Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, signed House Bill 1099 for Kissimmee and House Bill 1351 for St. Cloud on Friday, May 10th 2019, allowing certain restaurants in defined areas of Downtown Kissimmee and Downtown St. Cloud to be issued special liquor licenses by the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. This special liquor license is available at a lower cost to those specific restaurant owners.
In St. Cloud, the bill will only apply to certain restaurants that are least 1,500-square feet with a minimum capacity of 65-seats, while the Kissimmee bill requires its “bona fide restaurants” to have at least 80 seats and 1,800 square feet. Restaurants need at least 51 percent of total sales to come from food and non-alcoholic beverages, in both downtown districts.
This should make it easier for qualifying restaurants to attract more customers into their businesses.
