Gems from Our Archive, August 2019: Illinois' Liquor Licenses

At Accel, we value our gaming license above everything else. Without it, we wouldn’t have a business. If you currently have gaming in your establishment, we hope you treat your gaming license with as high a level of importance as we do. Beyond your gaming license, you should also be protecting your State and local liquor licenses. These licenses are just as important to your video gaming business as your actual video gaming license. To help keep you updated on State and local liquor licenses, check out some of our favorite blogs on the subject!

Five Advantages of Having a Liquor License in Illinois

When restaurants or other establishments acquire a liquor license, it’s usually for one purpose: to serve alcohol. And while that’s the main benefit of having a liquor license, there are other advantages as well, particularly in Illinois. Here are five advantages of having a liquor license in Illinois.

How to Get a Liquor License in Illinois

Getting a license to serve liquor in the State of Illinois can seem rather overwhelming, but with a little advance research and preparation, it can be a straightforward process. Keep in mind that you’ll need both a local (from the municipality where your establishment is located) and a State liquor license.  Although the State offers many different kinds of liquor licenses, for the purposes of this post, we’ll focus on the most basic: a Retailer's liquor license. In most circumstances, a Retailer's License is the type of license required in order to apply to have gaming machines.

Renewing Your Illinois Liquor License

For any bar or restaurant, an Illinois State liquor license is something to protect and keep up-to-date.  You may be familiar with Mytax.illinois.gov for renewing your liquor license, but this blog will serve as a primer if you are unsure of the steps you need to take.

Liquor License Roadblocks: Presenting a Case for Your Liquor License

A large portion of Accel’s employees spend their time working directly with gaming establishment owners, or in the case of today’s employee highlight, aspiring establishment owners. If you’ve called Accel looking to get more information about either adding gaming to your existing business or starting from scratch to create a gaming establishment, you may have talked to one.

Liquor License Caps and How to Deal with Them

One of the most stressful parts of a bar or restaurant owner’s job is obtaining a liquor license. Usually, this process is straightforward and only requires some research and paperwork.  However, the process becomes more complicated when a municipality has capped the number of liquor licenses it will issue.  This can be frustrating for small business entrepreneurs hoping to open a bar or restaurant in these municipalities, but that doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless.

Common Liquor License Fines in Illinois

Here at Accel Entertainment we believe that your location’s gaming license should be treated as one of your most important assets. Therefore, your location’s liquor license should also be protected at all costs. Location owners should be devoted to protecting their liquor license against fines, or worse, revocation. To help prepare you, here are some of the most common liquor license fines in Illinois.

Want to learn more about getting your liquor license in Illinois? Check out our guide here.