Straight answers about running a restaurant in Texas
Short answer
This page answers 40 real questions restaurant owners and managers actually ask about running a restaurant in Texas — grouped into taxes, permits and TABC, ordering and delivery, reservations and dine-in, staff and costs, and the software itself. Every answer leads with the answer, not a windup, and cites the Comptroller, TABC, or DSHS where the fact is regulatory.
Taxes
What is the sales tax rate on food sold at a restaurant in Texas?
6.25% state sales tax, plus up to 2% in local city, county, transit, and special-purpose district tax, for a combined rate capped at 8.25% anywhere in Texas, under the Texas Comptroller's general sales and use tax. Texas has no separate "restaurant tax" — prepared food is taxed at whatever combined rate applies at your address.
What's the mixed beverage gross receipts tax?
A 6.7% tax on a TABC permittee's gross receipts from selling, preparing, or serving alcoholic beverages, paid by the business itself rather than charged separately to the customer, per the Texas Comptroller. It applies alongside, not instead of, the separate mixed beverage sales tax charged to the person drinking.
What's the mixed beverage sales tax, and is it different from the gross receipts tax?
Yes — the mixed beverage sales tax is a separate 8.25% tax on the sale of a mixed beverage, charged to the customer, per the Texas Comptroller. The gross receipts tax (6.7%) is paid by the permittee out of total alcohol receipts; the sales tax is the line the guest actually sees and pays. Both can apply to the same drink.
Is there a separate "restaurant tax" in Texas?
No. The Texas Comptroller taxes prepared food under the general state sales and use tax — 6.25% state, plus up to 2% local, for a maximum combined 8.25% — the same framework applied to most taxable retail sales in Texas. There's no restaurant-specific rate or exemption layered on top of it.
Do I owe sales tax on food the same way regardless of how the order came in — dine-in, pickup, delivery, or online?
Yes. Texas sales tax on prepared food applies the same way no matter the fulfillment channel, at your combined state-plus-local rate up to 8.25%. What can differ by platform is who's actually responsible for collecting and remitting it, which is worth confirming in writing with any third-party ordering service you use.
How do I file and pay Texas sales tax as a restaurant?
Through the Texas Comptroller's Webfile system, the standard way to file and remit state and local sales tax electronically, on the filing frequency the Comptroller assigns your business. Mixed beverage taxes are reported and paid through their own separate Comptroller filings, distinct from your general sales tax return.
Does the tax change if I run a prix fixe menu instead of à la carte pricing?
No — Texas sales tax applies to the taxable prepared food sold, regardless of whether it's priced item by item or as a single fixed-price menu. What has to stay correct is that tax is calculated on the actual amount charged and itemized the same way any other ticket would be, then remitted through the same Comptroller filing.
Permits and TABC
Do I need a permit to serve food in Texas?
Yes — a retail food establishment permit from whichever health authority has jurisdiction over your location. Most Texas cities and counties regulate food establishments through their own local health department; DSHS has jurisdiction and enforces the Texas Food Establishment Rules only in areas without a city ordinance or county order covering it. Confirm which one applies to your address.
What is DSHS, and when does it regulate my restaurant instead of my city?
DSHS is the Texas Department of State Health Services. It has jurisdiction over retail food establishments, and enforces the Texas Food Establishment Rules, only in areas without their own city ordinance or county order addressing food establishment regulation — most Texas cities and counties instead regulate locally through their own health department, not DSHS directly.
What is TFER?
Short for the Texas Food Establishment Rules, the food-safety code found at Title 25 of the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 228, per DSHS. Whether enforced by DSHS directly or adopted by your local health authority, TFER is the underlying rulebook governing food handling, storage, and sanitation a Texas food establishment is inspected against.
What is TABC?
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the state agency that issues and regulates the permits and licenses required to sell alcohol in Texas — including the Mixed Beverage Permit, the Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit, and the Retail Dealer's On-Premise License — and administers the rules around who can hold them and what each one allows.
What's a Food & Beverage Certificate, and do I need one?
A required add-on certificate for holders of a Mixed Beverage, Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's, or Retail Dealer's On-Premise permit or license. Under TABC's current published rule, a holder must either qualify as a "restaurant" or keep alcohol sales to 60% or less of total sales, meaning at least 40% of sales come from food and non-alcoholic beverages.
I've heard restaurants need "51% food sales" to serve alcohol — is that still the rule?
Not as currently published. TABC's current Food & Beverage Certificate rule caps alcohol sales at 60% of total sales — equivalent to a 40% minimum food and non-alcohol share — rather than the older "51% food" framing some sources still repeat. Confirm your specific numbers directly with TABC before relying on either figure.
What does a Certified Food Manager certification require, and how long does it last?
A Certified Food Manager certification is valid for five years, per DSHS. Certificates from ANSI-CFP-accredited providers get national reciprocity; those from DSHS-approved providers get state reciprocity, and any local health authority must accept a certificate from any DSHS-approved exam. Some large counties require a CFM on duty during operating hours — confirm with your local health authority.
Ordering and delivery
Can I take online orders through my own website instead of a delivery app?
Yes — restaurant software can run online ordering directly on your own site, with a guest choosing pickup, delivery, a dine-in order sent from the table, or a pay-it-forward treat for another table, all from one cart, paid straight into your own Stripe account with no commission on the ticket.
Does the platform dispatch delivery drivers?
No. You control which ZIP codes are inside your delivery zone, and an address outside it is turned down at checkout with an explanation instead of at the door — but there's no driver app and no routing built in. Delivery itself is you, your staff, or whoever you already use to run it.
What's a pay-it-forward order?
A guest buys a dessert, a drink, or a surprise for another table — one they name, or one the restaurant picks. The recipient's table details and identity are never exposed to the buyer, and the restaurant can require the recipient to accept before it's delivered. It's opt-in per restaurant, off unless turned on.
What's the difference between order-ahead and a regular online order?
Order-ahead means a guest places and pays for an order before arriving, timed for pickup, delivery, or a specific dine-in moment, rather than ordering once already seated. It's the same underlying cart and checkout — the difference is purely when the order happens relative to the guest actually showing up.
Can I keep using a delivery app while also taking orders on my own site?
Yes. Nothing about running your own ordering page requires dropping any existing channel — most restaurants that do this keep a delivery app running for the discovery it provides while building a habit among regulars to order direct instead, where nothing is taken off the top of the ticket.
Does sales tax get calculated automatically on an online order?
Yes — set your combined sales tax rate once, and it applies to the food on every online ticket and is shown to the guest before they pay, alongside any service charge and tip. Alcohol isn't calculated here; mixed beverage taxes are filed on their own separate Comptroller returns.
What counts as curbside versus delivery versus dine-in for fulfillment purposes?
Pickup and curbside both mean the guest comes to you — curbside simply means staff bring the order out to the car instead of the guest coming inside. Delivery means staff or a driver bring the order to the guest's address inside your delivery zone. Dine-in means the order is placed and served at a table on premises.
Reservations and dine-in
Can guests book a table themselves online?
Yes — a guest picks party size, date, and an actual open time slot, built from the restaurant's own maximum party size, minimum advance notice, and how far ahead it takes bookings. The restaurant confirms or declines from the admin, and the floor sees the reservation on the table board.
What's the difference between a hold and a reservation?
A hold is a temporary reservation of dates or an authorization that isn't yet a confirmed booking — nothing is finalized. A reservation is the confirmed booking itself, tied to a specific party size, date, and time slot, and it's what actually shows up on the floor's table board.
What is a table session?
The tracked period a specific table is occupied by a specific party, from seating through checkout, distinct from the table's overall status on the board. A table board built around table sessions, not just a simple "occupied" flag, is what lets the floor see how long a party has actually been seated.
What's a "cover," and how is it different from a ticket?
A cover is one guest served during one dining occasion — a party of four dining together is four covers. A ticket is the actual order record for that visit or table, which can include multiple items across multiple covers. Covers count people; a ticket carries the food and the price.
What does "turn" mean for a table?
A turn is one complete cycle of seating a party at a table, serving them, and clearing the table for the next party. Tracking turns per table over a shift is one way a restaurant measures how efficiently the dining room is actually moving, separate from covers or total revenue for the night.
Can I run a prix fixe menu for reservations tied to a special event?
Yes, at the menu level — a prix fixe is a fixed-price, typically limited-choice menu offered for a set price rather than à la carte, and it can be built and priced like any other menu offering. Tie it to specific reservation dates or slots the same way you would any other seasonal or event menu.
Staff and costs
What's food cost percentage, and how do I calculate it?
Food cost percentage is the cost of the ingredients in a dish divided by what you charge for it, expressed as a percentage. It shows how much of the menu price the ingredients themselves consume before labor, rent, or any other cost — useful for pricing a dish, but only as accurate as the ingredient costs feeding the calculation.
What's prime cost?
Prime cost is food cost plus labor cost combined — the two largest controllable expenses in most restaurants, added together to give a fuller picture of what it actually costs to put a dish, or the whole menu, on the table before rent and other overhead. There's no single target that applies to every restaurant; it depends on your concept and your market.
What's contribution margin, and how is it different from food cost percentage?
Contribution margin is the dollar amount left over from a dish's price after subtracting its food cost — not a percentage, a raw number. A dish with a high food cost percentage can still have a strong contribution margin if it's priced high enough; menu engineering typically looks at both together rather than either alone.
What is menu engineering?
The ongoing practice of analyzing each menu item by both its food cost percentage and its contribution margin, then deciding what to feature, reprice, or drop based on which dishes are actually profitable versus merely popular, or vice versa. It's a recurring analysis, not a one-time menu redesign.
What's a tip credit, and how does Texas handle it?
A tip credit lets an employer count a portion of an employee's tips toward meeting minimum wage instead of paying the full cash wage directly. Texas adopts the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, per the Texas Workforce Commission, but confirm the specific tipped cash wage and maximum tip credit figures directly with TWC or the U.S. Department of Labor rather than assuming a number.
What's the difference between a tip pool and a service charge?
A tip pool collects tips from some or all staff and redistributes them by a set formula, commonly by points or hours worked. A service charge is a mandatory percentage added to the ticket by the restaurant, not a voluntary tip, and how it's distributed to staff afterward is the restaurant's own policy choice, distinct from how tips are handled.
Do I need a food handler certificate for my staff, and how often does it need renewing?
Texas requires many food service employees to complete an accredited food handler training course within 30 days of starting the job, per DSHS. DSHS's published guidance doesn't state a specific renewal period for the certificate itself — confirm current renewal timing directly with DSHS or your local health authority rather than assuming a fixed number of years.
The software
Is this a point-of-sale system?
No. There's no terminal, no cash drawer, no card reader, and no end-of-night close. It's your website, your online ordering, your reservations, and the back-of-house numbers behind them — menu, food cost, and scheduling. Whatever you ring the room up on stays exactly where it is.
Does the software dispatch delivery drivers or manage a driver app?
No. It controls which ZIP codes are inside your delivery zone and refuses an address outside it at checkout, but there's no driver app and no routing. Delivery itself — the driving part — is you, your staff, or whoever you already use.
Is there a loyalty or points program?
Not today. What exists is a guest profile — order history and details like a birthday or anniversary a guest chose to share — plus specials and post-visit follow-up. Points and rewards aren't built, and nothing on the platform claims otherwise.
Can I run catering through the software?
Today, the catering page states your headcount minimum and lead time and sends an inquiry to you — it doesn't quote, take a deposit, or put an event on the calendar automatically. Treat catering as an inquiry channel for now, not a full booking system.
Do I have to pay a commission on orders taken through my own site?
No. The subscription is the whole bill — every order runs through your own Stripe account, and nothing is taken off a ticket whether it's a small pickup order or a large table's bill, on any of the monthly, yearly, or lifetime pricing options.
How long does it actually take to get a restaurant live on the platform?
About 15 minutes to answer the setup questions and connect Stripe. Loading the menu properly — categories, dishes, prices, and option groups — takes longer than everything else combined, and your tax rate, delivery zone, and reservation rules get set right after, under the restaurant admin settings.
Questions
What is the sales tax rate on food sold at a restaurant in Texas?
6.25% state sales tax, plus up to 2% in local city, county, transit, and special-purpose district tax, for a combined rate capped at 8.25% anywhere in Texas, under the Texas Comptroller's general sales and use tax. Texas has no separate "restaurant tax" — prepared food is taxed at whatever combined rate applies at your address.
What's the mixed beverage gross receipts tax?
A 6.7% tax on a TABC permittee's gross receipts from selling, preparing, or serving alcoholic beverages, paid by the business itself rather than charged separately to the customer, per the Texas Comptroller. It applies alongside, not instead of, the separate mixed beverage sales tax charged to the person drinking.
What's the mixed beverage sales tax, and is it different from the gross receipts tax?
Yes — the mixed beverage sales tax is a separate 8.25% tax on the sale of a mixed beverage, charged to the customer, per the Texas Comptroller. The gross receipts tax (6.7%) is paid by the permittee out of total alcohol receipts; the sales tax is the line the guest actually sees and pays. Both can apply to the same drink.
Is there a separate "restaurant tax" in Texas?
No. The Texas Comptroller taxes prepared food under the general state sales and use tax — 6.25% state, plus up to 2% local, for a maximum combined 8.25% — the same framework applied to most taxable retail sales in Texas. There's no restaurant-specific rate or exemption layered on top of it.
Do I owe sales tax on food the same way regardless of how the order came in — dine-in, pickup, delivery, or online?
Yes. Texas sales tax on prepared food applies the same way no matter the fulfillment channel, at your combined state-plus-local rate up to 8.25%. What can differ by platform is who's actually responsible for collecting and remitting it, which is worth confirming in writing with any third-party ordering service you use.
How do I file and pay Texas sales tax as a restaurant?
Through the Texas Comptroller's Webfile system, the standard way to file and remit state and local sales tax electronically, on the filing frequency the Comptroller assigns your business. Mixed beverage taxes are reported and paid through their own separate Comptroller filings, distinct from your general sales tax return.
Does the tax change if I run a prix fixe menu instead of à la carte pricing?
No — Texas sales tax applies to the taxable prepared food sold, regardless of whether it's priced item by item or as a single fixed-price menu. What has to stay correct is that tax is calculated on the actual amount charged and itemized the same way any other ticket would be, then remitted through the same Comptroller filing.
Do I need a permit to serve food in Texas?
Yes — a retail food establishment permit from whichever health authority has jurisdiction over your location. Most Texas cities and counties regulate food establishments through their own local health department; DSHS has jurisdiction and enforces the Texas Food Establishment Rules only in areas without a city ordinance or county order covering it. Confirm which one applies to your address.
What is DSHS, and when does it regulate my restaurant instead of my city?
DSHS is the Texas Department of State Health Services. It has jurisdiction over retail food establishments, and enforces the Texas Food Establishment Rules, only in areas without their own city ordinance or county order addressing food establishment regulation — most Texas cities and counties instead regulate locally through their own health department, not DSHS directly.
What is TFER?
Short for the Texas Food Establishment Rules, the food-safety code found at Title 25 of the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 228, per DSHS. Whether enforced by DSHS directly or adopted by your local health authority, TFER is the underlying rulebook governing food handling, storage, and sanitation a Texas food establishment is inspected against.
What is TABC?
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the state agency that issues and regulates the permits and licenses required to sell alcohol in Texas — including the Mixed Beverage Permit, the Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit, and the Retail Dealer's On-Premise License — and administers the rules around who can hold them and what each one allows.
What's a Food & Beverage Certificate, and do I need one?
A required add-on certificate for holders of a Mixed Beverage, Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's, or Retail Dealer's On-Premise permit or license. Under TABC's current published rule, a holder must either qualify as a "restaurant" or keep alcohol sales to 60% or less of total sales, meaning at least 40% of sales come from food and non-alcoholic beverages.
I've heard restaurants need "51% food sales" to serve alcohol — is that still the rule?
Not as currently published. TABC's current Food & Beverage Certificate rule caps alcohol sales at 60% of total sales — equivalent to a 40% minimum food and non-alcohol share — rather than the older "51% food" framing some sources still repeat. Confirm your specific numbers directly with TABC before relying on either figure.
What does a Certified Food Manager certification require, and how long does it last?
A Certified Food Manager certification is valid for five years, per DSHS. Certificates from ANSI-CFP-accredited providers get national reciprocity; those from DSHS-approved providers get state reciprocity, and any local health authority must accept a certificate from any DSHS-approved exam. Some large counties require a CFM on duty during operating hours — confirm with your local health authority.
Can I take online orders through my own website instead of a delivery app?
Yes — restaurant software can run online ordering directly on your own site, with a guest choosing pickup, delivery, a dine-in order sent from the table, or a pay-it-forward treat for another table, all from one cart, paid straight into your own Stripe account with no commission on the ticket.
Does the platform dispatch delivery drivers?
No. You control which ZIP codes are inside your delivery zone, and an address outside it is turned down at checkout with an explanation instead of at the door — but there's no driver app and no routing built in. Delivery itself is you, your staff, or whoever you already use to run it.
What's a pay-it-forward order?
A guest buys a dessert, a drink, or a surprise for another table — one they name, or one the restaurant picks. The recipient's table details and identity are never exposed to the buyer, and the restaurant can require the recipient to accept before it's delivered. It's opt-in per restaurant, off unless turned on.
What's the difference between order-ahead and a regular online order?
Order-ahead means a guest places and pays for an order before arriving, timed for pickup, delivery, or a specific dine-in moment, rather than ordering once already seated. It's the same underlying cart and checkout — the difference is purely when the order happens relative to the guest actually showing up.
Can I keep using a delivery app while also taking orders on my own site?
Yes. Nothing about running your own ordering page requires dropping any existing channel — most restaurants that do this keep a delivery app running for the discovery it provides while building a habit among regulars to order direct instead, where nothing is taken off the top of the ticket.
Does sales tax get calculated automatically on an online order?
Yes — set your combined sales tax rate once, and it applies to the food on every online ticket and is shown to the guest before they pay, alongside any service charge and tip. Alcohol isn't calculated here; mixed beverage taxes are filed on their own separate Comptroller returns.
What counts as curbside versus delivery versus dine-in for fulfillment purposes?
Pickup and curbside both mean the guest comes to you — curbside simply means staff bring the order out to the car instead of the guest coming inside. Delivery means staff or a driver bring the order to the guest's address inside your delivery zone. Dine-in means the order is placed and served at a table on premises.
Can guests book a table themselves online?
Yes — a guest picks party size, date, and an actual open time slot, built from the restaurant's own maximum party size, minimum advance notice, and how far ahead it takes bookings. The restaurant confirms or declines from the admin, and the floor sees the reservation on the table board.
What's the difference between a hold and a reservation?
A hold is a temporary reservation of dates or an authorization that isn't yet a confirmed booking — nothing is finalized. A reservation is the confirmed booking itself, tied to a specific party size, date, and time slot, and it's what actually shows up on the floor's table board.
What is a table session?
The tracked period a specific table is occupied by a specific party, from seating through checkout, distinct from the table's overall status on the board. A table board built around table sessions, not just a simple "occupied" flag, is what lets the floor see how long a party has actually been seated.
What's a "cover," and how is it different from a ticket?
A cover is one guest served during one dining occasion — a party of four dining together is four covers. A ticket is the actual order record for that visit or table, which can include multiple items across multiple covers. Covers count people; a ticket carries the food and the price.
What does "turn" mean for a table?
A turn is one complete cycle of seating a party at a table, serving them, and clearing the table for the next party. Tracking turns per table over a shift is one way a restaurant measures how efficiently the dining room is actually moving, separate from covers or total revenue for the night.
Can I run a prix fixe menu for reservations tied to a special event?
Yes, at the menu level — a prix fixe is a fixed-price, typically limited-choice menu offered for a set price rather than à la carte, and it can be built and priced like any other menu offering. Tie it to specific reservation dates or slots the same way you would any other seasonal or event menu.
What's food cost percentage, and how do I calculate it?
Food cost percentage is the cost of the ingredients in a dish divided by what you charge for it, expressed as a percentage. It shows how much of the menu price the ingredients themselves consume before labor, rent, or any other cost — useful for pricing a dish, but only as accurate as the ingredient costs feeding the calculation.
What's prime cost?
Prime cost is food cost plus labor cost combined — the two largest controllable expenses in most restaurants, added together to give a fuller picture of what it actually costs to put a dish, or the whole menu, on the table before rent and other overhead. There's no single target that applies to every restaurant; it depends on your concept and your market.
What's contribution margin, and how is it different from food cost percentage?
Contribution margin is the dollar amount left over from a dish's price after subtracting its food cost — not a percentage, a raw number. A dish with a high food cost percentage can still have a strong contribution margin if it's priced high enough; menu engineering typically looks at both together rather than either alone.
What is menu engineering?
The ongoing practice of analyzing each menu item by both its food cost percentage and its contribution margin, then deciding what to feature, reprice, or drop based on which dishes are actually profitable versus merely popular, or vice versa. It's a recurring analysis, not a one-time menu redesign.
What's a tip credit, and how does Texas handle it?
A tip credit lets an employer count a portion of an employee's tips toward meeting minimum wage instead of paying the full cash wage directly. Texas adopts the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, per the Texas Workforce Commission, but confirm the specific tipped cash wage and maximum tip credit figures directly with TWC or the U.S. Department of Labor rather than assuming a number.
What's the difference between a tip pool and a service charge?
A tip pool collects tips from some or all staff and redistributes them by a set formula, commonly by points or hours worked. A service charge is a mandatory percentage added to the ticket by the restaurant, not a voluntary tip, and how it's distributed to staff afterward is the restaurant's own policy choice, distinct from how tips are handled.
Do I need a food handler certificate for my staff, and how often does it need renewing?
Texas requires many food service employees to complete an accredited food handler training course within 30 days of starting the job, per DSHS. DSHS's published guidance doesn't state a specific renewal period for the certificate itself — confirm current renewal timing directly with DSHS or your local health authority rather than assuming a fixed number of years.
Is this a point-of-sale system?
No. There's no terminal, no cash drawer, no card reader, and no end-of-night close. It's your website, your online ordering, your reservations, and the back-of-house numbers behind them — menu, food cost, and scheduling. Whatever you ring the room up on stays exactly where it is.
Does the software dispatch delivery drivers or manage a driver app?
No. It controls which ZIP codes are inside your delivery zone and refuses an address outside it at checkout, but there's no driver app and no routing. Delivery itself — the driving part — is you, your staff, or whoever you already use.
Is there a loyalty or points program?
Not today. What exists is a guest profile — order history and details like a birthday or anniversary a guest chose to share — plus specials and post-visit follow-up. Points and rewards aren't built, and nothing on the platform claims otherwise.
Can I run catering through the software?
Today, the catering page states your headcount minimum and lead time and sends an inquiry to you — it doesn't quote, take a deposit, or put an event on the calendar automatically. Treat catering as an inquiry channel for now, not a full booking system.
Do I have to pay a commission on orders taken through my own site?
No. The subscription is the whole bill — every order runs through your own Stripe account, and nothing is taken off a ticket whether it's a small pickup order or a large table's bill, on any of the monthly, yearly, or lifetime pricing options.
How long does it actually take to get a restaurant live on the platform?
About 15 minutes to answer the setup questions and connect Stripe. Loading the menu properly — categories, dishes, prices, and option groups — takes longer than everything else combined, and your tax rate, delivery zone, and reservation rules get set right after, under the restaurant admin settings.
Sources
- Texas Comptroller — sales tax on restaurants and prepared food — checked 2026-08-30
- Texas Comptroller — Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts Tax — checked 2026-08-30
- Texas Comptroller — Mixed Beverage Sales Tax — checked 2026-08-30
- TABC — License and Permit Types — checked 2026-08-30
- DSHS — Retail Food Establishments FAQs — checked 2026-08-30
- DSHS — Certified Food Manager Training Programs — checked 2026-08-30
- Texas Workforce Commission — Texas Minimum Wage Law — checked 2026-08-30
- LuperIQ Restaurant — pricing and features — checked 2026-08-30
Take your own orders, on your own site
Your menu, your ordering and your reservations on your own address and your own Stripe account. One room or three.