Utah · Updated Oct 2026
Mandatory server training required by the state before your first shift
Utah doesn't require a bartender license, just state-approved server training, and that won't teach you the job. Here's your path from zero experience to your first shift, plus the rules and pay to know.
Quick answer
Utah doesn't issue a bartender license. The bar or restaurant holds the alcohol license from the state, not the bartender, but you must finish alcohol server training before your first shift. You must be 21 or older to serve or bartend. Learn the job first, then complete state-approved server training before your first shift.
Your path
Take Bar Ready online: tools, pours, spirits, cocktails, service and how to get hired.
Watch every lesson in full to unlock each course's certificate of completion in your dashboard. It shows employers you trained. It isn't a license.
Pass a state-approved alcohol server training course before your first shift. Retake it every 3 years.
See local rules ↓Put your training and certificates on your resume and apply to bars and restaurants near you.
Pour, serve and earn tips. In Utah, tipped staff get at least $2.13/hr, and tips must bring them to $7.25/hr.
Utah rules
You must be 21 or older to sell, serve, pour or mix alcohol in Utah, including in restaurants. Bars can't employ anyone under 21 at all, though restaurants can hire workers 16 and older to clear tables.
Utah Code §32B-5-308 DABS Bar License Reference Guide DABS Restaurant Beer-Only Handbook
Utah doesn't issue a bartender license. The bar or restaurant holds the alcohol license from the state, not the bartender, but you must finish alcohol server training before your first shift.
Everyone who sells or serves alcohol for drinking on site, and anyone who manages or supervises that service, must pass a state-approved alcohol server training course before starting work. The training must be retaken every 3 years. New managers also take a separate state manager class within 30 days of hire.
Employers can pay tipped staff $2.13 an hour if tips bring them to at least $7.25 an hour; if not, the employer makes up the difference.
Rules change. Last checked October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm with the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS) and your employer before you apply.
Local rules
Utah's age and training rules for bar and restaurant staff apply statewide. Your city or county must give written consent before the state licenses a bar or restaurant, so ask your employer about any local conditions.
State alcohol agency
The agency that licenses and regulates alcohol sales in Utah.
Open the official websiteYour employer can also tell you which rules apply where you'll work.
Pay
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 (Utah, Bartenders 35-3011) and U.S. DOL state tipped wage table. BLS wages include tips reported by employers. What you earn depends on the venue, your shifts and your location, and isn't guaranteed.
Jobs
Open bartender listings near you on Indeed. Barback and server openings are worth a look too: they're a common way behind the bar.
The question we hear most
Questions people ask
Utah doesn't issue a bartender license. The bar or restaurant holds the alcohol license from the state, not the bartender, but you must finish alcohol server training before your first shift. You can learn the job first, then check whether your employer wants server training.
You must be 21 or older to sell, serve, pour or mix alcohol in Utah, including in restaurants. Bars can't employ anyone under 21 at all, though restaurants can hire workers 16 and older to clear tables. Employers can set a higher minimum age, so check with the bar.
Utah Code §32B-5-308 DABS Bar License Reference Guide DABS Restaurant Beer-Only Handbook
Everyone who sells or serves alcohol for drinking on site, and anyone who manages or supervises that service, must pass a state-approved alcohol server training course before starting work. The training must be retaken every 3 years. New managers also take a separate state manager class within 30 days of hire.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025), Utah bartenders earned a median of $15.46 an hour and a mean of $19.44 an hour ($40,430 a year), including tips reported by employers. The top 10% earned more than $36.09 an hour. Employers can pay tipped staff $2.13 an hour if tips bring them to at least $7.25 an hour; if not, the employer makes up the difference. Pay varies by venue, shifts and location.
Experience is up to each employer, but you'll need your state-approved server training too. Learning the fundamentals first, and being able to show you finished training, helps you stand out when you apply. That's what step 1 is for.
Search job boards like Indeed for bartender, barback and server openings in your city, check the websites and social pages of bars you'd like to work at, and drop off a resume in person when it's quiet. Barback and server jobs are a common way in. Park City and the ski resorts near Salt Lake City hire for winter, and Moab and St. George, near the national parks, stay busy from spring through fall.
No. Utah doesn't require bartending school. The state-approved server training is about serving alcohol safely and legally; it doesn't teach you to make drinks or work a bar. An online course lets you learn the tools, pours, cocktails and service at your own pace.
No. We don't place students in jobs. Bar Ready shows you what the job involves and how to get hired, with a resume guide and template and what to expect when you apply. Then you apply to bars and restaurants near you.
Bar Ready is self-paced, so you go as fast as your schedule allows. After that, timing depends on how long it takes to get your state-approved server training and the jobs near you.
No. Your Bar School certificates of completion, one for each Bar Ready course, show employers you finished our training. They aren't a government license or permit, and they don't replace TIPS, ServSafe or any state or local requirement.
Step 1 is learning the job. Start Bar Ready online today, at your own pace.
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