Was this the sales tax or in addition to that? California has some weird taxes on food. Basically, if you dine-in, it's always taxed. Food that's heated, even if to go, is taxed (so coffee is taxed, but sodas may not be). Food prepared there, even if to go, is usually taxed. It goes on and on. As with most taxes, it's not very straight-forward. There shouldn't be a separate tax on top of the regular sales tax though.