, you will be seated on the dining side, not at the bar, within the buffer, or behind the barrier. That is state law, not restaurant preference, and it holds no matter which layout the restaurant chose. Adults can still sit at the bar itself and order drinks there, either at the dispensing structure or at a table or counter inside the dispensing area.¹

1
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 32B-6-205.2 – Specific Operational Requirements for a Full-Service Restaurant License
2
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 32B-6-202 – Definitions
3
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 32B-3-205 – Disciplinary Proceedings