What Is a Type 47 Liquor License in California?

A Type 47 liquor license in California is the state permit that lets a restaurant serve beer, wine, and distilled spirits to customers for on-premises consumption with meals. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) issues it specifically for bona fide public eating places, charges $19,315 for a new application, and caps how many exist in each county by population, so you either win an annual lottery or buy one from a current holder.¹

What a Type 47 License Lets You Sell

A Type 47 covers on-sale of all three categories of alcohol: beer, wine, and distilled spirits. That full-spirits authority is the main thing separating it from a Type 41, which permits only beer and wine.² Business and Professions Code Section 23396 is the underlying authority for on-sale licenses, which permit sale for consumption on the premises where sold.³

There is a narrow off-sale privilege attached. Customers can take home sealed beer and wine, but not distilled spirits. A diner can leave with a bottle of wine; a bottle of whiskey has to stay behind.²

Minors are allowed on the premises, because the license attaches to a restaurant rather than a standalone bar. Families can dine together without violating license conditions.²

Your Restaurant Has to Be a Real Restaurant

The whole license depends on operating a bona fide public eating place as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 23038. The statute requires a kitchen equipped to prepare an assortment of foods suitable for ordinary meals, kept sanitary, with proper refrigeration, and used regularly and genuinely to serve meals to guests for compensation.⁴

Serving only sandwiches or salads does not count. The menu has to offer the kind of range people expect at a sit-down restaurant throughout operating hours, and the ABC looks for actual, substantial meal sales rather than a token food menu attached to a drinking establishment.⁴

You are not required to pair food with every drink. Section 23038 explicitly says nothing in the statute requires food to be sold or purchased with any beverage. What matters is what the establishment offers and how it operates, not what a given customer orders.⁴

This is where most compliance trouble starts. Operators drift toward being a bar over time, food sales shrink, the kitchen goes quiet, and the license becomes vulnerable. ABC investigators look for exactly that drift.

Why You Probably Can’t Just Apply

You cannot file for a new Type 47 at will. It is a general license, so the total number in each county is capped by population. When a county has no unused licenses, prospective applicants either buy an existing license from a current holder or wait for the ABC’s annual priority drawing.⁵

The priority drawing is a once-a-year lottery. Registration typically runs for about two weeks in September. If more applicants register than there are licenses available in a county, the ABC holds a randomized drawing, usually in late October, to decide who gets to move forward with a full application.⁶

Winning does not hand you a license. It gives you priority to submit the full application and go through background investigation, premises inspection, and any local protest process. An incomplete or incorrectly filed registration disqualifies you from that year’s drawing entirely.⁶

If you are planning a restaurant and need a Type 47, check availability in your target county before signing a lease. Many operators skip the lottery and buy an existing license through a person-to-person transfer, which brings its own cost.

What It Costs

A new Type 47 obtained through the priority drawing carries a $19,315 application fee. Transferring an existing general license from one person or entity to another costs $1,525, and moving a license from one physical location to another costs $950.¹ Application fees are generally nonrefundable, since they pay for the investigation rather than the license itself.⁵

Annual renewal depends on the population of the city where the restaurant sits. In cities over 40,000 people, the annual fee is $1,260. In cities between 20,000 and 40,000, it is $985. For locations outside those brackets, the fee is $1,545.⁷ The annual fee is due with the application and every year after to keep the license active.

None of these numbers reflect what it costs to actually buy a license on the secondary market. In high-demand urban counties, that figure can run well into six figures depending on availability and competition.

The Forms You’ll File

The core application package includes four ABC forms:

ABC-211-SIG, the application signature sheet. All signatures must be witnessed by an ABC employee or notarized.⁸
ABC-217, the application questionnaire, which collects background information on every person with an ownership interest, including criminal history and prior alcohol-related violations. Submission is mandatory, and failing to provide it can result in denial.⁹
ABC-255, the zoning affidavit, which confirms your proposed location is properly zoned for alcohol sales. Your local city or county planning department has to help complete it, including whether a conditional use permit is required.¹⁰
ABC-257, the licensed premises diagram, a floor plan showing all entrances, exits, interior walls, and room labels, with the licensed area outlined in red.¹¹

The zoning affidavit catches people off guard. If your location needs a conditional use permit from the city, that approval can add weeks or months to your timeline before the ABC side of the process even finishes.

From Application to Approval

Once the complete package is in and fees are paid, you have to post a public notice (Form ABC-207) in a prominent spot at the proposed premises for 30 consecutive days. The notice gives neighbors, nearby businesses, and law enforcement a window to review the proposal and file formal protests.¹²

During and after the posting, ABC investigators run background checks on every person named in the application and physically inspect the premises. They verify the kitchen meets bona fide eating place standards, confirm the floor plan matches your diagram, and check zoning. Most investigations run roughly 45 to 50 days.¹³

Total processing time averages about 75 days for a person-to-person transfer and 90 days for an original license. The ABC warns that circumstances often push timelines longer, so avoid making major financial commitments or scheduling a grand opening around a specific approval date.¹³

If you are taking over a previously licensed location and need to open during the transfer wait, you can request a temporary permit (Form ABC-280). It is valid for 120 days, but the previous location must have operated under a license within 30 days of your application to qualify.¹⁴

Staying Licensed

Getting approved is the hard part. Losing the license is easier than most operators expect, and the specific risks for a Type 47 go beyond generic bad behavior like serving minors or operating outside permitted hours.

Every Type 47 is subject to California’s Responsible Beverage Service program. All servers and managers at on-sale licensed establishments must hold current RBS certification.² Certification lasts three years and requires completing a training course through an ABC-authorized provider, then passing the ABC’s certification exam within 30 days of finishing training.¹⁵ New hires who handle alcohol need to be certified before they start pouring.

Because you are selling distilled spirits, you also have to register with the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau as a retail dealer in liquors. You file TTB Form 5630.5d before you start doing business and again by July 1 each year. The form requires your employer identification number, the exact premises location, and ownership details. Federal rules also require you to keep records of alcohol received, including quantities, suppliers, and dates, for at least three years.¹⁶

The compliance risk that is distinctive to a Type 47 is letting the restaurant side slip. If investigators find the kitchen has gone dark, the menu has shrunk to bar snacks, or food sales have become an afterthought, you are no longer operating the bona fide eating place the license requires. A pattern of not running a real restaurant is enough; no single dramatic violation is needed. Pay the annual renewal on time, keep RBS certifications current, keep the TTB registration up to date, run a genuine kitchen, and hold onto your alcohol records.

1
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Application Fee Schedules
2
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. License Types
3
California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 23396
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California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 23038
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California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. License Fees
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Alcoholic Beverage Control. Priority Registration Drawings
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Alcoholic Beverage Control. Annual Fee Schedule
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California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Application Signature Sheet
9
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. ABC-217 Instructions
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California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Zoning Affidavit
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California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Licensed Premises Diagram
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California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Information Regarding Alcoholic Beverage License Applications and Protests
13
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. License Application Requirements
14
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. ABC-211-A Instructions
15
Alcoholic Beverage Control. California Alcohol Servers Approach Recertification Deadline
16
eCFR. Part 31 Alcohol Beverage Dealers