Best dining and restaurant credit cards of November 2023
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 10:37 a.m. UTC Nov. 14, 2023
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Dining and restaurant purchases can eat up a significant chunk of our monthly spending, so it makes sense to earn as many rewards back on those purchases as possible.
The best dining and restaurant credit cards serve up healthy rewards on every bite, slurp or swallow. Many of the top cards in this category also dish out appealing dining-related perks, like subscriptions or discounts to delivery apps or dining credits you can use at a variety of restaurants. There’s a wide menu to choose from when it comes down to choosing the card that’s right for you.
We analyzed a broad swath of dining and restaurant credit cards, from a variety of issuers, to curate a list of the very best. Here are our selections.
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American Express® Gold Card
: Best dining and restaurant credit card
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Bilt World Elite Mastercard®
: Best credit card for dining and restaurants for renters
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Citi Custom Cash® Card
: Best dining and restaurant credit card for flexible rewards
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Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card
: Best dining and restaurant credit card for travel and transit
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U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card *
The information for the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
: Best dining and restaurant credit card for no annual fee
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Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card *
The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
: Best dining and restaurant credit card for foodies
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Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
Best dining and restaurant credit cards of November 2023
Best dining and restaurant credit card
American Express® Gold Card
Best credit card for dining and restaurants for renters
Bilt World Elite Mastercard®
Best dining and restaurant credit card for flexible rewards
Citi Custom Cash® Card
Best dining and restaurant credit card for travel and transit
Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card
Best dining and restaurant credit card for no annual fee
U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card
*The information for the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Best dining and restaurant credit card for foodies
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
*The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Credit Card
Credit score
Best For
Annual Fee
Welcome Bonus
American Express® Gold Card
Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Bilt World Elite Mastercard®
N/A
Citi Custom Cash® Card
Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $1500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card
Limited time offer: Earn 30,000 bonus points when you spend $1,500 in purchases in the first 3 months – that’s a $300 cash redemption value.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card
Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in eligible purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. That’s a $200 value redeemable towards merchandise, gift cards, cash back, travel and more
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
The American Express® Gold Card (terms apply, rates & fees) is our top pick for dining and restaurant purchases. Anyone who likes to eat will get great value from this mid-tier card. Besides a fantastic earning potential, the American Express Gold Card has two major perks that leave the competition in the dust – statement credits for dining and Uber Cash. You can earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you shop at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations. You also receive $10 in Uber Cash monthly when you add your card to your Uber account. Use it to get to or from your favorite dining destination or have dinner delivered via Uber Eats. Those who can make the most of these perks will find the overall value exceeds the annual fee. Enrollment is required for select benefits.
- Annual fee: $250.
- Rewards: Earn 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., 4 points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1 point), 3 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express travel and 1 point per $1 on other eligible purchases.
- Welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of card membership.
- Foreign transaction fees: None.
The Bilt World Elite Mastercard® is revolutionary for renters since it allows you to earn rewards on rent payments. It’s also an excellent choice for dining and restaurants, earning above-average rewards that soar on Rent Day when the rewards rate on eligible purchases outside of rent doubles on the first of the month. This means that 3 points per $1 rate on dining becomes an even tastier 6 points per $1. Cardholders also get access to the Mastercard World Elite concierge who can help with hard-to-get reservations.
- Annual fee: $0.
- Rewards: Earn 1 point per $1 on rent payments without a transaction fee (on up to 100,000 points each year), 2 points per $1 on travel (when booked through the Bilt Travel Portal or directly with an airline, hotel, car rental or cruise company), 3 points per $1 on dining and 1 point per $1 on other purchases. At least five transactions must be made per statement period to earn these rewards.
- Welcome bonus: None.
- Foreign transaction fees: None.
The Citi Custom Cash® Card automatically adapts to your spending, earning you the biggest rewards for the category where you spend the most. If the biggest portion of your budget is typically on dining, this card will reward you handsomely for and without you having to opt-in or activate restaurant spending as your bonus category. This can free you up to pursue other things you enjoy – like deciding where to eat this weekend.
- Annual fee: $0.
- Rewards: Earn 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent each month and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- Welcome bonus: Earn $200 cash back, in the form of 20,000 ThankYou points, after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.
- Foreign transaction fees: 3%.
The Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card is excellent for earning on both dining out and getting out, since its biggest points multiplier applies to both restaurants and transit. The issuer has a fairly broad definition of what counts as dining and includes in this category restaurants, eating places, drinking places, fast food restaurants and caterers. This is notable as other issuers typically don’t include caterers and may not include bars. This means the Autograph card is a great choice for both pulling up a stool and ordering some apps or hosting an affair orchestrated by others.
- Annual fee: $0.
- Rewards: Earn 3 points per $1 at restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans and 1 point per $1 on other purchases.
- Welcome bonus: Earn 30,000 points after spending $1,500 in purchases in the first three months of account opening.
- Foreign transaction fees: None.
The information for the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card * The information for the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. has a high earn rate on dining in, dining out and takeout. It also comes with a perk that can benefit those who find their happy place on the couch with delivery and movie: a $15 annual statement credit for annual streaming service subscriptions. The card also offers a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 12 billing cycles, then a variable APR of 18.24% to 29.24%. A balance transfer fee of 3% applies ($5 minimum). Balance transfers must be completed in the first 60 days to qualify. For a no-annual-fee card, it’s a great choice no matter how you prefer to eat.
- Annual fee: $0.
- Rewards: Earn 4 points per $1 on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery, 2 points per $1 at grocery stores, grocery delivery, gas stations and on streaming services and 1 point per $1 on all other eligible purchases.
- Welcome bonus: Earn 20,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchase in the first 90 days of account opening.
- Foreign transaction fees: None.
The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. earns unlimited cash back that can be redeemed anytime, including cash back at restaurants, which is fantastic for those who frequently dine on meals prepared by others. Other food-friendly perks include earning 10% back on Uber and Uber Eats purchases plus reimbursement for the Uber One membership fee through Nov. 14, 2024 as well as access to Capital One Dining, which offers unique dining experiences exclusively for cardholders.
- Annual fee: $95.
- Rewards: Earn 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 4% cash back on all dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target) and 1% on all other purchases.
- Welcome bonus: Earn $300 cash bonus after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Foreign transaction fees: $0.
Methodology
Our credit cards team has spent hours analyzing hundreds of credit cards. We took a deep dive into the details of each product and that analysis, combined with our years of experience covering credit cards, informed us as we developed these credit card rankings.
Factors we considered in creating our rankings included:
- Annual fees
- Rewards rates on dining and how dining was defined. Did it include takeout, delivery and other options?
- Meaningful perks for diners, like dining statement credits, complimentary Uber One or DashPass and more
Should you get a dining and restaurant credit card?
Everyone needs to eat and if you even occasionally dine out, get delivery or visit a drive-through window, you can find a dining credit card that rewards you for your spending. Many of our top picks also include grocery stores as a bonus category, further enhancing the appeal of a card that rewards you for filling up.
How much could you earn? Using government data and other publicly available information, we estimate that a household in the U.S. that would be in the market for a dining and restaurant card has an annual income of $84,352 and $25,087 in expenses they are likely to be able to charge to a credit card.
Let’s break down that spending for a card like the American Express Gold Card, our overall best dining credit card, to see how much this sample household could earn throughout the year. Here are our estimates:
That adds up to a total of 52,867 Membership Rewards points earned annually.
These points are worth about $317 if redeemed for a statement credit toward your bill, about $528 if used to book flights through American Express Travel, or potentially more if you transfer them to one of more than a dozen of Amex’s travel transfer partners. When you factor in the annual up to $120 dining statement credit and up to $120 in Uber Cash annually, the rewards can make up for the card’s $250 annual fee.
Now, let’s look at a dining card with a much lower annual fee, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. , using the same information as the first example:
In total, this household would earn $533.53 in cash back each year, which more than covers the $95 annual fee.
Guide to dining and restaurant credit cards
You should always know what you’re getting into when you apply for a credit card. There are two main types of dining and restaurant credit cards:
- Points cards: If you want to earn points that you can use toward future travel or other rewards, point cards are a great choice.
- Cash-back cards: Cash-back cards allow you to earn a percentage of your monthly purchases as cash back, which can help offset dining out and other expenses.
When you’ve identified which type of card you want, it’s time to look into current offerings. One of the main features to search for is a welcome bonus, which can help you earn extra points or additional cash back for spending a certain amount of money on the card within a set timeframe. Just make sure the spending requirement fits into your budget.
Analyzing your financial situation can also help you maximize your rewards. Write down your top categories of credit card spending, then see which cards offer bonus categories that match. You should also consider the bonus categories on your other credit cards to ensure you’re not duplicating them.
Some other important features to compare:
- Annual fee
- APRs
- Balance transfer fees
- Caps on reward earnings
As the examples above show, you can earn significant points or cash back by using a dining and restaurant card correctly. Don’t leave rewards on the table by using a card that only gives you one point per dollar at the cafe or a specific grocery store.
Pros and cons of dining and restaurant rewards cards
As with any financial decision, there are pros and cons to consider.
Pros
- Earning on everyday spending: If you are already spending money at restaurants, you could earn rewards for your next trip or a statement credit.
- Additional perks: Many cards have added benefits, like memberships to Uber One or DashPass.
- Cards with low or no annual fees: There are plenty of dining and restaurant rewards cards that have low or no annual fees, making them even more accessible.
Cons
- Difficulty getting approved: Many of the best credit cards require good to excellent credit, making it challenging to get approved.
- Limited bonus categories: Some of the top credit cards for dining and restaurants don’t have other bonus categories, like gas and travel, so you might want to use a different card for those purchases.
- Possibility of exclusions: If takeout and delivery are included in the bonus category, it’s often limited to the U.S., and the same goes for grocery stores.
Be sure to weigh each of these before applying for a dining and restaurant rewards card.
Who is a dining rewards card best for?
Dining rewards cards can be beneficial for almost anyone. But if you never eat out, get takeout or have food delivered, you could be better off with a general travel rewards card or cash-back credit card.
Ultimately, you should look at your monthly spending to see where you spend the most each month and find a card that earns bonus points in those categories. The Wells Fargo Autograph Card earns bonus points on dining and transit purchases, for example, making it a good option for commuters. If you’re paying for a card with an annual fee, however, make sure you use enough of the benefits to make up for the cost.
How to choose the best credit card for dining and restaurants
With so many credit cards on the market, you can be a little picky when finding your next card. To choose the best credit card for dining and restaurants, you should consider the following:
- Do you want a cash-back credit card or a travel rewards card?
- Are there any gaps in your current points and miles plan? For example, do you have cards with bonus categories for grocery stores and gas but not dining?
- Are you willing to pay an annual fee for added benefits?
- If you are willing to pay an annual fee, how much are you willing to spend?
- What is your credit score?
Answering these questions can help you narrow down the options to find the best card to fill your needs. You should always read the fine print when applying for a credit card.
Keep in mind that many credit cards for dining and restaurants are targeted at those with good-to-excellent credit. If you have fair or poor credit, you might choose a card designed to help you build your score over time. You can also get pre-qualified for some cards, with a soft credit check, so you know your chances of getting approved.
A card like the Bilt Rewards Card is an excellent choice for someone who wants to build credit, since you earn for dining purchases, but it helps you build your score through rent payments.
If you anticipate making a large purchase, consider a card with a 0% introductory purchase APR offer to delay incurring interest charges.
The best credit card for dining and restaurants will give you something that your current cards don’t give you. Maybe you already have a card that earns cash back or rewards with another issuer, so the American Express Gold Card can provide you with valuable Amex Membership Rewards points. Or maybe you’ve never tried a cash-back credit card and want to offset the expense of eating out.
Whatever the reason, there’s likely a dining and restaurant credit card that can add something to your wallet.
Some dining and restaurant rewards apply to take-out and delivery. However, some of the best dining and restaurant cards do not apply to takeout and delivery purchases outside the U.S.
American Express offers dozens of cards, each with their own unique rewards or other attributes. We’ve chosen the American Express Gold Card as the best card for dining and restaurant rewards based on its welcome bonus and points multipliers. However, each card on this list provides something valuable.
In most cases, purchases from restaurants, fast food establishments, cafes, bars, lounges, and bakeries count as dining for credit card rewards. It’s best to read the fine print of any potential card to ensure you know exactly how many points you will receive for each transaction.
Whether dining and restaurant rewards are worth it will ultimately depend on your overall financial goals and monthly spending. You’ll need to consider features like reward redemption opportunities, earn rates and annual fees to ensure the card is worth it for you. For instance, if you don’t think you’ll use any of the Uber Cash or dining credits on the American Express Gold Card, it might not be worth having.
For rates and fees for the American Express® Gold Card please visit this page.
*The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card and U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
