(a) A cafe permit shall allow the retail sale of alcoholic liquor to be consumed on the premises of a cafe. Premises operated under a cafe permit shall regularly keep food available for sale to its customers for consumption on the premises. The availability of sandwiches, soups or other foods, whether fresh, processed, precooked or frozen, shall be deemed compliance with this requirement. The licensed premises shall at all times comply with all the regulations of the local department of health. Nothing herein shall be construed to require that any food be sold or purchased with any liquor, nor shall any rule, regulation or standard be promulgated or enforced requiring that the sale of food be substantial or that the receipts of the business other than from the sale of liquor equal any set percentage of total receipts from sales made therein. A cafe permit shall allow, with the prior approval of the Department of Consumer Protection, alcoholic liquor to be served at tables in outside areas that are screened or not screened from public view where permitted by fire, zoning and health regulations. If not required by fire, zoning or health regulations, a fence or wall enclosing such outside areas shall not be required by the Department of Consumer Protection. No fence or wall used to enclose such outside areas shall be less than thirty inches high. Such permit shall also authorize the sale at retail from the premises of sealed containers supplied by the permittee of draught beer for consumption off the premises. Such sales shall be conducted only during the hours a package store is permitted to sell alcoholic liquor under the provisions of subsection (d) of section 30-91. Not more than four liters of such beer shall be sold to any person on any day on which the sale of alcoholic liquor is authorized under the provisions of subsection (d) of section 30-91. The annual fee for a cafe permit shall be two thousand dollars.

(b) (1) A cafe patron may remove one unsealed bottle of wine for off-premises consumption provided the patron has purchased a full course meal and consumed a portion of the wine with such meal on the cafe premises. For purposes of this section, “full course meal” means a diversified selection of food which ordinarily cannot be consumed without the use of tableware and which cannot be conveniently consumed while standing or walking.

(2) A partially consumed bottle of wine that is to be removed from the premises pursuant to this subsection shall be securely sealed and placed in a bag by the permittee or the permittee's agent or employee prior to removal from the premises.

(c) As used in this section, “cafe” means space in a suitable and permanent building, kept, used, maintained, advertised and held out to the public to be a place where alcoholic liquor and food is served for sale at retail for consumption on the premises but which does not necessarily serve hot meals; it shall have no sleeping accommodations for the public and need not necessarily have a kitchen or dining room but shall have employed therein at all times an adequate number of employees.

(1967, P.A. 365, S. 2; P.A. 79-604, S. 2, 5; P.A. 92-15, S. 2; P.A. 93-139, S. 19; P.A. 95-195, S. 26, 83; P.A. 97-175, S. 3; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(d); P.A. 04-11, S. 2; 04-33, S. 2; 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 339; P.A. 15-244, S. 79.)

History: P.A. 79-604 added provisions re serving liquor at outdoor tables under cafe permit; P.A. 92-15 amended section to provide that prior approval of the department of liquor control is necessary for serving of alcoholic liquor at tables in outside areas not screened from public view where permitted by fire, zoning or health regulations and to specify that a fence or wall enclosing such outside areas would not be required by the department of liquor control if no fire, zoning or health regulations required same; P.A. 93-139 made technical changes, added the annual fee for a cafe permit and added Subsec. (b) defining “cafe”; P.A. 95-195 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting Department of Consumer Protection for Department of Liquor Control, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-175 amended Subsec. (b) to require alcoholic liquor and food to be served for sale at retail and to make a technical change; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Department of Consumer Protection with Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-11 amended Subsec. (a) to permit the serving of alcoholic liquor at tables in outside areas which are screened, in addition to tables in outside areas which are not screened; P.A. 04-33 added new Subsec. (b) permitting a patron to remove one unsealed bottle of wine for off-premises consumption, and relettered former Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c); P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 increased fee in Subsec. (a) from $1,750 to $2,000; P.A. 15-244 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re sale of draught beer in sealed containers for consumption off premises, effective July 1, 2015.

See Sec. 30-22c re operation of juice bar.

Cited. 158 C. 362.