In Texas, gas stations stop selling beer at midnight Monday through Friday and on Sunday, and at 1:00 AM on Sunday morning (the end of Saturday night). So the short answer to what time gas stations stop selling beer in Texas is midnight on most days, with one extra hour tacked onto Saturday. Sales resume at 7:00 AM Monday through Saturday and at 10:00 AM on Sunday.1State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 105.05 – Hours of Sale: Malt Beverages
The Cutoff by Day of the Week
Monday through Friday is simple: 7:00 AM to midnight. Walk up to the counter at 12:01 AM on a Tuesday and the clerk has to refuse the sale.
Saturday night is the one exception. Because the statute treats the early hours of Sunday as a continuation of Saturday, gas stations can keep ringing up beer until 1:00 AM Sunday morning.2State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code ALCO BEV 105.05 – Hours of Sale: Malt Beverages That extra hour is the only late-night extension off-premise retailers get. Bars and restaurants in larger cities can sell until 2:00 AM with a late-hours certificate, but that permit is for on-premise consumption and does not apply to a gas station selling a six-pack to go.
Sunday has its own rules. After the 1:00 AM Saturday-night cutoff, no beer is sold anywhere at a gas station until 10:00 AM Sunday morning.2State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code ALCO BEV 105.05 – Hours of Sale: Malt Beverages From 10:00 AM, sales run through to midnight. There is no 1:00 AM carryover into Monday. Midnight Sunday is a hard stop.
The 10:00 AM Sunday start is newer than many Texans realize. For decades, off-premise beer and wine sales couldn’t begin until noon on Sunday. The Legislature passed House Bill 1518, which moved the start time up by two hours.3KXAN. Texans Can Buy Beer, Wine at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Starting Sept. 1 Arrive before 10:00 AM on a Sunday and you’ll need to wait.
Quick Reference
- Monday through Friday: 7:00 AM to midnight
- Saturday: 7:00 AM through 1:00 AM Sunday
- Sunday: 10:00 AM to midnight
Do Holidays Change the Hours?
Holidays confuse people because the mandatory Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day closures apply only to package stores that sell distilled spirits. Gas stations sell beer and wine, not liquor, and they are not package stores. The daily hours above apply on holidays the same way they apply on any other day.
If Christmas falls on a Wednesday, the 7:00 AM to midnight window governs. If it falls on a Sunday, the 10:00 AM to midnight window governs. The day of the week is what matters.
Dry and Moist Areas Can Override Everything
All of those hours assume you’re in an area that allows beer sales to begin with. Texas lets counties, cities, and justice-of-the-peace precincts restrict or prohibit alcohol sales through local option elections.4Justia. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code – Chapter 251 – Local Option Status The result is a patchwork. In a dry area, a gas station cannot sell beer at any hour.
As of 2025, three Texas counties are completely dry and 60 are completely wet.5Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. TABC Publishes Interactive Wet/Dry Map The rest are mixed. One precinct might allow off-premise beer and wine while the neighboring precinct prohibits everything, and a moist area might let a gas station sell beer while blocking liquor sales elsewhere. Crossing a county or precinct line can change what’s available on the spot. Local restrictions stay in place until a new local option election changes them, and some dry areas trace back to legislative action before 1891.6Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Local Option Liquor Elections If a gas station near you doesn’t carry beer, the precinct’s local option status is almost certainly why. The TABC publishes an interactive wet/dry map covering every area in the state.
What You Can’t Buy at a Texas Gas Station
Gas stations and convenience stores in Texas sell beer and, in many cases, wine. They do not sell liquor. Distilled spirits are available only at licensed package stores, which carry their own set of restrictions including mandatory Sunday closures. For whiskey, vodka, or any other spirit, a gas station is not an option regardless of the time.