Does san antonio restaurants accept food ebt cards?

Answer 1

You can't use your food ebt accounts to purchase hot prepared food, or fast food. Unless you are homeless. I that case, at certain fast food restaurants, which have made arrangements with the Food and Nutrition Services, that restaurant can accept ebt food cards for purchasing discounted food.

This is a newly added regulation to help homeless people get fed. I haven't been able to find any information on just how the restaurant knows that the person presenting the ebt card is homeless, and I'm sure that the FNS isn't putting out that information on purpose.

Here is the Regulation:

PART 271-GENERAL INFORMATION AND DEFINITIONS

§271.2 Definitions.

Eligible foods means:

(9) In the case of homeless food stamp households, meals prepared by a restaurant which contracts with an

appropriate State agency to serve meals to homeless persons at concessional (low or reduced) prices.

[page 5 of document, and page 10 of 81 of the pdf]

However, if you have Cash Benefits loaded onto your ebt card (generally, I get my cash benefits from receiving Low Income Energy Assistance--although, I think some get their monthly cash added to their ebt cards, but I'm not too sure about that one), you can use your ebt as a debit card and withdraw the cash benefit out at a restaurant--but no using food benefits.