Liquor license granted for Maxine’s Tap Room

If all goes according to plan, Maxine’s Tap Room will be serving mixed drinks this weekend for the first time in its 60-year history in Fayetteville.

Andrea Foren, owner of the legendary beer-only bar, said she recently applied for a private club license in order to offer liquor and mixed drinks, and we confirmed with ABC officials that her request was granted today.

“I’ve got my first liquor order ready to go,” Foren said. “Once I have the state permit in my hands, I’ll be able to get the city permit, and I’m hoping to have everything done by this weekend.”

Foren said that she struggled with the decision to apply for the license, but ultimately, she felt it was the right thing to do to ensure the longevity of the bar.

“I realized that we probably weren’t going to make it without getting a liquor license. At first I didn’t want to, because Maxine never did, but I just think that when a big group is going out together, you have to have more than just beer to offer. Some people don’t drink beer.”

The bar scaled back its operations in November of last year to two nights per week in order to help reduce costs. Recently, they’ve been open Thursday through Saturday, and Foren said that with today’s news, Maxine’s will soon re-expand its hours to Monday through Saturday.

The new liquor license also means extended hours, which means Maxine’s famous last call, “You’ve got 10 minutes to drink up, and get the hell out of here,” won’t be played until about 1:50 a.m.

Jed Clampit will perform Friday and Saturday night this weekend to help celebrate the new liquor license.