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You don’t have to be a foodie to appreciate earning rewards when dining out or ordering in from your favorite restaurant. Just knowing you’ll earn rewards on your meal is nearly as good as enjoying the food.
But when it comes time to pay the check, do you worry about which of your cards will earn the most cash-back or multiple points on dining purchases?
We do, too — and that’s why we’ve created this go-to guide for the best credit cards to use when dining out.
We’ve put together a collection of the best credit cards for earning even more rewards on your credit cards when dining out.
What To Look For in a Credit Card for Restaurants and Dining
The truth is, when eating out, the biggest factor that should drive which credit card you use is its rewards structure. That means you’ll unlikely use purchase protection, return protection, or extended warranty when you’re dining out.
When you’re eating out, you probably don’t necessarily need an enormous spending limit beyond a traditional credit limit, so having huge spending power probably isn’t essential.
And while you probably wouldn’t complain if you also received luxury travel perks with your credit card, it’s probably not the primary motivator in a credit card for restaurants and dining.
So that pretty much leaves rewards! In this next section, we’ll walk you through the best personal cards to use for restaurants and dining.
The 5 Best Personal Cards for Restaurants and Dining
You’d have to spend an extraordinary amount of money on dining to select a credit card based solely on the level of dining rewards that the card offers. For this reason, our choices for the best credit cards include cards that offer more than just dining rewards.
Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024.
The Amex Gold card is the best card to maximize your earning potential at restaurants and dining. That’s because it earns 4x Membership Rewards Points per dollar for purchases at restaurants and at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year; 1x thereafter). That means whether you’re eating out or cooking up a storm at home, you’ll get some amazing rewards.
Beyond that, this card comes with up to $10 in monthly dining statement credits when making purchases at participating partners, including Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations. You have to enroll to get this benefit.
Also, another dining-related perk is up to $120 in Uber Cash, which is offered in the form of $10 per month. You can use this for Uber rides in the U.S., as well as Uber Eats orders in the U.S.!
Earning rewards in 4x bonus spending categories, receiving dining credits, and the Uber Cash perks easily offset the annual fee. Note that terms may apply and enrollment is required for certain Amex Gold card benefits. The card is a top choice for dining rewards.
But past that, the Amex Gold card also earns 3x points on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel. It even confers access to The Hotel Collection to get you a room upgrade and property credits when booking eligible stays.
The Amex Gold card has no foreign transaction fees, no preset spending limit, and up to 5 authorized users for no additional annual fees (rates and fees).
Hot Tip: See the full benefits and perks offered for being an Amex Gold cardholder, which we value at over $4,000.
Why We Like Earning American Express Membership Rewards Points
To say that we love the Amex Membership Rewards system is an understatement. And there’s a good reason because these points are the most valuable transferable currency, worth 2.2 cents each by our valuations.
Earning 4x points means you’ll earn a return on spending of 8.8%, which is incredible — and while you can redeem points for cash-back, charity, gift cards, statement credits, and travel via Amex Travel using Pay With Points, it’s best to use the Amex travel partners for incredible luxury flights and hotels.
If you spend a lot on meals while traveling, it’s good to select a credit card that earns dining rewards and does not charge foreign transaction fees. Image Credit: Christine Krzyszton
2. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns an amazing 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on dining and online grocery purchases. This is especially impressive when you consider its mild annual fee. It even has a generous welcome bonus that’ll help you rack up points faster than ever.
Another neat perk you’ll get with this card is a complimentary DoorDash DashPassfor a minimum of 1 year when you activate by December 31, 2024. This is a subscription service that includes free food delivery on select DoorDash orders over $12 and reduced fees, which makes ordering food delivery just a little bit cheaper.
There are plenty of other earning categories available:
Other important benefits include a 25% redemption bonus when you book through the Chase travel portal, awesome travel insurance (including primary rental car coverage), and a unique 10% annual points bonus every anniversary!
For all these reasons, plus no foreign transaction fees and no added fees for authorized users, we’ve included it as one of the best credit cards for dining.
Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are incredibly valuable. Worth 2 cents per point by our valuations, you can choose to redeem your points for cash-back, Amazon.com purchases, travel via Chase Ultimate Rewards, gift cards, or charitable donations. That means you can get a return on spending of around 6.2% when you earn 3x points with the 10% anniversary bonus!
The Capital One Savor card is a foodie’s delight because it offers fantastic cash-back rewards on a wide array of useful bonus categories.
To start off, it usually offers a decent welcome bonus. But the special feature of this card is that it earns a 10% cash-back on Uber Eats orders, an unlimited 4% cash-back on all dining purchases, and 3% cash-back at grocery stores.
It doesn’t end there — this card confers access to Capital One Dining, which is where you can make exclusive restaurant reservations and book culinary experiences curated by world-famous chefs. Cardholders are also eligible to enroll in a complimentary Uber One membership through November 14, 2024.
5% cash-back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
4% cash-back on all other entertainment purchases
4% cash-back on popular streaming services
1% cash-back on all other purchases
There are no rewards more flexible than cash-back, so if you spend a lot on dining out, you’ll want to have the Capital One Savor card handy to pay the check.
This card also offers roadside assistance, secondary rental car coverage, travel accident insurance, and no foreign transaction fees. It also features purchase and price protection, extended warranty, zero fraud liability, no additional fees for authorized users, and virtual card numbers from Eno.
5. Citi Premier® Card
The Citi Premier card is Citi’s flagship rewards credit card, especially if you plan on spending significant amounts of money on food and travel.
At the moment, this card earns 3x ThankYou Points per dollar spent on dining, putting it up there with some of the top earners for restaurant purchases. Its list of bonus categories is even much larger than that:
3x points on air travel
3x points at hotels
3x points at supermarkets
3x points on gas
1x points everywhere else
It also comes with a $100 annual hotel savings benefit for a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) booked through thankyou.com, once per calendar year.
The Citi Premier card also has no foreign transaction fees, plus access to Citi Entertainment, alongside no additional annual fees for authorized users, contactless payments, and mobile payments.
Why We Like Earning Citi ThankYou Points
Citi ThankYou Points are worthwhile to collect — they’re worth around 1.6 cents per point, by our valuations! That means earning 5x ThankYou Points is equal to a return on spending of 4.8%.
Bottom Line: If you spend a lot on dining, it pays to find a card that rewards all of those purchases. Seek out cards that have dining category earnings of 4x points, 4% cash-back (or more!), or those that earn flexible travel rewards to maximize your earnings at restaurants.
The 5 Best Business Cards for Restaurants and Dining
Earning dining rewards on your meal is nearly as good as enjoying the food. Image Credit: Christine Krzyszton
If you often eat at restaurants or make other dining purchases for your business, you’ll want to use the best business credit cards available.
In this next section, we’ll show you which business cards to use for restaurants and dining!
Earn 3 bonus Free Night Awards after spending $6,000 within the first 6 months. Redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points for each bonus Free Night Award, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
The best business card for dining and restaurants is, without a doubt, the Amex Business Gold card. This card overshadows all of its competitors and peers due to its amazing rewards structure.
Start off with a generous welcome bonus, and enjoy earning 4x Membership Rewards points on the 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month from the list below (up to $150,000 in combined purchases every calendar year):
Airfare purchased from airlines
U.S. purchases for advertising in select media
U.S. purchases made from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
U.S. purchases at gas stations
U.S. purchases at restaurants
U.S. purchases for shipping
So if you happen to spend a lot of money at restaurants every year for your business, you can earn up to 600,000 Amex points by maxing out that 4x bonus points! That’s worth a whopping $13,000+!
The Amex Business Gold card also has no preset spending limit, the ability to book stays through The Hotel Collection, a 25% Pay With Points rebate, travel insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty, no foreign transaction fees, and the card has no annual fee for up to 99 employee cards after the first employee card with a $50 annual fee (rates and fees).
2. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
The Amex Blue Business Plus card is one of the absolute best cards for business owners with relatively low expenses who want top-shelf rewards without a huge annual fee.
Specifically, this card earns 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases (up to $50,000 per calendar year). With this card, you won’t need to worry about any bonus categories — all purchases will earn those sweet 2x points, which is equivalent to a 4.4% return on spending.
Other perks include a 0% introductory APR benefit, as well as access to Expanded Buying Power, access to Amex Offers, employee cards for no added fee, purchase protection, and extended warranty coverage (rates and fees).
3. Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
The Ink Business Cash card is an incredible card for the right business owner. To start off, this card boasts an impressive welcome bonus while having no annual fee.
As it relates to dining, you can earn 2% cash-back on up to $25,000 in combined purchases every account anniversary year at restaurants and gas stations.
Also, you can earn 5% cash-back on up to $25,000 in combined purchases every account anniversary year at office supply stores, and cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services.
But what makes this card special is that the cash-back rewards can actually be converted to Ultimate Rewards points if you also have an Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
That means you can convert your 5% or 2% cash-back to 5x and 2x Ultimate Rewards points, effectively making your return on spending catapult up to 10% and 4%, respectively.
To wrap up on this card, enjoy purchase protection, travel insurance, and no additional fees for employee cards.
4. The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
The Hilton Business Amex card is actually an underrated credit card, especially if you love Hilton properties. To start off, this card has a 6-figure welcome bonus that’ll elevate your points quicker than you know it.
At U.S. restaurants, you can use this card to earn 6x Hilton Honors points. This earning structure is uncapped, so you can earn an unlimited number of points at U.S. restaurants this way.
You can also earn:
12x points on Hilton purchases
6x points at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, on U.S. purchases for shipping, on flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel, and on car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies
3x points on all other purchases
If that doesn’t blow you away, check out the automatic Hilton Honors Gold status you get with this card, as well as 10 complimentary Priority Pass visits (enrollment required) and a Free Night Reward after you spend $15,000 in a calendar year. You can earn a second Free Night Award after you spend a total of $60,000 in a calendar year, too. This card has no foreign transaction fees and no added fees for employee cards (rates and fees).
Why We Like Earning Hilton Honors Points
We love earning Hilton Honors points — even though they’re generally worth less than World of Hyatt points, for example, you can earn more points per dollar spent. We value Hilton Honors points at around 0.5 cents each, which translates to a 3% return on spending at restaurants.
5. Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
The last business card for restaurants and dining that we’ll discuss is the Marriott Bonvoy Business card. This terrific business credit card is a perfect fit for business owners with loyalty to Marriott properties around the world.
This card often comes with a great welcome bonus, but it earns 4x Marriott Bonvoy points at restaurants worldwide. These earnings are uncapped, and you’ll also earn up to 6x points on other purchases:
6x points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program
4x points at restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and U.S. purchases for shipping
2x points on all other purchases
The card even comes with 15 Elite Night Credits to get closer to Marriott Bonvoy status, complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, a Free Night Award after each cardmember anniversary (up to 35,000 points), and no foreign transaction fees (rates and fees).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household spends nearly $3,000 each year on food away from home. If you spend that, or more, having a credit card that earns dining rewards is a smart move.
Dining rewards are just 1 earning category. You’ll want to match your entire spending profile with the bonus categories that come with any credit card to make sure you’re maximizing the earning power of that specific credit card.
If dining out is your passion or your job, your bottom line will grow with a credit card in your wallet that rewards those expenses. Bon appétit!
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
For the car rental collision damage coverage benefit of the American Express® Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car rental loss or damage coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. For the baggage insurance plan benefit of the American Express® Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the purchase protection and extended warranty benefit of the American Express® Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the purchase protection and extended warranty benefit of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the purchase protection and extended warranty benefit of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here. For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, click here. For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Frequently Asked Questions
Certain credit cards allow you to earn rewards such as cash-back or points for using the card to pay for meals at restaurants, fast food outlets, hotels, Uber Eats, bars, or for other dining purchases.
Each credit card will have its own requirements, level of earnings, and even limits on the amount of rewards you can earn. That’s why it’s important to select a card that matches your dining spending habits.
Credit cards that offer cash back on dining purchases give you a percentage of your total purchase as a cash-back reward. For example, if you spend $100 at a restaurant and your cash-back credit card offers 3% cash-back on dining purchases, you’ll receive $3 back.
Some cards automatically credit your statement monthly with the cash-back you’ve earned during the previous statement period(s), while others require you to earn points and then request to redeem those points for cash-back on your statement or transfer the funds to your bank account.
Yes, fast food establishments and bars count as restaurants when it comes to earning rewards for dining. You simply use your credit card as usual for dining at these places.
Occasionally, a cafe or food establishment located within another facility such as a sports arena or department store may not code as a restaurant. It will depend on how that food establishment is coded by the card issuer.
Also, some cards do have a separate category for fast food and restaurants, so you’ll want to check your card’s category requirements to determine the amount of rewards you’re earning when dining at each of these.
The short answer is yes. When the authorized user on your credit card uses the card to pay for dining, rewards are earned on the card, then subsequently credited to the primary cardholder’s account.
As a primary cardholder, your account will be earning all the rewards, but you will also be responsible for paying the account.
Yes, there are cards that do no not charge an annual fee yet earn rewards on dining. For example, the Double Cash card earns 2% cash-back (1% when you make your charge and another 1% when you pay your charge, earned as ThankYou Points).
The Ink Business Cash card and Amex Blue Business Plus card, discussed further in our article, do not have an annual fee.
Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders (and their authorized users) can enroll in the DoorDash DashPass benefit on DoorDash’s website.
Once enrolled, you’re eligible for free delivery on orders of $12 or more and reduced service fees from participating DoorDash restaurants. Plus, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers $5 in DoorDash credits every month.
Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
1 comments
samueljohnson
April 29, 2023
I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks for the information you shared with me. It was incredibly helpful and informative, and I’m so grateful for your help. Your willingness to share your knowledge and expertise is a true gift, I cannot thank you enough for your time and effort in providing me with such valuable information. I will always remember your help and it has made a significant difference in my life. Thank you again for everything.
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![The 10 Best Credit Cards for Restaurants, Dining & Takeout [2023]](https://upgradedpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Chase-Sapphire-Preferred-Sapphire-Reserve-Amex-Gold-Dining-3-Upgraded-Points-LLC.jpg?auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1420&height=650&fit=crop)
1 comments
samueljohnson
April 29, 2023
I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks for the information you shared with me. It was incredibly helpful and informative, and I’m so grateful for your help. Your willingness to share your knowledge and expertise is a true gift, I cannot thank you enough for your time and effort in providing me with such valuable information. I will always remember your help and it has made a significant difference in my life. Thank you again for everything.
Any thoughts or questions? Comment below!
Email needed if you'd like comment updates. It will NOT be published.
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