Restaurant Meals Program

What is the Restaurant Meals Program and who does it serve?

The following people are eligible to use CalFresh/EBT at businesses participating in the Restaurant Meals Program for hot and/or prepared meals.

People that get CalFresh and are:

  • Older adults, aged 60 or older and their in-home spouses;

  • People with disabilities and their in-home spouses;

  • People experiencing homelessness

In Humboldt County, the following businesses participate: Burger King and McDonald’s. We will update as we learn if/when additional restaurants join in.

The ability to use CalFresh/EBT at these restaurants is automatic if you are in the CalFresh system as being in one of the above categories.

Why do some people qualify to use their CalFresh/EBT for the Restaurant Meals Program and some do not?

  • Eligibility to use CalFresh in the Restaurant Meals Program depends on how your CalFresh case is classified.

  • If your CalFresh case was documented as being a person age 60+, or with a disability, or experiencing homeless, you are automatically eligible for the Restaurant Meals Program.

  • Eligibility for the Restaurant Meals Program can be allowed or ended at any point in the case based on changes to these three circumstances.

  • CalFresh approval notices will say when the Restaurant Meals Program is approved for a household.

  • You might see a restaurant with a “We Accept EBT” sign in the window and wonder why your card didn’t work. The above reasons of who qualifies, and how a case is classified, determine who can actually use CalFresh/EBT at the restaurant for the Restaurant Meals Program.

What if I do not qualify for the Restaurant Meals Program?

  • You can still buy some cold prepared foods that are checked out as grocery items at places like Papa Murphy’s—just like always.