When Do They Stop Selling Alcohol in Georgia?

In Georgia, package stores stop selling alcohol at 11:45 PM Monday through Saturday and at 11:30 PM on Sundays in communities that have approved Sunday sales. Bars and restaurants run on local hours, and in the largest counties and cities Saturday night service can continue until 2:55 AM Sunday morning. Because Georgia hands most alcohol regulation to counties and cities, the real cutoff where you live may be earlier than the state default, and a few areas don’t allow sales at all.

Package Store Cutoffs by Day

The statewide baseline for liquor retailers is 8:00 AM to 11:45 PM any day other than Sunday.¹ Local governments can tighten that window but not widen it, so if your city ordinance sets a 11:00 PM close, the local rule wins. Grocery and convenience stores selling beer and wine run on whatever hours the local jurisdiction has set, which in most places tracks closely to the 11:45 PM default.

Sunday is a different story. Package sales on Sunday aren’t automatic anywhere in Georgia. A county or city must first put the question to voters in a referendum. Where voters have approved it, the default Sunday window for packaged beer, wine, and spirits runs from 12:30 PM to 11:30 PM. Communities that have also passed a “brunch bill” referendum (described below) may extend the Sunday package window to 11:00 AM through midnight.² Where no Sunday referendum has passed, package stores stay dark all day.

So depending on your location, Sunday package sales end at 11:30 PM, at midnight, or never start at all.

Bar and Restaurant Cutoffs

State law doesn’t impose a single weeknight closing time on on-premise sales. Each county or municipality adopts its own ordinance for when drinks must stop. Many jurisdictions settle on midnight or 2:00 AM Monday through Saturday, but you’ll want to check with the local licensing authority if the exact minute matters.

Saturday night is where state law speaks more directly. It allows local governments to authorize late-night Saturday service that runs into Sunday morning, and the ceiling depends on the type and size of the jurisdiction:

Consolidated governments can allow sales from 11:55 PM Saturday to 1:55 AM Sunday.
Counties with 800,000 or more residents and municipalities with 300,000 or more can allow sales from 11:55 PM Saturday to 2:55 AM Sunday.²
Counties with populations between 100,000 and 150,000 can allow full-service restaurants to serve from 11:55 PM Saturday until 2:00 AM Sunday.²

These are maximums, not mandates. A local government has to actually adopt an ordinance invoking the extended hours. Without one, the standard local closing time applies.

Sunday on-premise sales also require a local referendum. Where voters have approved it, the base Sunday window is 12:30 PM to midnight for eating establishments and for public venues with seating capacity above 3,500, such as stadiums and large concert halls.² Municipalities of 300,000 or more may also designate entertainment districts where Sunday sales fall within those same hours.

The brunch bill lets a community push the Sunday start time back from 12:30 PM to 11:00 AM, but only after a separate ballot referendum. If a community doesn’t yet have Sunday sales at all, it needs two referendums: one authorizing Sunday sales and a second approving the earlier start. Where both have passed, Sunday service runs from 11:00 AM to midnight.²

Delivery Cutoffs

Licensed Georgia retailers can deliver beer, wine, and spirits directly to consumers, but delivery hours track in-store hours exactly. The sale and the delivery both have to happen on a day and at a time when package sales are legally permitted under local law.³ Ordering at 11:30 PM for a 1:00 AM drop isn’t allowed. The delivery also has to be completed on the same day the sale is made and the same day the bottles leave the retailer, and it has to stay inside the retailer’s local licensing jurisdiction.

Dry Counties and Christmas Day

Georgia law gives counties and municipalities broad authority over alcohol licensing, and no one can sell alcohol in a county or city without a permit from the local governing authority.⁴ Some counties remain fully dry, with no retail alcohol sales at all. Others are partially dry, allowing package sales but not on-premise service, or the reverse. A city can be wet while the surrounding unincorporated county is dry. Before you count on any of the hours above, confirm with your county clerk or the Georgia Department of Revenue that your specific city and county actually permit the kind of sale you’re planning.

Georgia has no statewide ban on Christmas Day alcohol sales, but each county and municipality can prohibit them by local ordinance.⁵ Many do, often treating December 25 the way a restricted Sunday would be treated. Whether you can buy on Christmas depends entirely on local rules.

Election Day Restrictions Near Polling Places

On any primary or election day, selling alcohol is illegal within 250 feet of a polling place, measured from the outer edge of the building where voting takes place. The restriction applies only during polling hours, not the full calendar day, and violating it is a misdemeanor.⁶ If a store or bar sits outside that radius, election day doesn’t change its normal hours at all.

1
Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Administrative Code 560-2-3 – Retailer/Retail Consumption Dealer
2
Justia. Georgia Code 3-3-7 – Local Authorization and Regulation of Sales of Alcoholic Beverages on Sunday
3
Georgia Department of Revenue. Delivery of Alcoholic Beverages – FAQ
4
Justia. Georgia Code 3-3-2 – Powers of Local Governing Authorities as to Granting, Refusal, Suspension, or Revocation of Licenses Generally
5
Justia. Georgia Code 3-3-20 – Sale of Alcoholic Beverages on Sundays, Election Days, and Christmas Day
6
Justia. Georgia Code 3-3-20 – Sale of Alcoholic Beverages on Sundays, Election Days, and Christmas Day