RESTAURANTS & HOSPITALITY INSURANCE
Whether you run a dining room, bar, food truck, catering crew, or delivery kitchen, the goal is the same: protect the operation that keeps guests served and revenue moving. BLIS helps you bring the kitchen, property, liquor, employee, and delivery pieces into one understandable plan.
Built around your operation
Protect the kitchen, the floor, and the business behind them
We help you understand how property, liability, liquor, employee, and interruption coverage work together.
Review your coverageStart here
Share your contact information and a few basics about your business. A licensed BLIS representative will review your request.
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Submitting this request does not bind coverage or guarantee a quote. BLIS is licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida. CA License 0M74955.
Sending this form does not start coverage or guarantee a quote, price, or coverage result. BLIS will review what you send and may ask for a few more details before discussing available options.
Your business
Food service insurance starts with how you actually earn revenue: the cooking line, the dining room or service window, your people, and any alcohol or delivery operation. Coverage should reflect the way those parts work together on a normal day.
Your ovens, refrigeration, tenant improvements, furnishings, and inventory may represent years of investment. Property and equipment-breakdown coverage can help protect that investment, while current fire-suppression service records help avoid preventable complications.
If you serve alcohol, liquor liability is a separate and important decision. Your license, service hours, and share of sales from alcohol help determine the kind of protection available and whether your operation is treated more like a restaurant, bar, or late-night venue.
General liability addresses guest injuries and food-related claims. Workers compensation helps employees after job-related injuries such as cuts, burns, strains, and falls. Clear payroll records by job role can also make the annual audit easier to manage.
A failed walk-in cooler can create three problems at once: a repair bill, spoiled inventory, and lost service time. Equipment breakdown, spoilage, and business-income coverage address different parts of that interruption and should be reviewed together.
Bars and late-night venues should also review assault-and-battery terms rather than assume general liability covers every incident. BLIS helps owners understand exclusions, available options, and the practical steps needed to keep coverage aligned with the operation.
Businesses we help
Choose the business type closest to yours to see the everyday risks, coverage choices, and information that may matter when you request a quote.
GL, commercial property, liquor liability, workers comp, and equipment breakdown for full-service restaurants of any size.
Property, GL, and workers comp for cafes and coffee shops — plus equipment breakdown for espresso and brewing gear.
Liquor liability, GL, and property for bars and taverns, with attention to sales mix, hours, entertainment, and security practices.
Liquor liability, A&B coverage, GL, and property for nightclubs and late-night entertainment venues.
Commercial auto, GL, property, and spoilage for food trucks — hired and non-owned auto where it applies.
GL, liquor liability, workers comp, and hired non-owned auto for caterers working events on and off premises.
Property, GL, equipment breakdown, and workers comp for bakeries — commercial ovens, display cases, retail or wholesale.
Property, GL, spoilage, and delivery-related hired non-owned auto for ghost kitchens and delivery-only operations.
Property, business income, liability, workers compensation, cyber, equipment, and optional guest-amenity coverage for hotel operations.
Coverage
These are common coverages to consider, not a one-size-fits-all package. What makes sense depends on how you operate, your contracts, state requirements, and the policy options available.
Restaurant property coverage can protect tenant improvements, furnishings, cooking equipment, refrigeration, and other business property. Equipment breakdown addresses certain sudden mechanical or electrical failures that standard property coverage generally does not. Spoilage coverage may also protect perishable inventory after a covered breakdown. Reviewing these together helps owners see which part of an interruption each policy is meant to handle.
Liquor liability can address claims tied to alcohol service, which standard general liability typically excludes for businesses licensed to sell alcohol. Your sales mix, hours, license type, and service practices affect the options available. BLIS helps you understand where general liability stops and liquor liability begins.
GL for food service covers patron bodily injury and property damage on premises — slip-and-fall, foodborne illness, and premises risk. Product liability within GL covers claims from food or beverages served. For catering or delivery operations, confirm whether your GL extends off-site. That is worth reviewing at inception.
Workers compensation helps employees after job-related injuries such as cuts, burns, strains, and falls. Cost is based partly on payroll and the work each employee performs, so kitchen, service, bar, and management roles may be treated differently. Keeping payroll organized by role can reduce surprises at the annual audit.
If employees use personal vehicles or rented vehicles for deliveries or errands, the business may face liability that general liability and property policies do not cover. Hired and non-owned auto can protect the business for certain third-party claims arising from those trips, subject to policy terms.
General liability policies may exclude or limit assault-and-battery claims, which can leave a meaningful gap for bars, nightclubs, and late-night venues. Coverage may be available by endorsement or through a specialized form. Owners should review the actual wording alongside hours, capacity, entertainment, and security practices.
Coverage examples
A few situations to make coverage concrete. These are illustrations only — not actual claims, and not a guarantee of any coverage outcome.
Example scenario: A restaurant's walk-in cooler compressor fails overnight. By morning, perishable inventory — meat, dairy, and prepared items — has reached unsafe temperatures and must be discarded. The compressor requires replacement. A standard property policy may not cover the mechanical failure or the resulting spoilage unless those coverages are specifically included. Equipment breakdown is a separate coverage.
Operations with both equipment breakdown and spoilage coverage are in a better position than those on basic property alone. Whether a specific claim is covered depends on the policy terms, conditions, and the facts of the situation.
Example scenario: A patron is served alcohol at a bar and later causes a vehicle accident. A third party injured in that accident pursues a claim against the bar under the state's dram shop statute. A GL policy without liquor liability typically does not respond to dram shop claims against a licensed seller. That is what liquor liability covers.
The key insurance factors — alcohol-to-food ratio, hours, staff training, prior incidents — are the same ones that affect how the policy responds at claim time. Whether a specific claim is covered depends on the policy terms, conditions, applicable state law, and the facts of the situation.
The claim scenarios above are illustrative examples only. They do not represent actual clients, actual claims, or guaranteed coverage outcomes. Coverage for any specific situation depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the claim.
After coverage starts
Once coverage is in place, BLIS can help with certificates and policy changes. A certificate only summarizes policy information; the policy and insurer-issued endorsements determine the actual coverage.
FAQ
Liquor liability can cover certain claims arising from alcohol service, including claims under dram shop laws. Standard GL policies typically exclude this coverage for businesses that sell alcohol. Restaurants, bars, and event operators that serve alcohol should review liquor liability requirements in their lease, license, and contracts.
The share of revenue from alcohol helps insurers distinguish a restaurant with incidental alcohol service from a bar or tavern. A higher percentage can affect available policy options, terms, and cost. Keeping food and alcohol sales separated in your records helps BLIS describe the business accurately.
The wet-chemical suppression system over commercial cooking equipment is a key safeguard against kitchen fires. Insurers commonly ask for the system type and latest service date, and some require a current inspection before coverage begins. Keeping inspections current protects your operation and prevents avoidable coverage complications.
Yes. A food truck is a mobile business on a vehicle chassis. It needs commercial auto liability and physical damage for the vehicle, general liability for customers at service stops, and property coverage for onboard equipment and inventory. Spoilage and equipment breakdown apply just as they do at a fixed site. Personal auto and property policies typically will not cover a truck run this way.
Many general liability policies exclude or limit assault-and-battery claims. Depending on the policy, coverage may be available by endorsement or through a specialized form. Do not assume it is included: review the wording directly, especially if your venue has late hours, entertainment, door staff, or a high guest capacity.
From the insights library
Protect your restaurant's kitchen, people, equipment, inventory, customers, alcohol service, and delivery activity with coverage built around daily operations.
Use the 90 days before renewal to update payroll, vehicles, property values, claims, operations, and contract requirements before the deadline controls your choices.
Tell us how your business works and what you want help with. We'll review what you share and let you know what else may be needed.
Coverage availability, pricing, terms, conditions, limits, and eligibility depend on the insurer, state, details of the business, claims history, and policy terms. Nothing on this site guarantees coverage, pricing, approval, or savings.
Illustrative claim scenarios are examples only and do not represent specific claims, predicted outcomes, or coverage guarantees. Whether a specific claim is covered depends on the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, and the facts of the specific situation.
