Updated May 2026.
Florida’s statewide default is no alcohol sold, served, or consumed at a licensed place between midnight and 7:00 a.m. — unless the county or city has passed its own hours (Florida Statutes § 562.14). There is no statewide 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m. cutoff. Most big metros have local ordinances. Check that code, not the default.
The Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco does not enforce local hours (§ 562.14(3)). The city or county does.
How Florida hours actually work
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| State default (§ 562.14(1)) | No sale, service, or consumption midnight–7:00 a.m. at a licensed premises |
| Local override | “Except as otherwise provided by county or municipal ordinance” |
| If you are inside a city | City ordinance, if it exists; otherwise county; otherwise the default |
| Unincorporated county | County ordinance, if it exists; otherwise the default |
| Railroads | Passenger sales on rail cars are carved out of § 562.14(1) |
| Sunday | No separate statewide Sunday ban; local codes often start later on Sunday |
| Penalty | Second-degree misdemeanor (§ 562.14(4)) |
A beach-town last call is not the Publix cooler. On-sale and off-sale can split inside the same ordinance. Publishing a 67-county table from 2023 blog copy — or a “Miami is 24/7 / Orlando is 2 a.m. / Jacksonville is 3 a.m.” scoreboard — would be an invented map. Those numbers move. Look up the municipality in Municode or call the clerk. Neighboring towns in the same county can differ.
Off-sale vs last call
Section 562.14 talks about sale, service, and consumption at the licensed place. In a bar, that means the drink in your hand is supposed to be done when the local cutoff hits, not nursed for an hour. In a gas station, it means the cooler follows the local off-sale window. A 24-hour store is not a 24-hour beer license. See gas stations and beer-in-Florida start times (same statute, other direction).
Age 21. Local dry or limited areas still exist in parts of Florida. Delivery is still a sale. Theme-park and entertainment-complex definitions in ch. 561–565 can carve special premises; they are not your neighborhood Publix.
How to look it up in 60 seconds
Search “[city] code of ordinances alcoholic beverages hours of sale” or open the county Municode. If you are inside city limits, the city code usually controls even when the county has a different number. If neither has an hours ordinance, § 562.14’s midnight–7:00 a.m. default is the law. A bartender’s “we close at 3” is useful only if it matches that code — and it still may not be the grocery hour.
New Year’s Eve is a frequent local exception, not a statewide extra-hours holiday. Do not assume 4:00 a.m. because one beach town did it once. Theme-park and entertainment/resort-complex definitions in chapters 561 and 565 are special premises. They are not a 7-Eleven on US-1.
Off-sale beer at a gas station and on-sale liquor in a club can differ inside the same ordinance. Read the section that names the license type. Age 21 still applies. See when Florida beer sales may start.
Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 562.14 (2025): midnight–7 a.m. default; local ordinance exception; ABT does not enforce local hours (§ 562.14(3)); second-degree misdemeanor (§ 562.14(4)).
- County and city codes of ordinances (hours are local — verify the place you are standing).