Illinois restaurant tax starts at the state rate of 6.25% on prepared food and climbs from there once county, municipal, transit, and special-district taxes are added. A meal in a small downstate town might carry only the 6.25% state charge. The same meal in downtown Chicago can be taxed at close to 11.75%. What you pay depends on the address of the restaurant, whether it sits inside a special taxing zone, and how the bill itemizes things like delivery and gratuity.
The 6.25% State Rate on Prepared Food
Illinois taxes restaurant meals as general merchandise at 6.25%, not at the lower rate that used to apply to unprepared groceries. It covers everything sold for immediate consumption: a sandwich at a deli counter, a coffee made by a barista, a full sit-down dinner, or a take-out order from a fast-food window. Eating on the premises or carrying the food home makes no difference.1Illinois Department of Revenue. How Do I Know What Rate of Sales Tax to Charge on Food
The line between prepared food at 6.25% and lower-taxed groceries matters most at places that sell both. Food falls into the higher category when it has been heated, combined with other ingredients by the seller for a specific customer, or sold with eating utensils provided by the retailer. A rotisserie chicken from the hot case is taxed at 6.25%. A raw chicken from the meat counter is not. Soft drinks and candy are always taxed at 6.25% wherever they are sold, and retailer-prepared beverages like coffee, tea, and cappuccino are taxed at the high rate whether hot or iced.2Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code Title 86, 130.310 – Food, Soft Drinks and Candy
A note on the 2026 grocery tax change: Illinois eliminated the 1% state sales tax on qualifying grocery items effective January 1, 2026. That change does not touch restaurant meals. Prepared food, soft drinks, candy, and alcohol all remain at 6.25% at the state level.3Illinois Department of Revenue. Illinois Grocery Tax Changes Effective January 1, 2026
Local Taxes That Stack on Top
The 6.25% state rate is a floor. Counties, municipalities, and regional transit authorities each add their own sales taxes to restaurant purchases, and those layers combine into the single percentage printed on your receipt.
Home Rule municipalities can impose additional sales taxes without state legislative approval. Illinois grants Home Rule status automatically to any municipality over 25,000 people, and some smaller communities have adopted it by referendum. These jurisdictions often set higher local rates to fund municipal services, which is why the tax on a meal in a large suburb can look noticeably different from the tax on the same meal in a small downstate town.
The Regional Transportation Authority adds another layer in the six-county Chicago metro area. Cook County’s RTA rate on general merchandise, which includes prepared food, is 1.00%. In the collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will, the RTA rate is 0.75%.4Illinois Department of Revenue. Mass Transit District Sales Tax Downstate restaurants have no RTA charge at all.
Chicago’s Combined Restaurant Tax Rate
Chicago stacks more layers than anywhere else in the state. A typical Chicago restaurant bill includes:
- State rate: 6.25%
- Cook County sales tax: 1.75%
- Chicago Home Rule municipal sales tax: 1.25%
- RTA tax: 1.00%
- Chicago citywide restaurant tax: 0.50%
That works out to roughly 10.75% for most Chicago restaurants. Restaurants inside the MPEA taxing zones pay another 1% on top, bringing the total to about 11.75%.
The MPEA Food and Beverage Tax
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority imposes a separate 1% tax on food and beverage sales in three defined zones of Chicago. Revenue supports McCormick Place, Navy Pier, and related convention infrastructure. The tax applies to meals eaten on-site and to take-out orders from restaurants whose primary business is selling food for immediate consumption.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 70 ILCS 210/13 – Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority Retailers Occupation Tax
The three zones are:
- The downtown and lakefront area, roughly bounded by Diversey Avenue on the north, Ashland Avenue on the west, the Stevenson Expressway on the south, and the Lake Michigan shoreline (including Navy Pier) on the east.
- The O’Hare Airport area, bounded by York Road, Touhy Avenue, the Northwest Tollway, Mannheim Road, Irving Park Road, and the Cook County line.
- The Midway Airport area, bounded by 55th Street, Cicero Avenue, 63rd Street, and Central Avenue.
The tax also covers food and beverages sold on boats and watercraft departing from the lakefront shoreline within the downtown zone.6Illinois Department of Revenue. MPEA Food and Beverage Tax The boundaries don’t always follow neighborhood lines. Restaurant owners can confirm whether an address sits inside a zone through the Illinois Department of Revenue’s Tax Rate Finder.
Delivery Charges, Tips, and Service Charges
Delivery fees on restaurant orders escape sales tax only when both of two conditions are met: the fee is listed separately on the receipt, and the restaurant also offers a non-delivery option like pickup. If the fee is bundled into the food price, or if delivery is the only way to get the order, the delivery charge is taxable.7Illinois Department of Revenue. Are Shipping and Handling Charges Taxable
Orders placed through DoorDash, Uber Eats, and similar services work differently. The platform is treated as a marketplace facilitator and is responsible for collecting and remitting the full sales tax on the transaction. The restaurant does not report those sales on its own ST-1 return; the Department of Revenue instructs sellers to leave marketplace-facilitated sales out of their total receipts entirely.8Illinois Department of Revenue. Frequently Asked Questions for Marketplace Facilitators, Marketplace Sellers, and Remote Retailers
Tips a customer leaves voluntarily are not subject to sales tax. Mandatory service charges, like the automatic gratuity added for a large party, are more nuanced. A mandatory charge is excluded from taxable receipts as long as the full amount is turned over as tips to the employees who directly participated in preparing, serving, or cleaning up the meal. Any portion the restaurant keeps to cover wages, benefits, or other operating costs is taxable.9Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code Title 86, 130.2145 – Vendors of Meals – Section: Mandatory Service Charges Restaurants that use service charges to offset labor costs owe tax on that share, and audits regularly turn up shortfalls here.
Filing Sales Tax as a Restaurant Owner
Restaurants report and pay Illinois sales tax on Form ST-1, the Sales and Use Tax and E911 Surcharge Return, filed through the MyTax Illinois portal. Prepared food sales are reported under General Merchandise, matching the 6.25% state rate. Each return needs the correct location code so local taxes route to the right jurisdictions.10Illinois Department of Revenue. ST-1 Instructions
The return and any tax owed are due by the 20th of the month following the reporting period. If the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day.10Illinois Department of Revenue. ST-1 Instructions Sales made through marketplace facilitators stay off the ST-1 entirely. Only direct sales belong on the return.
Penalties for Late Filing or Payment
Illinois runs separate penalties for filing late and paying late, and both can apply to the same return. The late-filing penalty is 2% of the tax due, capped at $250. If a return still isn’t filed 30 days after the Department mails a nonfiling notice, an additional penalty applies: the greater of $250 or 2% of the tax shown on the return, capped at $5,000.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 735/3-3 – Uniform Penalty and Interest Act
Late-payment penalties escalate with time:
- 1 to 30 days late: 2% of the unpaid tax.
- More than 30 days late, before an audit: 10% of the unpaid tax.
- After an audit or investigation begins: 20% of the unpaid tax, reduced to 15% if paid in full within 30 days of the audit findings.
Interest runs on top of these penalties at a rate tied to the federal underpayment rate under Internal Revenue Code Section 6621, calculated as simple daily interest and adjusted every January 1 and July 1.12Illinois Department of Revenue. Pub-103, Penalties and Interest for Illinois Taxes The jump from 2% to 10% at the 30-day mark is steep enough that filing on time is worth the effort even in a tight cash-flow month.