In San Antonio, beer sales stop at midnight Monday through Friday and on Sunday, extend to 1:00 AM on Sunday morning after Saturday night, and can run until 2:00 AM at bars and restaurants holding a late hours permit. Those cutoffs come from Texas state law, so San Antonio runs on the same clock as the rest of Texas.
Weekday Cutoff
Monday through Friday, beer goes on sale at 7:00 AM and stops at midnight. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code applies the same window to bars, restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores. There’s no split between buying beer to drink on-site and buying it to take home on weekdays.1Justia Law. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Title 4, Chapter 105 – Section 105.05
Saturday Runs an Hour Later
Saturday is the one night the cutoff moves. Sales still begin at 7:00 AM, but they keep going until 1:00 AM Sunday morning. That extra hour covers both stores and bars.1Justia Law. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Title 4, Chapter 105 – Section 105.05 The TABC confirms the same 7:00 AM Saturday to 1:00 AM Sunday window for mixed beverage permit holders.2Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Mixed Beverage Permit (MB) – On-Premise Retailers
Sunday Starts Late and Ends at Midnight
Sunday is the most restricted day. Grocery stores, convenience stores, and other off-premise retailers can’t sell beer until noon, and they stop at midnight.1Justia Law. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Title 4, Chapter 105 – Section 105.05 The five-hour delay from the usual 7:00 AM start catches people planning Sunday cookouts.
Bars and restaurants work on the same noon-to-midnight window, with one carve-out. If beer is served alongside food, service can start at 10:00 AM. A brunch spot can pour at 10:00 AM; a bar without a kitchen waits until noon. The same with-food rule applies to mixed beverages at bars holding that permit.3Justia Law. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Title 4, Chapter 105 – Section 105.03
Bars With a Late Hours Permit Go Until 2 AM
Some San Antonio bars and restaurants serve beer until 2:00 AM instead of midnight. Texas allows this in cities or counties with a population of 800,000 or more, and Bexar County clears that bar. The establishment needs both a retail dealer’s on-premise license and a retailer late hours certificate to use the extended window.4State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 105.05
That 2:00 AM cutoff holds every night of the week, Saturday and Sunday included. It only covers drinking on the premises. You can’t buy a to-go six-pack at 1:30 AM no matter what permits the store carries. Off-premise sales still stop at midnight, or at 1:00 AM early Sunday morning after Saturday.
Buying Beer Doesn’t Mean You Can Open It Anywhere
Beer bought within legal hours still comes with rules about where you drink it. Texas law makes it a Class C misdemeanor to have an open container of alcohol in the passenger area of a vehicle on a public road, parked or moving. An open container is any bottle, can, or receptacle that’s been opened, has a broken seal, or is partially empty. The trunk is fine. A locked glove compartment is fine. The area behind the last row of seats in an SUV or hatchback also sits outside the restricted zone. Passengers in taxis, buses, limos, and the living quarters of RVs or motorhomes are exempt.5State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 49.031
Drinking in public after hours is its own offense. In extended hours areas like San Antonio, possessing or consuming an open alcoholic beverage in a public place is a Class C misdemeanor from 2:15 AM to 7:00 AM on weekdays and from 2:15 AM to noon on Sundays. Registered hotel guests drinking in the hotel bar are the one exception, at any hour.6State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 105.06
Quick Reference
- Monday through Friday: 7:00 AM to midnight, all beer sales.
- Saturday: 7:00 AM to 1:00 AM Sunday, all beer sales.
- Sunday at stores: noon to midnight.
- Sunday at bars and restaurants: noon to midnight, or 10:00 AM when served with food.
- Bars with a late hours permit: until 2:00 AM any night, on-premise only.