Prospective restaurant and bar owners have been frustrated over the last year with how ridiculously long it can take to get a liquor license from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board — anywhere from three to six months — and as the Chron reports, it’s just another way in which the state’s budget crisis is ruining all of our lives. The S.F. office of the ABC even stopped taking in-person applications because they were so short-staffed, but as of today, they’ve got some temps on board and they are open for in-person applications again. It’s also worth noting that every extra month the ABC takes to process an application is a month’s tax revenue lost for the state, and a month’s wages lost in new jobs.
The Chron also quotes new club owner Andy Zivic of Beatbox (the club in the former Fat City space that just opened over Pride weekend), who says it was the unpredictability of the ABC and not knowing when he’d be able to open that drove him nuts. “If you tell me it’s not going to be done until the end of August, that’s fine — but tell me.”
A rep for the ABC says the backlog ought to be worked through and things should be “back to normal” by the end of July. No word on what that new normal will be.
