Updated May 2026.
Texas grocery and convenience stores must stop selling beer and wine at midnight Sunday through Friday, and at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning after Saturday. Sales may start at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at 10:00 a.m. Sunday. That is Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code chapter 105 off-premise time, not a chain policy, and not the 2:00 a.m. late-hours bar clock.
A Walmart, H-E-B, or gas station on a beer-and-wine permit is on that grocery clock. A package store is not. Updated May 2026.
Texas off-premise beer and wine (grocery / convenience)
| Day | Beer and wine may start | Beer and wine must stop |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 7:00 a.m. | midnight (start of Tuesday) |
| Tuesday | 7:00 a.m. | midnight |
| Wednesday | 7:00 a.m. | midnight |
| Thursday | 7:00 a.m. | midnight |
| Friday | 7:00 a.m. | midnight |
| Saturday | 7:00 a.m. | 1:00 a.m. Sunday |
| Sunday | 10:00 a.m. | midnight |
TABC’s retailer FAQ and the May 2026 World Cup retailer guide repeat those hours. A store can close earlier. Local option can still dry a precinct. The register can refuse. Age 21.
Package stores (distilled spirits)
| Day | Liquor sales |
|---|---|
| Monday–Saturday | 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day | Closed. If Christmas or New Year’s Day is Sunday, closed Monday. |
That is § 105.01, not the malt clock. A Texas grocery Walmart can sell beer. It cannot sell a fifth of whiskey. See Texas liquor-store hours and Walmart / grocery hours.
On-premise is not the six-pack clock
Bars and restaurants generally run 7:00 a.m. to midnight Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Saturday, and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to noon only with food, then noon to midnight. A late-hours certificate can extend on-premise sales to 2:00 a.m. in eligible cities and counties (§ 105.03 / § 105.05(c)–(d)). Hotel bars may serve registered guests at any hour (§ 105.091). Sports venues, festivals, fairs, and concerts may start Sunday on-premise at 10:00 a.m. without food. None of that unlocks the grocery cooler at 12:15 a.m. on a Tuesday.
TABC’s 15-minute consumption window (12:15 a.m. / 1:15 a.m. / 2:15 a.m. in a public place) is about finishing a drink you already bought, not ringing a new six-pack. Selling or offering alcohol in a prohibited hour is a Class A misdemeanor (§ 105.10).
What the old page — and some 2026 blogs — mixed up
The 2022 page mixed those clocks and dated House Bill 1518 to “fall of 2020.” HB 1518 took effect September 1, 2021 and moved Sunday off-premise beer and wine from noon to 10:00 a.m. Package stores still do not open on Sunday. World Cup 2026 does not, by itself, change any of this. Election day is not a TABC blackout.
It said liquor-store owners can start beer at 7:00 a.m. Package stores are on the 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. liquor clock. Grocery off-premise beer and wine from 10:00 a.m. Sunday does not require a food order. Food-with-alcohol from 10:00 a.m. to noon is an on-premise Sunday rule. A wine-only package store that also holds a beer license still cannot sell wine over 17% ABV on Sunday or after 10:00 p.m.
TABC’s daylight-saving note (an extra hour in the fall when the legal time is 1:00 a.m.) is about the late-hours / 1:00 a.m. on-sale clock. It is not a bonus hour for a midnight grocery cooler.
- Six-pack at 11:50 p.m. Friday: legal at a licensed grocery if the register will ring it.
- Six-pack at 12:10 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning: Saturday’s 1:00 a.m. window is still open.
- Six-pack at 9:30 a.m. Sunday: too early. Wait until 10:00 a.m.
- Handle of whiskey on Sunday: not at a package store. Not at grocery. A bar can pour a drink on the on-premise clock.
Dry counties, growlers, and the 9 p.m. liquor wall
Local option elections still leave parts of Texas dry or beer-and-wine-only. The statewide clock does not wet a dry county. TABC’s maps and the permit on the wall beat a blog. Growlers and crowlers filled at a brewery follow the permit on that brewery, not the grocery cooler. A brewery taproom can be on-premise while a to-go fill is off-premise — hours can split.
If you need whiskey after 9:00 p.m., a package store cannot help you. A bar with a mixed-beverage permit can pour a drink until its on-premise cutoff (midnight, 1:00 a.m. Saturday, or 2:00 a.m. with late hours). That drink stays in the bar. Delivery apps are still off-premise transactions and cannot drop beer during the blackout. For the pump version of this statute, see gas stations.
Sources
- Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.01 (liquor: no sale Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, or before 10 a.m. / after 9 p.m.).
- § 105.04 and § 105.05 (wine and malt hours; Sunday 10 a.m. off-premise exception after HB 1518).
- § 105.03 / § 105.05(c)–(d) (on-premise late hours to 2:00 a.m. — not grocery).
- § 105.06 (public consumption; 15-minute window); § 105.091 (hotel bar); § 105.10 (Class A misdemeanor).
- HB 1518, 87th Legislature, effective September 1, 2021.
- TABC FAQ, Hours of Sale and Consumption (off-premise beer/wine; package store; late hours; DST note; election day).
- TABC, “World Cup 2026 Guide for Retailers” / World Cup 2026 FAQs: hours not extended; package stores closed Sunday.