What Time Can You Sell Alcohol in Florida: Hours and Penalties

In Florida, you can sell alcohol between 7:00 a.m. and midnight under state law, but that is only the default. Most counties and cities have passed their own ordinances extending the hours, and in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, and parts of Jacksonville and Orlando, sales legally continue until 2:00, 3:00, or even 5:00 a.m. The actual answer to what time you can sell alcohol in Florida depends on which city or county you are in.

The State Default: 7:00 a.m. to Midnight

Florida Statute 562.14 prohibits the sale, service, or consumption of alcohol at any licensed establishment between midnight and 7:00 a.m. the following day. The rule covers every license type the state issues, from full liquor bars and restaurants to package stores and grocery stores with beer and wine permits.¹

The statute includes a crucial phrase: “except as otherwise provided by county or municipal ordinance.” That exception is where the real rules live for most of the state. If your county or city has adopted its own hours, those replace the state default. If no local ordinance exists, the midnight-to-7:00-a.m. blackout applies.

Two narrow carve-outs exist statewide. Railroads can serve passengers aboard train cars during otherwise prohibited hours, and theme park and entertainment resort complexes are exempt from the premises-use restrictions placed on other bars.¹

Local Hours in Major Florida Cities and Counties

Because local ordinances control in populated areas, the real sales window changes block by block. A sampling of major markets shows how wide the variation runs:

City of Miami: Bars and restaurants can serve from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. Nightclubs and hotels with 100 or more guest rooms can serve until 5:00 a.m. Sunday sales start at noon.²
Fort Lauderdale: Sales run 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Package stores close at midnight on Sunday; bars and restaurants stay open until 2:00 a.m.
Orlando: Generally follows the state midnight default, but establishments in the Downtown Entertainment Area can apply for a special after-midnight permit allowing sales until 2:00 a.m.³
Jacksonville: Follows the state midnight default in most of the city, but bars in the NorthCore, Central Core, and Sports and Entertainment District downtown can serve until 3:00 a.m. Jacksonville Beach allows sales until 2:00 a.m. with a special one-year permit.
Pinellas County (St. Petersburg area): Sales run 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. every day, though individual cities within the county can set different hours.
Tampa: Repealed its Sunday blue law and now permits sales starting at 7:00 a.m. every day.

Even neighboring municipalities within one county can diverge. In Broward County, Coral Springs closes package stores at 11:00 p.m., while nearby Davie allows off-premise sales until 2:00 a.m.

Sunday Hours

There is no statewide ban on Sunday sales. The same midnight-to-7:00-a.m. blackout applies to Sundays as to any other day under state law. Local governments often treat Sunday differently, though, and the range is wider than on weekdays.

Some cities, like Tampa, allow Sunday sales starting at 7:00 a.m. Others push the morning start to noon or later. Miami bars and restaurants cannot pour on Sundays until noon.² Some local ordinances carve out a brunch exception, letting restaurants serve alcohol with food as early as 11:00 a.m. even when the general Sunday start is later.

A few counties go further and ban Sunday sales outright in parts of their territory. Polk County, for instance, prohibits Sunday alcohol sales entirely in unincorporated areas. If Sunday matters to your business or your plans, check the local ordinance for that specific jurisdiction rather than assuming weekday rules carry over.

Penalties for Selling Outside Legal Hours

Selling or serving alcohol during prohibited hours is a second-degree misdemeanor in Florida, carrying up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.¹ For a business, the bigger risk is often administrative: the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco can suspend or revoke a liquor license for repeated violations.

Repeat offenders face a sharper escalation. Anyone previously convicted of any Beverage Law violation who is convicted again faces a third-degree felony, with up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.⁴ The prior conviction does not have to involve after-hours sales. Any Beverage Law violation on your record triggers the enhanced penalty.

One enforcement nuance matters in practice. The state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco only enforces the state default of midnight to 7:00 a.m. If your city has set a 2:00 a.m. cutoff and you serve at 2:30 a.m., enforcement falls to local police or code enforcement, not the state.¹

Closing the Premises, Not Just the Register

If your principal business is selling alcohol rather than food, stopping sales at closing time is not enough. State law bars you from renting, leasing, or otherwise allowing your licensed premises to be used at all during prohibited hours. A bar owner cannot stop pouring and let patrons linger. The premises itself must close.¹

Two exceptions apply. Licensed premises can be used on Sundays after 8:00 a.m. even if local rules delay the start of alcohol sales. And theme park and entertainment resort complexes are entirely exempt from the premises-use ban. A restaurant whose main business is food is not affected by this restriction either, though it still cannot sell alcohol during prohibited hours.

How to Confirm the Hours Where You Are

Because the local ordinance usually overrides the state default, the only reliable way to know your hours is to check the ordinance for the specific city or county. Start with the municipality’s official website and look for its code of ordinances, municipal code, or alcohol beverage regulations. Many Florida cities publish their full codes through Municode or American Legal Publishing.

If the establishment sits in an unincorporated area outside any city limits, the county ordinance applies. If neither the county nor the city has adopted alcohol hours, the state default of 7:00 a.m. to midnight controls. When the written rules are ambiguous, call the local clerk’s office or the county code enforcement division and ask for the exact hours and any permit requirements for the address in question.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 562.14 – Regulating the Time for Sale of Alcoholic and Intoxicating Beverages
2
City of Miami. Bona Fide Restaurant – Hours of Liquor Sales
3
City of Orlando. Alcohol Sales, Late-Night Uses, Parking and Speakers
4
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 562.45 – Penalties for Violating Beverage Law