21st Amendment repeals Prohibition (1933)
The United States repealed the 18th Amendment, ending nationwide alcohol prohibition. Each state then built its own system for licensing who may sell alcohol and under what conditions.
States adopted varied licensing regimes; California later created a dedicated Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to administer them.
That framework endures: a restaurant cannot serve beer and wine today without a state-issued license of the exact type Z Bistro has applied for.
Explains why a restaurant needs a state license at all — the gatekeeping Z Bistro's application now goes through.
