Updated July 2026.
Texas package stores (liquor stores) may sell 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They are closed Sunday, and closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. If Christmas or New Year’s Day falls on Sunday, they stay closed Monday too (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code § 105.01). That is the spirits clock. It is not the grocery beer clock, and grocery beer is not closed on those holidays.
A customer who is already in the store before 9:00 p.m. may finish shopping for a reasonable time, per TABC’s package-store guidance. Showing up at 9:05 p.m. is not that rule.
Package store vs grocery cooler
| Permit | What it sells | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Package store (P) | Distilled spirits, plus beer/wine the store stocks | 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Mon–Sat; closed Sunday and Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day (Monday too if Christmas or New Year’s Day is Sunday) |
| Grocery / convenience beer & wine | Beer and wine only | 7:00 a.m.–midnight Mon–Fri; 7:00 a.m.–1:00 a.m. after Saturday; Sunday 10:00 a.m.–midnight. No § 105.01 holiday blackout. |
You cannot buy a fifth of whiskey at a Texas gas station. You cannot buy it at a supermarket. You cannot buy it at a package store at 9:30 p.m. or on Sunday. A bar can still pour a drink on the on-premise clock (late-hours certificate to 2:00 a.m. in eligible cities). That drink stays in the bar. See when Texas stops selling beer for the malt-and-wine table, and what a fifth is.
Holidays, wine-only, and local option
Mandatory package-store closures: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, every Sunday. TABC’s World Cup 2026 retailer guide (May 2026) repeats the 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Saturday window and Sunday closure. The tournament does not open liquor stores on Sunday. Election Day is not a package-store blackout (TABC FAQ).
Grocery beer and wine follow § 105.05, which has no Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Year’s Day close. If H-E-B is open Christmas afternoon, the beer cave can ring a six-pack inside the ordinary grocery window. It still cannot sell Hennessy.
A wine-only package store that also holds a beer license may not sell wine over 17% ABV on Sunday or after 10:00 p.m. any day (TABC FAQ). Without the beer license it follows the package-store clock. Neither rule is a loophole for bourbon. Dry and partially dry counties still exist. The statewide clock does not wet a dry county. Age 21. The seller can refuse.
9:01 p.m. and the cooler next door
If the package store is dark, a grocery beer-and-wine permit can still sell a six-pack until midnight most nights, and until 1:00 a.m. after Saturday. It cannot sell whiskey. A restaurant with a mixed-beverage permit can pour a drink until midnight, 1:00 a.m. Saturday, or 2:00 a.m. with a late-hours certificate in eligible cities. To-go mixed beverages, where allowed, are not “a handle of Hennessy in a sack.”
TABC lets a customer who entered before 9:00 p.m. finish a reasonable checkout. That is not a second register hour for people in the parking lot. Delivery apps are off-premise package sales: they follow § 105.01, not the pizza driver’s shift. Age 21. Local option still dries out parts of the map — the statewide 9 p.m. line does not open a store in a dry county.
What “closed Sunday” actually blocks
A fifth of whiskey, a handle of vodka, and a 750 mL of tequila are package-store items. They are not grocery items in Texas. Sunday at 11:00 a.m. you can buy beer and wine at a licensed H-E-B; you cannot buy Hennessy. Saturday at 9:05 p.m. you cannot buy either at a package store — the liquor clock already hit 9:00. Beer at a grocery is still in its Saturday window until 1:00 a.m. Sunday. The old 2023 page collapsed those into one “liquor store” answer. They are two permits and two chapters of the code.
Spec’s, Total Wine, and a standalone package store on the same highway all die at 9:00 p.m. and on Sunday. A beer cave in the same parking lot does not. For the beer table see Texas beer hours.
Sources
- Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.01 (current through 89th 2nd Called, 2025): liquor — no sale Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, or before 10 a.m. / after 9 p.m.; Monday closure if Christmas or New Year’s Day is Sunday.
- §§ 105.04–105.05 (wine and malt off-premise hours — the grocery clock; no holiday list).
- TABC Hours of Sale FAQ: package 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Mon–Sat; closed Sunday and the three holidays; grocery Sunday 10 a.m.; wine-only >17% ABV Sunday / after 10 p.m. rule; election day not a sales ban.
- TABC Package Store Permit (P) guidance: customer already in store at 9 p.m. may finish for a reasonable time.
- TABC World Cup 2026 Guide for Retailers (May 2026): package stores remain closed Sunday.