Insurance by Industry
Restaurant Insurance Built for Food Service Businesses
From fast-casual spots in Meridian to full-service dining in Eagle, we shop and place the coverage your restaurant actually needs.
Restaurant insurance is a bundle of commercial coverages designed for the specific risks food service businesses carry: property damage, third-party liability, food spoilage, liquor-related incidents, and employee-related claims, among others.
Running a restaurant in the Treasure Valley means managing tight margins, a high-turnover workforce, perishable inventory, and a busy dining room where accidents happen. A single grease fire, a slip-and-fall on a wet floor, or a refrigeration failure over a long weekend can generate losses that exceed what standard business insurance covers. Bittick is an independent agency, which means we place your policy with the carriers that price and cover restaurant risks best, not just the one carrier we happen to represent.
Your restaurant faces unique risks beyond standard business coverage.
From liquor liability to spoilage, we help you protect your operation with the right layers of coverage.
What this coverage includes
General and professional liability
General liability covers bodily injury and property damage claims from third parties: a customer who slips on a wet floor, a server who backs into a guest's laptop bag. Professional liability (sometimes called food service liability) addresses a different set of claims, including food poisoning or illness traced to preparation in your kitchen. These are distinct exposures and may need to be addressed separately in your policy.
Commercial property and equipment
This covers the physical assets your restaurant depends on: the building (if you own it), kitchen equipment, furniture, fixtures, and the improvements you paid to build out your space. If you lease, your buildout and tenant improvements still need to be scheduled on your policy. Equipment breakdown coverage extends this protection to mechanical and electrical failures, including the kind that sideline a commercial refrigerator or HVAC unit on the hottest week of August.
Food spoilage and contamination
A power outage, a refrigeration breakdown, or a contamination event forces you to discard inventory. Spoilage coverage reimburses the replacement cost of that lost food. Contamination coverage goes further: if a health authority orders you to close or dispose of product due to a contamination event, this coverage can offset both the product loss and the resulting business interruption. Confirm your policy limit actually reflects your average inventory on hand, not a default sublimit set years ago.
Liquor liability
Any establishment that sells or serves alcohol in Idaho can be held liable if an intoxicated patron later causes injury or property damage. Liquor liability is a separate coverage from general liability and specifically addresses these alcohol-related claims. It can cover legal defense costs, court fees, and civil judgments. If alcohol sales are a meaningful part of your revenue, carrying adequate limits here is not optional.
Business income and contingent income
If a covered loss forces you to close temporarily, business income coverage replaces the revenue you cannot collect during repairs. Contingent business income goes one step further: if a key supplier, your produce distributor or a specialty food vendor, cannot deliver because of their own covered loss, this extension protects you from the downstream effect on your restaurant's revenue. Supply chain disruptions are real, and a short closure can wipe out months of profit.
Pairs well with
Workers' Compensation Insurance
Idaho law requires workers' compensation for most employers. Restaurant kitchens generate a high frequency of cuts, burns, and slips, and your front-of-house staff face their own hazards. This coverage pays for medical treatment and lost wages for employees injured on the job.
Learn more ›Commercial Auto / Hired and Non-Owned Auto
If your restaurant offers delivery, whether drivers use company vehicles or their own, you need commercial auto or hired-and-non-owned auto coverage. Personal auto policies typically exclude delivery use, leaving you exposed to a lawsuit if an employee causes an accident on a delivery run.
Learn more ›Cyber Liability Insurance
Restaurants handle card transactions, store customer data, and increasingly use online ordering platforms. A breach triggers notification obligations under state law and can generate regulatory fines. Cyber liability coverage pays for breach response, legal counsel, and notification costs.
Learn more ›Employment Practices Liability (EPLI)
High employee turnover, tip disputes, and a mix of full-time and part-time staff create real exposure to discrimination, wrongful termination, and harassment claims. EPLI covers your legal defense and any resulting judgments, and can extend to third-party claims from customers or vendors.
Learn more ›Umbrella / Excess Liability
A serious incident, a multi-person food poisoning event or a high-value liquor liability judgment, can exceed your primary liability limits quickly. A commercial umbrella policy sits above those limits and provides an additional layer of protection at a relatively low cost per dollar of coverage.
Learn more ›