As of recent there's been plenty of debate over whether D.C. bars should be able to stay open later or if the alcohol excise tax should be raised, but broader changes in the city's liquor laws are coming down the pike. more ›

D.C. restaurant owners are doubly angered with the D.C. Council after a committee voted yesterday to reject Mayor Vince Gray's proposal to allow bars to stay open later and but endorse an increase in the alcohol excise tax. more ›

A proposal for D.C. bars to stay open for an extra hour on weekdays and weekends was voted down by a D.C. Council committee this afternoon, though extended hours for liquor stores were approved. more ›

Want bars to stay open later? Want to buy liquor on Sundays? Neither of those ideas look like they're going to happen, but you could get stuck paying more for each drink. more ›

Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) doesn't like Mayor Vince Gray's proposal to allow bars to stay open for an extra hour, but he may replace it with an initiative that would allow liquor stores to open on Sundays. more ›

The fight over extending hours for D.C. bars and liquor stores heated up yesterday as civic activists complained at a D.C. Council hearing of the potential of increased noise, crime and drunken driving. Still, a compromise might be possible. more ›

Shaw's Tavern finally has a liquor license, bringing to an end a saga that saw the restaurant close down and take on new owners. more ›

At a D.C. Council hearing this morning, Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) further laid out his opposition to a proposal in Mayor Vince Gray's budget that would allow bars to stay open for an extra hour on weekdays and weekends. more ›

Bottoms up, D.C. drinkers. It was on this day in 1934 that alcohol again became legal in the District, some 16 years after Congress had decided that alcohol prohibition would be a good idea. more ›

Despite the rules, people still eat and drink on Metro. For those that receive tickets, though, the majority are caught drinking on trains or buses. more ›

With the District's beer renaissance in full swing, sometimes local laws lag behind libations. That's the case with growlers, the half-gallon glass bottles that are the preferred container for beer connoisseurs, brewers and some retailers. more ›

Yay! It's Repeal Day, the day on which we celebrate the 1933 constitutional amendment to abandon the wrong-headed policy of prohibition. Everywhere but in the District, that is. more ›

There's no doubt that Washington has always been a city which loves its booze -- but that's even more true today, as research shows that people in America are drinking more alcohol than they have in decades. more ›

The District's is seeing something of a drinking revival these days, but it didn't have to be that way -- a new book finds that prior to prohibition, the District was a drinkers paradise. more ›

Much like prohibition just pushed drinking underground, the District's selective ban on single beers has just led producers to slap two cans together and price them competitively. more ›

Halloween weekend is coming up, and if you're anything like me, you probably still have no earthly idea what to wear for a costume. But at least you won't have to worry about having a pocket free to carry cash for a ride home. more ›

Until recently, if you wanted a Bloody Mary with your Sunday brunch, you'd have to wait until 10 a.m. But as of last week, early morning Sunday drinking became a possibility, as restaurants were given the go-ahead to apply to serve alcohol starting at 8 a.m. more ›

Nothing says "way to go guys" for saving my home and all my worldly possessions like a case of beer. But according to D.C. Fire Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe, a fire station is no place for sudsy goodness. more ›

In belt-tightening times, local jurisdictions look to suck as much extra money out of residents as possible. But what type of tax will bring in additional revenue without driving people away from that activity? Alcohol. more ›

Virginia's wine industry -- the territory of such luminaries as Donald Trump -- is booming. more ›

First, it was the disposable bag tax. Now, the potential expansion of laws prohibiting smoking in common areas of buildings, a similar version of which the District made law last year. Which D.C. code will you be copying next next, MoCo? more ›

At Mongtomery County Circuit Judge Eric Johnson's fingertips: whether Maryland will join with most of the country by imposing some liability on bars for the drunken actions of its customers. more ›

We know, we know: it's a little early to be talking about booze. But hey, according to a press release from the Dirty Martini, some of you people are probably already drunk! The Connecticut Avenue restaurant has launched a new, 48-ounce cocktail, in order to satiate Washington's "intrepid cocktail lovers" who "need big leisure time." more ›

If you're of the persuasion that, despite all sound reason to the contrary, it's perfectly dandy for the parents of the District to drag their children like so many weathered messenger bags up to the bars of the District, well, this is America, and there's nothing anyone can really do about it. But as a city -- nay, as a culture -- we owe it to ourselves to draw the line somewhere. And that line, friends, is demarcated with the syrupy stain of children's "mocktails." more ›

In quick form, a proposed three percent tax increase on Maryland alcohol sales moved passed the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Thursday, making way for its consideration in the full Senate. Senate Bill 994 would bring the current six percent tax on alcohol up to nine percent over the next three years. Though it is uncertain as of yet where the estimated $90 million of extra revenues will be put to use, proponents of the bill suggest the funds will be could be used for transportation projects or health programs. Ironically, when it comes to alcohol, things seem to move more quickly. Now if only a few other bills could pick up the pace. more ›

Feel like leaving your disappointment with the Maryland House's failure to extend marriage equality to same-sex couples at the bottom of a pint glass? Well, one Maryland Senator thinks you should be paying more to do so -- the state's Senate will consider a bill which would increase the existing tax on alcohol sales over the next few years. Senate Bill 994 would up the current six percent tax by one percent every year until it hits nine percent in fiscal year 2014. more ›

Yesterday, the Virginia House of Delegates passed bill SB1292, which will allow for corkage in the state's restaurants. Corkage allows restaurant patrons to bring their own bottles of wine to a restaurant -- a choice best reserved for bringing that bottle you've been saving for a special occasion, or for connoisseurs who find their destination's wine offerings lacking. more ›

About four months after Ali Ahmed Mohammed died outside its doors, DC9 will be returning to regular hours -- opening every night of the week, beginning tonight at 5 p.m. A return to daily operations was made possible when the city's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ruled to lift all restrictions on the bar this afternoon, specifically the requirement that club ownership pay for a reimbursable police detail whenever they were open. more ›

Well, there might not have been a knock-down, drag-out battle over the future of United Medical Center, but that doesn't mean today's gathering of the D.C. Council wasn't entertaining. One big subject of discussion at the Wilson Building this morning? Emergency legislation that will allow bars and restaurants in the District to remain open until 4 a.m. on March 13 in order to make up for the hour of service they lose due to Daylight Savings. more ›