@sudsmaster
I remember as a child buying ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, most of whose stores had limited in-store seating: chairs against the wall opposite the freezer counter. They used to ask "are you eating your ice cream here or are you taking it out?". I guess if you said "eating it here", tax applied because you were eating in a "restaurant", whereas if you took it out of the store, you were buying take-out food which was not taxed. Though if you want to split hairs, it's probably more of a luxury.
I think you're right, most fast food joints charge tax even if you use the drive through window. However, I've noticed that our local market's deli section charges $3.49 for a take-out sandwich and tax is not generally applied. Same concept in both places, except the fast food is cooked (well, so is the turkey or roast beef, but not on premises).
Orange County is 8.75%, 0.5% of which goes to a transportation improvement sales tax. This is spent partly on public transit (bus and train) and partly on road improvements. If you ever drive Interstate 5 north from Orange County to Los Angeles, you'll know where the OC-LA County boundary is, even without a sign to announce it: I-5 goes from about 12 lanes (1-2 carpool lanes) down to six lanes (three in each direction) at the Buena Park-Norwalk border. I believe LA County is finally in the midst of widening its section, but I haven't driven that stretch of road in years: I take the train if I have to go to LA.
The extra 0.5% tax has been approved two or three times by a majority of voters. Each time it's due to expire, voters approve it for another ten year period.
