Maryland · MD · Food & drink
Maryland: Are happy hour drink specials legal?
Allowed with limits
Maryland allows drink specials, but bars may not require a customer to buy more than one drink at a time.
A statewide section of Maryland's alcohol law bars licensees from requiring a customer to buy more than one drink at a time, which rules out deals that only work if you order several drinks. No statewide rule sets happy hour times. Most of Maryland's alcohol law is written county by county, and those county titles were not fully searched, so a county may add its own limits.
Conditions
- Customers can't be required to buy more than one drink at a time
What the law says
A license holder or an employee of a license holder may not require, as a condition of sale of an alcoholic beverage for on–premises consumption, that an individual buy more than one bottle, container, or other serving of an alcoholic beverage at a time.
Sources
- Md. Code, Alc. Bev. § 6-317 (Maryland General Assembly) Official · mgaleg.maryland.gov
- Md. Code, Alc. Bev. § 6-301 (Maryland General Assembly) Official · mgaleg.maryland.gov
- Maryland ATCC: Alcohol compliance guidance Official · atcc.maryland.gov
- Maryland ATCC: Policy guidance Official · atcc.maryland.gov
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Maryland Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission
- Phone
- 443-300-6990
- Website
- atcc.maryland.gov
How bordering states compare
- Delaware Allowed with limitsDelaware allows happy hours but bans two-for-one drinks, unlimited drinks for a set price, below-cost sales, and free drinks.
- Pennsylvania Allowed with limitsPennsylvania allows happy hours of up to four hours a day and 24 hours a week, with no discounts after midnight.
- Virginia Allowed with limitsVirginia allows happy hours, but not between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., and two-for-one or all-you-can-drink deals are banned.
- West Virginia AllowedWest Virginia law has no rule against happy hours or drink specials, and licensees may advertise drink prices.