Restaurants and other eating places are classified in NAICS 72251. The four 2022 U.S. industries are 722511 Full-Service Restaurants, 722513 Limited-Service Restaurants, 722514 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets, and 722515 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars.
For conventional meal-serving restaurants, 722511 and 722513 are the main distinction. Full-service restaurants generally serve patrons while seated and patrons pay after eating. Limited-service restaurants generally have patrons order or select items and pay before eating. That shortcut should be used only after checking whether the establishment is actually a cafeteria or buffet, a coffee or snack-focused establishment, a food truck, a caterer, a contract food-service operation, or a drinking place.
The central classification question is the establishment's primary food-service format. Payment timing is useful for distinguishing many full-service and limited-service restaurants, but it is not the only rule. Buffets, coffee shops, food trucks, caterers, bars, and other food-service models have separate NAICS industries.
The table below separates the four industries within Restaurants and Other Eating Places from closely related food-service models. Start with the format that best describes the establishment before relying on a single feature such as counter ordering, delivery, or alcohol sales.
| Food-service activity | 2022 NAICS | Industry | Classification boundary to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrons order and are served while seated and generally pay after eating | 722511 | Full-Service Restaurants | Carryout, alcohol sales, or limited entertainment can be offered without changing the code when the full-service restaurant model remains primary. |
| Patrons generally order or select items and pay before eating | 722513 | Limited-Service Restaurants | Use for meal-focused limited-service establishments such as fast food, fast casual, takeout, delivery, and limited-service pizza. Specialty snack and nonalcoholic beverage concepts are 722515. |
| Meals are served through a cafeteria line, grill buffet, or buffet stations | 722514 | Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets | Do not move a buffet into 722513 merely because patrons select food and pay before eating. The cafeteria or buffet format has its own industry. |
| Specialty snacks or nonalcoholic beverages are the primary offering | 722515 | Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars | Coffee shops with on-premise brewing, juice bars, ice cream parlors, doughnut shops, bagel shops, and similar specialty concepts can fit here even though customers often order and pay before consuming. |
| Food service is provided at another organization's location under an ongoing contract | 722310 | Food Service Contractors | Ongoing contract food service differs from a stand-alone restaurant or single-event caterer. |
| Food service is provided for weddings, parties, business events, or other single events | 722320 | Caterers | Single-event catering differs from ongoing contract food service under 722310 and mobile walk-up sales under 722330. Banquet halls with catering staff can also fit here. |
| Meals or snacks are prepared and served from a truck, cart, or other mobile unit | 722330 | Mobile Food Services | Use for food trucks, carts, mobile canteens, and similar mobile service. A fixed-location takeout restaurant generally belongs in 722513. |
| Alcoholic beverages are the primary offering for immediate consumption | 722410 | Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) | Bars, taverns, and nightclubs primarily serving alcohol fit here. A full-service restaurant can sell alcohol and remain 722511 when restaurant food service is primary. |
| Independent service primarily takes restaurant orders and delivers meals | 492210 | Local Messengers and Local Delivery | An independent order-and-delivery service is different from the restaurant preparing the food. Delivery offered by the restaurant itself does not automatically change its restaurant code. |
The 2022 U.S. NAICS structure does not divide all eating places into only full-service and limited-service. NAICS 72251 contains four six-digit industries based on the type and level of food service provided.
Patrons order and are served while seated and generally pay after eating. These restaurants can also sell alcoholic beverages, offer carryout, and present live nontheatrical entertainment without leaving 722511 when the full-service model remains primary.
Patrons generally order or select items and pay before eating. Food and drink can be consumed on premises, taken out, or delivered. Typical examples include fast-food restaurants, fast-casual restaurants, takeout eating places, limited-service pizza restaurants, and pizza delivery shops.
Patrons select meals and drinks from a continuous cafeteria line or buffet stations using cafeteria-style or buffet serving equipment. This format has its own six-digit industry even though customers often select food and pay before eating.
The establishment primarily prepares or serves specialty snacks or nonalcoholic beverages. Census examples include coffee shops with on-premise brewing, juice bars, ice cream parlors, doughnut shops, bagel shops, pretzel shops, cookie shops, smoothie shops, and similar specialty concepts.
Determine whether it is primarily full-service dining, limited-service meal service, cafeteria or buffet service, specialty snack or nonalcoholic beverage service, mobile food service, catering, contract food service, or a drinking place.
For meal-focused restaurants, seated service with payment after eating generally points toward 722511, while ordering or selecting items and paying before eating generally points toward 722513.
A buffet, cafeteria, coffee shop, juice bar, ice cream shop, or other specialty snack or beverage concept can have a separate classification even when patrons pay before consuming.
Food trucks, caterers, ongoing food-service contractors, bars, and independent meal-delivery services have different industries.
Evaluate the overall service model rather than a single feature such as delivery, mobile ordering, alcohol sales, or one revenue channel. Revenue can be useful evidence, but no universal 51 percent rule applies.
| Classification factor | 722511 Full-Service Restaurants | 722513 Limited-Service Restaurants |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering and service | Patrons order and are served while seated. | Patrons generally order or select items before eating. |
| Payment | Patrons generally pay after eating. | Patrons generally pay before eating. |
| Common models | Fine dining, casual sit-down, family restaurants with full table service, table-service pizza restaurants. | Fast food, fast casual, counter-service restaurants, takeout restaurants, delivery-focused restaurants, limited-service pizza. |
| Carryout or delivery | Carryout can be offered and the establishment can remain full-service when seated service remains primary. | Takeout and delivery can be central parts of the limited-service model. |
| Alcohol | Alcohol can be sold as part of full-service restaurant operations. | Alcohol can also be sold in combination with limited-service food service. |
Do not use payment timing as a universal restaurant rule. Cafeterias and buffets are 722514, while specialty snack and nonalcoholic beverage concepts such as coffee shops can be 722515 even though customers often pay before consuming.
Under the 2022 NAICS definition, 722515 includes fixed-location establishments primarily serving nonalcoholic beverages such as coffee, juice, or soda and establishments primarily preparing or serving specialty snacks. Census specifically lists coffee shops with on-premise brewing as an example.
The same industry also covers juice bars, ice cream parlors, doughnut shops, bagel shops, pretzel shops, cookie shops, smoothie shops, and similar specialty snack or beverage concepts. These businesses often use counter ordering and payment before consumption, but that does not move them into 722513 when snacks or nonalcoholic beverages are the primary offering.
A business called a cafe should not be classified from the word cafe alone. A coffee-focused shop can fit 722515, while a meal-focused cafe with a broader restaurant menu may fit 722511 or 722513 depending on how patrons are served.
Pizza does not have one restaurant NAICS code. A sit-down pizza restaurant with patrons served while seated and generally paying after the meal can fit 722511. A pizza delivery shop, takeout-focused pizza concept, or limited-service pizza parlor can fit 722513.
Classify the establishment from the primary service model rather than the cuisine.
Full-service restaurants can offer carryout and remain in 722511. Limited-service restaurants can serve customers on premises, through takeout, or by delivery. Delivery-only and takeout-only restaurant locations can fit 722513 when the establishment itself prepares the food and operates as a limited-service restaurant.
An independent company whose primary activity is taking restaurant orders and delivering meals is different from the restaurant itself and can fall in 492210, Local Messengers and Local Delivery.
Technology is not the classification rule. Electronic ordering, QR-code menus, kiosks, self-service payment, online ordering, and delivery apps can be used by more than one restaurant industry. Classify the establishment from the underlying food-service model.
| Classification question | Usually applies when | Boundary to check |
|---|---|---|
| Full-service vs. limited-service restaurant | 722511 generally applies when patrons order and are served while seated and pay after eating. 722513 generally applies when patrons order or select items and pay before eating. | Check whether the establishment is actually a buffet/cafeteria or specialty snack/beverage concept before applying this two-way test. |
| Limited-service restaurant vs. cafeteria or buffet | 722513 covers limited-service meal establishments. 722514 covers cafeterias, grill buffets, and buffets. | Both can involve self-service and payment before eating, so the service format matters more than payment timing alone. |
| Limited-service restaurant vs. coffee or snack shop | 722513 applies to meal-focused limited-service restaurants. 722515 applies when specialty snacks or nonalcoholic beverages are primary. | A coffee shop can be 722515 even though it uses counter ordering and payment before consumption. |
| Restaurant vs. bar or drinking place | 722511 or 722513 applies when restaurant food service is primary. 722410 applies when alcoholic beverage service is primary. | Alcohol sales alone do not make a restaurant a drinking place. |
| Restaurant vs. food truck | 722330 applies to meals and snacks prepared and served from motorized vehicles or nonmotorized carts. | Mobile service is the key boundary, not whether the food is fast, casual, or takeout-oriented. |
| Food truck vs. caterer | 722330 applies to mobile immediate-consumption service. 722320 applies to single-event catering. | A mobile unit used mainly for contracted events can have a different primary activity from one making walk-up mobile sales. |
| Caterer vs. food service contractor | 722320 covers single-event food service. 722310 covers ongoing food service at another organization's location under contract. | One event and continuing contract food service are separate activities. |
| Restaurant delivery vs. independent delivery service | A restaurant can deliver its own prepared food and remain classified as a restaurant. An independent order-and-delivery business can fit 492210. | Identify which establishment prepares the food and which establishment sells the delivery service. |
| Restaurant inside a hotel, casino, country club, or entertainment venue | A separate establishment primarily engaged in food and beverage service can be classified in 722. | If the food operation is not a separate establishment, it can remain part of the classification of the hotel, casino, club, theater, or other primary establishment. |
| Restaurant vs. civic or social club restaurant | A stand-alone restaurant is classified by its food-service model. A civic or social association operating a restaurant for members can remain in 813410. | The establishment structure and primary activity determine whether the food operation is separately classified. |
NAICS classifies establishments, not brands in the abstract. A company can operate multiple locations or business lines that do not all have the same primary activity. A restaurant company may operate full-service locations, limited-service locations, catering operations, mobile food units, or separate contract-food-service establishments.
This distinction also matters inside hotels, casinos, amusement venues, country clubs, theaters, and civic or social organizations. Census states that food and beverage operations in those settings are included in 722 only when they are separate establishments primarily engaged in food and beverage service.
A count for NAICS 72251 includes full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, cafeterias and buffets, and snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars. It is broader than a count for 722511 or 722513 alone. A count for all of 722 is broader still because it also includes special food services and drinking places.
Company, headquarters, establishment, and operating-location counts also answer different questions. Multi-location restaurant companies can contribute many establishments, while account-based research may require one consolidated company record. SICCODE.com coverage on NAICS code pages is business-data coverage, not an official Census establishment count.
SICCODE.com publishes current business-data coverage on the individual NAICS code pages. Relevant starting points include 72251 Restaurants and Other Eating Places, 722511 Full-Service Restaurants, 722513 Limited-Service Restaurants, 722514 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets, and 722515 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars.
For a targeted restaurant or food-service company list by NAICS code, geography, company size, service model, and contact criteria, see Business & Company Lists.
Restaurants and other eating places are in NAICS 72251. The four 2022 U.S. industries are 722511 Full-Service Restaurants, 722513 Limited-Service Restaurants, 722514 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets, and 722515 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars.
722511 generally applies when patrons order and are served while seated and pay after eating. 722513 generally applies when patrons order or select items and pay before eating. Before using that distinction, check whether the establishment is a buffet or cafeteria under 722514 or a specialty snack or nonalcoholic beverage business under 722515.
722515 is the code to review when the establishment primarily serves coffee or other nonalcoholic beverages. Census specifically lists coffee shops with on-premise brewing under 722515. A meal-focused cafe may require a different restaurant code depending on its service model.
722513, Limited-Service Restaurants, includes fast-food restaurants and other meal-focused establishments where patrons generally order or select items and pay before eating.
722511, Full-Service Restaurants, is generally the code to review for fine dining establishments where patrons order and are served while seated and generally pay after eating.
Pizza restaurants can be 722511 or 722513. A table-service pizza restaurant can fit 722511, while a delivery, takeout, counter-service, or limited-service pizza concept can fit 722513.
722514 applies to cafeterias, grill buffets, and buffets that prepare and serve meals using cafeteria-style or buffet serving equipment.
722330, Mobile Food Services, applies to establishments primarily preparing and serving meals or snacks for immediate consumption from motorized vehicles or nonmotorized carts.
722320 applies to single-event catering such as weddings, parties, business luncheons, and trade shows. Ongoing food service at another organization's location under contract is 722310.
722410 applies to bars, taverns, nightclubs, and other establishments primarily preparing and serving alcoholic beverages for immediate consumption. A restaurant can sell alcohol and remain in a restaurant industry when restaurant food service is primary.
722513 is generally the code to review when the establishment prepares food as a delivery-only or takeout-only limited-service restaurant. An independent company that only takes orders and delivers restaurant meals can instead fall in 492210.
No. Full-service restaurants can offer carryout and remain in 722511. Classification depends on the establishment's primary service model rather than the existence of takeout or delivery.
Yes, when separate establishments have different primary activities. A company can operate full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, catering operations, food trucks, or other food-service establishments with different NAICS classifications.
These sources support the 2022 restaurant and food-service classifications and the major boundaries among full-service, limited-service, buffet, snack and beverage, mobile, catering, contract food-service, and drinking-place establishments.
This reference can be cited as:
SICCODE.com. (2026). NAICS Code for Restaurants: Full-Service, Limited-Service, Buffets, Coffee Shops, and Related Food Services. Updated September 10, 2026. https://siccode.com/page/naics-code-for-restaurants
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