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The most common restaurant claim is a guest injury, usually a slip-and-fall in the dining room or entryway. General liability responds to bodily injury and property damage to third parties on your premises. It is not state-mandated, but commercial leases and franchise agreements routinely require it as a condition of operating.

Fire, water damage, and theft can wipe out a kitchen and dining room overnight. Property coverage rebuilds the space and replaces equipment, fixtures, and the tenant improvements you paid for. Limits should reflect what it actually costs to rebuild a commercial kitchen today. Lenders and landlords typically require it at full replacement cost.

A walk-in cooler, HVAC unit, or oven failing is not covered by standard property unless you add equipment breakdown. It pays to repair or replace the equipment and reimburses the food that spoils when refrigeration goes down. For a kitchen carrying thousands in perishables, that second part matters as much as the first. It is usually added as an endorsement to the property policy or BOP.

When a fire or equipment failure forces a unit to close, this replaces the income and covers continuing expenses like rent and payroll during the rebuild. A single-unit operator can ride out a long closure. For a group, that same closure can drain the reserves funding every other location. Match the indemnity period to how long a real rebuild takes. It is usually written as part of the property policy or BOP.

Kitchens run hot, sharp, and fast, so injuries are frequent. Workers’ comp covers employee medical bills and lost wages and is mandatory in 49 states once you have staff. Texas is the only state where private employers may opt out. California requires it at one employee and Florida requires it for non-construction businesses at four. Premiums are driven by payroll and class code, and a clean claims history across a group can move the rate meaningfully.

If staff deliver orders, run catering, or drive owned vehicles, auto liability is needed. Hired and non-owned auto extends protection when employees use their own cars for the business, which a personal auto policy will not cover. State financial-responsibility minimums apply to owned vehicles, and catering contracts often raise the required limits. Delivery and catering make this a real gap, not a theoretical one.

A serious dram shop verdict or a multi-victim injury can blow through a standard liability limit fast. Umbrella stacks additional limits on top of general liability, liquor liability, and auto. For multi-unit operators and bars, it is often the difference between a covered loss and a claim that reaches the balance sheet. Franchisors and larger landlords frequently require umbrella limits of $1M to $5M.

Restaurants process thousands of card transactions and employ large, high-turnover staffs, which creates two distinct exposures. Cyber responds to a POS or payment-system breach and the costs that follow, and state data-breach notification laws apply after one. Employment practices liability covers wrongful termination, harassment, and discrimination claims, which rise with headcount across a group.