Have you said goodbye to the corner bar yet? It may be about that time.

While the number of restaurants that sell alcohol continues to increase in California and the Sacramento region, the stand-alone bar is disappearing.

The trend has been on display in Roseville.

In 1990, the city was home to 10 bars or nightclubs with a Type 48 liquor license – a bar-only permit. Four remain today.

During that same period, the number of establishments with a Type 47 license – bars that must also sell food – increased from eight to 42.

Bar-only licenses are more difficult to get, and when a bar loses its drinks-only license, recouping it can be a complicated process.

"This is market-driven," said Roseville's Deputy City Manager Julia Burrows, explaining that the city has not targeted bar-only operations.

The Bee contacted several bar owners in Roseville. None would speak publicly about the diminishing number of drinks-only bars, but privately some said they feel they're being pushed into running more expensive restaurant-bar combinations that send more tax revenue to state and local governments.

State law closely regulates the number of new alcohol licenses available each year, tying the number to population increases.

A regulatory change in the 1990s left Placer County over its alcohol-license cap and created pent-up demand as Roseville began its growth spurt. As chain restaurants moved in, they paid as much as $150,000 to buy alcohol licenses from existing businesses.

In Sacramento the decline in drinks-only bars started a generation ago. Between 1980 and 1990, the number fell from 80 to 36. It's since leveled off. Meanwhile, the number of Sacramento restaurants with full bars reached 222 in 2008.

Statewide, from 1980 to 2008, the number of Type 48 licenses fell 30 percent, while the number of restaurant-bars rose 159 percent.

"I can't remember the last time I went to a bar to have a drink," said Sacramento Assistant City Manager John Dangberg. "I go to restaurants. … It's what consumers want."

Roseville city spokeswoman Megan MacPherson said restaurant-bar licenses allow for more family-friendly environments.

But operating a restaurant also requires more startup capital and often offers lower profit margins.

And the administrative path to opening a drinks-only bar is longer than for opening a restaurant with a bar.

In Sacramento, getting a bar-only license requires a special city permit. Getting the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to sign off on a bar-only deal adds another step. And before that Type 48 license can be issued, local officials must show the public would benefit from the additional drinks-only bar or nightclub.

The process gives nearby property owners and concerned citizens an opportunity to fight the proposed establishment.

There's another permit quirk: Bar-and-food establishments are required to take in at least as much money on food as they do on alcohol sales.

With about 36,000 bars and restaurants selling alcohol in California, about 30 are cited each year for not being bona fide restaurants.

James Sinclair, a Los Angeles-based restaurant consultant, said many operators make the mistake of opening as a restaurant-bar when they really should be just a bar. Patrons who don't eat can turn a bar-and-grill into a rogue operation.

He said he advises clients to resist planning department efforts to shape their businesses and push instead for the type of licenses they need to make their business plans work.

"If you are trying to be a dive bar, be a dive bar," he said.

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.