Opening and running a restaurant in New Braunfels, Texas: permits, taxes and what sells

Permits and the health authority

Your health authority is the City of New Braunfels's Neighborhood Services Division, through its Food Safety Program (contact: [email protected]). The city's own Food Safety page didn't publish a fee schedule we could confirm a dollar figure from — its online "Food Establishment Permit" link is a login-only application portal — so call the city directly for the current fee before you budget it. (Also running a truck: the city's own Food Safety page confirms mobile food vendor licensing moved statewide to Texas DSHS on July 1, 2026 — check DSHS directly rather than the old local process.)

Sales tax on the ticket

Prepared food in New Braunfels carries a combined 8.25% sales tax: 6.25% state, plus a 1.50% city rate and a 0.50% county component, per the Comptroller's local rate listing — which lists New Braunfels twice, once with the Comal County component and once with the Guadalupe County component, since the city straddles both counties. Either way, the total lands at 8.25%, the statewide ceiling.

Alcohol

TABC's statewide rules apply in New Braunfels the same as anywhere else in Texas. Beer and wine service typically needs a Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Permit (BG); a full bar needs a Mixed Beverage Permit (MB). Most restaurants pair either with a Food and Beverage Certificate, which requires qualifying as a "restaurant" or keeping alcohol to 60% or less of total sales — the current 60%-alcohol-cap framing, not the older "51% food" rule, though it works out to roughly the same 40%-minimum-food floor. A permittee also owes a 6.7% mixed beverage gross receipts tax out of pocket, plus an 8.25% mixed beverage sales tax charged to the guest on the drink. We didn't confirm a New Braunfels-specific wet/dry restriction beyond Texas's standard local-option system — check your address with TABC before applying.

The local food calendar

Wurstfest, an annual German-heritage festival with a dedicated Food Vendors section, runs each November (2026 dates November 6–15) — a confirmed, major annual draw. The New Braunfels Farmers Market runs Saturdays from 9am to 1pm at 186 S Castell Ave, a privately organized weekly market; the city's own Food Safety page notes that farmers-market vendor permitting is handled case by case depending on the product.

What kind of restaurant works here

Tourism drives demand here more directly than in most Texas cities on this list. Tubing on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers each summer, the Schlitterbahn waterpark, and the historic Gruene district together pull in a large visitor crowd well beyond the resident population, and Wurstfest adds a second, entirely different seasonal peak each November built around German heritage rather than the river. That combination means demand swings hard between a packed summer weekend and a quiet January weekday — a restaurant built purely around the river season needs its own separate plan for the months when the tubers aren't coming.

Running it on your own site

Your own site handles ordering four ways — pickup, delivery inside the ZIP zone you set, a dine-in order sent from the table, or a pay-it-forward treat for another table — with every ticket paid straight into your own Stripe account and no commission on any of them. Set your 8.25% combined rate once under Admin → Restaurant and it's applied and shown on every online ticket before the guest pays. Given how sharply summer river weekends and Wurstfest week spike demand, the reservation lead-time rules and the specials tool are worth building specifically around those two windows rather than a flat weekly pattern.

FAQ

What does a New Braunfels restaurant permit cost?
The city's Neighborhood Services Division (Food Safety Program) issues the Food Establishment Permit, but no fee schedule was reachable where we could confirm a dollar figure — the online application is a login-only portal, so call the city directly for the current fee.

What's the combined sales tax rate on food in New Braunfels?
8.25%: 6.25% state, 1.50% city, and a 0.50% county component from either Comal County or Guadalupe County depending on which one the address falls in, per the Comptroller's local rate listing — the total is 8.25% either way.

What draws extra restaurant traffic to New Braunfels?
River tourism above all — tubing on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers, the historic Gruene district, and Wurstfest each November, a confirmed annual German-heritage festival with its own food vendor section.