In Texas, you can buy beer as early as 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 10:00 a.m. on Sunday if you’re picking it up at a store. Bars and restaurants follow the same morning start on weekdays and Saturdays, but Sunday on-premise service doesn’t begin until noon unless you order food with it. Sales stop at midnight most nights, run until 1:00 a.m. after Saturday, and can stretch to 2:00 a.m. at venues with a special permit.
Store Hours for Beer and Wine
Grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations sell beer and wine for off-premise consumption on this schedule:1Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. FAQs – Section: Hours of Sale and Consumption
- Monday through Friday: 7:00 a.m. to midnight
- Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning
- Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to midnight
Saturday night is the only night of the week when store sales continue past midnight. Every other night the register stops ringing up alcohol at 12:00 a.m. Sunday is the latest start of the week, with the cooler doors effectively locked until 10:00 a.m.
Those Sunday hours for beer and wine apply even on major holidays at grocery and convenience stores, unless a local ordinance says otherwise.
Bar and Restaurant Hours
If you’re buying a beer to drink on the spot, the schedule is almost identical, with one Sunday wrinkle:1Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. FAQs – Section: Hours of Sale and Consumption
- Monday through Friday: 7:00 a.m. to midnight
- Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning
- Sunday: Noon to midnight
The Sunday gap between 10:00 a.m. and noon has a workaround. A bar or restaurant can serve you beer in that two-hour window if the order comes with food. This is the same rule that lets Texas brunch spots pour mimosas and Bloody Marys before noon. If the kitchen isn’t sending out a plate with your drink, you’re waiting until twelve.
When Last Call Runs to 2:00 a.m.
Plenty of bars across Texas keep serving well past midnight. That’s because of a separate authorization called a Late Hours Certificate, which lets the holder sell alcohol for on-premise consumption between midnight and 2:00 a.m. any night of the week. It’s available to businesses holding mixed beverage permits, wine and malt beverage retailer’s permits, retail dealer’s on-premise licenses, and private club permits.2Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. TABC License and Permit Types – Section: Subordinate Licenses and Permits
Not every establishment qualifies. The business has to be located in a city or county where late-hours sales are legal, and it has to hold the certificate from the TABC. If you’re in a smaller town or rural area and last call seems early, this is usually why. The permit depends on where the venue sits, not just what kind of venue it is.
Liquor Stores Are on a Different Clock
This one trips people up. Liquor stores (called package stores under Texas law) don’t follow the beer and wine schedule at all. They’re open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and are closed entirely on Sundays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.1Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. FAQs – Section: Hours of Sale and Consumption
So if you want distilled spirits on a Sunday, a package store won’t help. Beer and wine aisles at the grocery store keep their normal Sunday hours, and bars and restaurants with the right permits can still pour cocktails.
Dry and Moist Areas Can Override Everything Above
None of the hours matter if you’re in a part of Texas that doesn’t allow the sale in the first place. Texas uses a local option system in which voters in individual counties, cities, or even justice of the peace precincts decide what alcohol can be sold in their jurisdiction. The result is three categories:
- Wet areas, where all legal sales are permitted subject to the statewide hours.
- Dry areas, where no alcohol sales of any kind are allowed.
- Moist areas, where some sales are allowed with restrictions, such as only beer and wine, or only at restaurants that meet certain food-sales thresholds.
Most of the state’s population lives in wet areas, especially in and around major cities. But Texas still has a meaningful number of dry and moist jurisdictions, mostly in rural counties. If you’re traveling through a less-populated part of the state, check before you plan a beer run. The TABC maintains a searchable database of wet and dry status by jurisdiction on its website.