Why this site exists

Most people learn what an EBT card covers at the register.

There's a line behind you. The cashier says no. You put something back, pay for the rest, and leave. Nobody hands you a list on the way in.

Some of the rules make sense. Some don't. A cold rotisserie chicken is groceries. The same chicken, hot, isn't. Seeds that grow food are covered. Vitamins aren't. A sandwich is fine until someone warms it up.

The one that changed things for me was the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Regular tickets run $30 and up. I'd written that kind of day off.

It cost a few dollars. I showed my card at the ticket desk and they printed the ticket. No forms. No questions. Nobody made it a thing.

The program is called Museums for All. It works at more than 1,600 museums, zoos, and aquariums, and it covers up to 4 people on one card. Nobody had ever mentioned it to me.

That's the part that stuck. The discount wasn't the surprise. Finding out by accident was.

So I built this.

What's here

• Every store and restaurant that takes EBT, 253,893 of them, on one map.
• The hot meals layer: which restaurants take EBT, in which states, and who qualifies.
• Plain answers on what the card buys, from baby formula to protein powder.
• All 1,779 Museums for All spots, on the same map.

Who runs it

My name is Hafee Atyub. I build and maintain this site myself.

I'm not a caseworker and I don't work for any agency. What I can do is read the government's own files, check the state lists, and put the answers somewhere you can find them on a phone in a parking lot.

Where the numbers come from

• The USDA's retailer file, which lists every store and restaurant authorized to take EBT.
• Each state's Restaurant Meals Program list, for the hot food layer.
• The Museums for All participant list.

The data gets refreshed monthly. Every page shows the month it was last checked. When we don't know something, the page says so instead of guessing.

Rules change and stores close. If something here is wrong, tell me and I'll fix it.

We're not the government

EBTFood isn't part of the USDA, SNAP, or any state agency. I can't see your balance, change your case, or take an application. For any of that, your state agency is the only real answer.

One thing worth knowing while you're out here: no real program needs your EBT card number or PIN to check whether you qualify. If a website asks for either, close it. Your PIN is for buying food and nothing else.

How the site pays for itself

Some links here are affiliate links, including links to Amazon. If you buy something after clicking one, this site earns a small commission. It never changes your price, and the guides that carry them say so at the top.

Here's what that money doesn't buy. Nobody pays to be listed. Nobody pays to be called EBT friendly. When a place doesn't take EBT, we say so on its own page, and there are 10 of those.

Say hello

[email protected]. Wrong hours, a store that closed, a place that turned you away: send it over. Corrections from readers are the fastest way this gets better.

More on what we collect, which is close to nothing, on the privacy page.