San Luis Obispo County could be getting more liquor licenses for local businesses by 2026.
Mirazur opened its doors in Los Osos in 2024. It is a sister restaurant to Lunada Garden Bistro in Cayucos. In addition to their food menu, they serve beer and wine.
“For somebody looking to sit down and have a nice dinner or a nice lunch with a nice view, it would really help if we had like premium liquors and cocktails and a full bar," Mirazur co-owner Alejandro Flores explained as he looked out from the dining area that overlooks the bay in Los Osos.
Flores says there were no new type 47 liquor licenses available when they opened over a year ago, and the only ones for sale were upwards of $250,000 by establishments that previously obtained them. According to Assemblymember Dawn Addis, there haven’t been any new licenses in the county since 2014.
“It really squeezes the market. It creates a bottleneck. It causes a lot of issues for people that want to grow," Addis said.
Assembly Bill 1008 could change that.
It would allow San Luis Obispo County to get 10 new “on-sale general licenses” over a two-year period, allowing more local businesses to serve distilled spirits as well as beer and wine.
“Our profits would be bigger because profits on alcohol are much bigger than food," Flores explained. "Every other night we'll be asked like, do you have a full bar?”
With added liquor licenses, the economic impact on the county could be in the low millions.
“This is a way that our state can help locally and local businesses right here in San Luis Obispo County to improve their revenue and then, in turn, to improve county revenue," Addis said.
Unlike the currently issued liquor licenses, these cannot be resold by a business at a higher price. Instead, they become available again to the next business.
“I mean, we can manage, but it would definitely be nice and I think it would benefit the economy at the end of the day," Flores said.
Assemblymember Addis was hopeful that Governor Gavin Newsom would support this bill, and if signed into law, the licenses would be available by 2026.
