California's liquor licensing quota system (since 1955)
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act set up a licensing system that caps certain license types by county population. On-sale general (full-liquor) licenses are the scarce ones; in dense counties they are hard to get and trade at a premium. Beer-and-wine eating-place licenses are far more available.
New restaurants seeking to serve alcohol usually start with beer and wine to avoid the cost and wait of a full-liquor license.
The quota structure persists today and continues to shape which new bars open and what they serve.
Explains why Tiger's Den holds a beer-and-wine license rather than a full bar license.
