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    LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD

    Submit a Bid for an Expired Pennsylvania Restaurant Liquor License

    Inivation for bids for the PLCB's first excess expired restaurant liquor license auction are now open. Sealed bids due by noon Monday, June 15.

    Invitation for bids for 10 expired restaurant liquor licenses now open
    Sealed bids due by noon Monday, June 15

    An invitation for bids is now open to award 10 expired restaurant licenses in the first auction where licenses can be transferred across county lines following the passage of Act 56 of 2025. This is also the 15th license auction since auctions were authorized by Act 39 of 2016.

    Act 56 of 2025 changed the Pennsylvania Liquor Code to require the PLCB to hold an “excess auction” at least once a year. Excess auctions include expired restaurant liquor licenses that were previously put up for auction but that received no bids. This second, excess auction opportunity allows those licenses that previously received no bids to be bid on again and transferred across county lines for an additional fee. Standard restaurant license auctions require licenses to remain in the county where they expired. 

    The Invitation for Bids, which details bid requirements and application processes, is available online. Sealed bids for this excess auction are due by noon Monday, June 15, and will be opened Wednesday, June 17. 

    These 10 licenses – located in Armstrong, Cambria, Cameron, Greene, Northumberland, Somerset, Sullivan, Warren, Washington, and Westmoreland counties – each require a minimum bid of $25,000 and will be awarded to the highest bidder for each license. Each bid must also be accompanied by a bid surety of $5,000 or 5% of the total bid amount – whichever is higher – to avoid frivolous and underfunded bids.

    The highest responsive bidder for each license, upon notification of auction award, will have up to 30 days to remit bid payment to the PLCB and up to six months to submit an application for the license. If bid payment is not received timely, the second-highest bidder will have the opportunity to apply for the license.

    If a winning bidder wishes to transfer a license to another county, it must identify on its bid sheet, in order of preference, up to five counties into which it wants to transfer the license, regardless of each county’s retail liquor license quota status. No more than two licenses can be transferred into any one county per year as a result of an excess auction, and priority for any available transfer opportunities will be given to the highest bidder(s).

    Bidders requesting license transfer into another county must also pay, in addition to the winning bid payment, a fee of $50,000 if the license is transferred to a county of the first through fourth classes, or $25,000 if it is transferred into a county of the fifth through eighth classes.

    Bidders with questions regarding this invitation for bids must submit inquiries via email to RA-LBLicenseAuction@pa.gov by noon Thursday, May 7. Questions and answers will be posted to the Department of General Services e-marketplace on Thursday, May 14.

    Lists of winning bids from each of the 14 previous auctions can be viewed through the links to the right.