Whether you can buy alcohol on Christmas Day depends entirely on your state, and often your county or city. There is no federal law on holiday alcohol sales, so each state sets its own rules. Roughly a dozen states still ban or heavily restrict off-premise liquor sales on December 25. The rest allow some or all types of alcohol purchases that day. Crossing a state line, or sometimes a county line, can change the answer completely.
Buying at a Store vs. Ordering at a Bar
The biggest factor is where you plan to buy. Off-premise sales mean taking a bottle home from a liquor store, grocery store, or convenience store. On-premise sales mean a drink you consume at a bar or restaurant. Most states that restrict Christmas alcohol sales target off-premise sales, particularly at liquor stores.
This surprises people every year. A closed liquor store does not mean a dry Christmas. A majority of states with Christmas restrictions still allow restaurants and bars to serve alcohol for on-site consumption. Some require the establishment to also serve food, but the drink itself is usually available if you are willing to sit down for it.
Liquor vs. Beer and Wine
A handful of states draw a line between distilled spirits on one side and beer and wine on the other. In those states, grocery stores and convenience stores may sell beer and wine on Christmas Day while dedicated liquor stores stay closed. If you need spirits specifically for a holiday gathering, that distinction is worth confirming before December 25.
State-Run Liquor Stores Almost Always Close
About seventeen states operate under a “control” model, where the state government directly manages wholesale distribution and sometimes the retail sale of distilled spirits.1Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-First Amendment In those states, the liquor store itself may be a government operation rather than a private business, and government-run stores follow the state’s holiday schedule. They close on Christmas Day almost without exception, even in control states that have otherwise loosened their alcohol laws.
Private retailers in control states can fill part of the gap. Where state law permits grocery and convenience stores to sell beer and wine, those businesses can choose to open on Christmas. For spirits in a control state, plan ahead.
Delivery Apps and Online Orders
Third-party delivery services like DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber Eats have to follow the same state and local alcohol laws that apply to physical stores. If off-premise sales are banned on Christmas Day where you live, the app cannot legally process an alcohol order for you. The platforms generally build these restrictions in by disabling alcohol sales during prohibited hours or days, and the retailer fulfilling the order is on the hook for enforcement.
Direct-to-consumer wine shipments from out-of-state wineries follow a separate set of rules, with the delivery date typically being what matters. In practice, most carriers do not deliver on Christmas anyway. Ordering online is not a reliable workaround for a local sales ban.
Why the Rules Vary by County and City
States set the baseline, but many of them let counties or cities adopt stricter rules.2Cornell Law School. Twenty-First Amendment: Doctrine and Practice A county may prohibit all sales on Christmas even though the state allows them. A city may restrict hours beyond what the state requires. Two towns twenty miles apart can have completely different rules on the same holiday, which is why checking your specific locality matters.
How to Check the Rules Where You Live
Every state has an Alcoholic Beverage Control board, a Liquor Control Commission, or a similar regulatory agency. These agencies publish current rules on their websites, including holiday-specific restrictions and recent legislative changes. Searching your state’s name plus “alcohol beverage control” will get you to the right agency.
Do not stop at the state level. If your county or city has local-option authority, there may be additional restrictions on top of the statewide rule. County government websites usually post local ordinances. The fastest confirmation is a phone call to a nearby liquor store; owners know their local rules cold because their license depends on it.
Rules also change. A state that restricted sales last year may have repealed that restriction, and one state removed its Christmas Day prohibition as recently as 2024. If you are relying on what you remember from previous years, verify it before you count on it.
The simplest way to avoid the question entirely is to buy a day or two early. Even in states with no restrictions, individual stores can choose to close for the holiday. No law requires a liquor store to open on Christmas just because it is legal to do so, and many owners give their staff the day off.