Best Credit Cards for Restaurants and Dining of October 2024

Benzinga found that the best credit cards for restaurant and dining for this month include Firstcard and Capital One.

Dining credit cards can enhance your restaurant experiences by offering rewards such as bonus points, cash back on takeout, or discounts on food delivery. Many of these credit cards offer perks that are tailored not only for traditional dining at restaurants but also for modern conveniences like ordering in or grocery delivery, making them versatile options for food enthusiasts. By leveraging these rewards, diners can enjoy their meals without the added financial stress, turning each dining occasion into an opportunity for savings and value.

Check out Benzinga's recommendations for the top credit cards that offer the best dining rewards and perks today.

Quick Look at the Best Credit Cards for Restaurants and Dining:

• Best for Cash Back on College Dining: Firstcard
• Best for High Rewards with No Annual Fee: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards 
• Best for Dining and Travel Rewards: Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Best for Flexible Cash Back Categories: Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Best for 3x Cash Back on Dining: Wells Fargo Autograph Card
• Best for Students Dining: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards for Students
• Best for Grubhub and UberEats: American Express Gold Card
• Best for Grocery Cash Back: Citi Custom Cash
• Best for Business Dining Rewards: Chase Ink Business Cash Card
• Best for Luxury Dining Experiences: Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Best for Free Credit Building: Step

The Best Credit Cards for Restaurants and Dining

Let's explore the top credit cards that cater specifically to restaurant enthusiasts and how they can elevate your dining experience.

1. Best for Cashback on College Dining: Firstcard

As the name implies, Firstcard is an excellent first credit card for building a credit history and saving more. The Firstcard Credit Builder Card with Cashback for College Students is a credit-building card rather than a traditional card, so you'll need to deposit funds once you're approved for an account. However, you'll get interest earnings on deposits of 1.25% APY as a Firstcard user and 4.25% as a Firstcard+ subscriber.

Get a virtual card upon account approval. You'll also get variable cash back from shopping, including popular dining like Taco Bell, Starbucks, Papa John's and Peet's Coffee, ranging from 1% to an impressive 15%.

Firstcard also accept international students without a Social Security number.

Why We Picked It: No credit history is needed for account opening, making it an excellent first credit card. Plus, you'll get some of the highest cash back options on popular dining choices.

2. Best for High Rewards with No Annual Fee: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards 

Whether your passion for food is dining out or creating savory dishes at home, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card will give you incredible cashback. 

You’ll have ample options for redeeming your credit card rewards and enjoying them without paying an annual fee for the card. If you have a balance on other cards, the balance transfer intro annual percentage rate (APR) can help you pay it off. 

The card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee, but requires excellent credit. You can get unlimited 3% cashback on dining, entertainment, grocery store and streaming media service purchases (excluding Target and Walmart), plus rewards between 1% to 10% on all other purchases. 

Why We Picked It: Consistent rewards on both dining and groceries with excellent cash back in other categories, too. 

3. Best for Dining and Travel Rewards: Chase Sapphire Preferred

If your dining habits take you on adventures across town or oceans, you’ll enjoy the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s diverse dining and travel rewards. You’ll get three times the rewards on dining and five times the rewards on travel purchased through Chase Travel. Plus get 25% more ultimate rewards points with no expiration when redeemed through travel. You’ll also get nice perks, including trip cancellation insurance and free access to DashPass for $0 delivery fees for one year.

While there is an annual fee of $95 and you’ll need to have good credit to qualify for the credit card, those who enjoy dining and travel will find that it offers some of the best rewards for those categories.

Why We Picked It: Excellent travel rewards and a strong signup bonus if you meet a minimum spend. With its multiple bonus categories, you can get the most from the credit card.

4. Best for Flexible Cash-Back Categories: Chase Freedom Unlimited

If you want to earn good cash back on all purchases and not just those at restaurants, the Chase Freedom Unlimited might be for you. It has stringent qualification requirements, which might make it hard for those with average or poor credit to qualify, but if you qualify, you’ll earn 1.5% cash back or more on all purchases with no annual fee. Redeem your cash back without waiting for it to accumulate to a certain threshold for redemption. You also earn 5% cash back when you use Chase Ultimate Rewards. Users also get 3% cash back on drugstore purchases, dining, restaurants and delivery services.

Why We Picked It: Simplified earnings on all purchases; get 1.5% cash back on dining and all other purchases. Plus, you can redeem cash back on your schedule without waiting to reach a certain threshold.

5. Best for 3x Cashback on Dining: Wells Fargo Autograph Card

Enjoy three times the cash back on all dining, gas stations and electric vehicle charging stations year-round with Wells Fargo Autograph Card. You’ll also enjoy these boosted rewards on phone plans and streaming media services you charge to the credit card. All other purchases earn one-time rewards so you have to have most of your expenses in the more lucrative categories to make it worth it.

The credit card has no annual fee and offers 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening — that’s equivalent to a $200 cash redemption value. Those who enjoy international travel can also benefit from no foreign currency conversion fees.

Other perks include cell phone protection for damage or theft of up to $600, zero liability protection, travel and emergency assistance.

Why We Picked It: The card offers strong reward point categories with its 3% cash back on dining plus gas stations. Great for international travel and dining.

6. Best for Students Dining: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards for Students

The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards for Students Credit Card is good for anyone who needs to build their credit. You'll need no credit history, and you can get the card even with a fair to poor credit score. Even with that, the credit card is not short on perks.

Like many Capital One cards, this credit card offers cash back on various purchases. You can get unlimited 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target), dining, movie theaters, museums, streaming media services and more entertainment opportunities. You'll also get a flat rate of 1% cash back on purchases for all other categories. You can redeem cash back for a statement credit, check, gift cards, PayPal or Amazon. 

There are a few other notable perks for those looking to build credit. First, you’ll have access to Capital One’s CreditWise credit monitoring program to help you build a strong credit history. Capital One reports to the three major credit bureaus to help you establish and maintain a positive credit history. The card also offers price protection, so you'll be reimbursed for the difference if you buy an item using the card and the price drops within 120 days.

Why We Picked It: A credit-building card for students with excellent dining rewards. No annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, no rewards caps.

7. Best for Grubhub and UberEats: American Express Gold Card

The American Express Gold Card offers some of the highest rewards of any option for restaurants and supermarkets in the United States. You'll get four points per dollar spent that you can redeem for a statement credit or gift cards at many retail, dining, air and lodging companies. 

While the $325 annual fee is higher than competitors, it's worth it if you'll use Uber, dining and hotel credits. With American Express Gold Card, you can get:

• $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the United States, up to $120 annually
• $10 instant statement credits monthly when you pay with American Express Gold at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar or some Shake Shack locations, up to $120 per year
• $7 in monthly statement credits in Dunkin, up to $84 annually
• $100 in statement credits when you pay with your card at Resy restaurants in the United States
• $100 experience credit with a two-plus night stay when you book The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel

In total, you could get $524 a year in statement credits. In addition, you will get 90,000 membership rewards points when you meet a minimum spending requirement of $6,000 within six months of card membership. You can also earn receive 20% back in statement credits, up to $100, on eligible purchases.

Why We Picked It: A premium reward credit card that's a great deal if you regularly use Uber Eats and Grubhub. The card offers generous rewards programs on dining and groceries, with points transfer option to many partners for travel, dining or gift cards.

8. Best for Grocery Cashback: Citi Custom Cash

Is dining in restaurants or grocery your biggest spend category? Then consider the Citi Custom Cash, which offers a straightforward 5% back on your highest eligible spending category. For many families, groceries are one of their biggest expenses, making the Citi Custom Cash a great option for dining at home. 

The credit card automatically selects your 5% cash back category, from dining, groceries or anything else. It has no annual fee and an attractive welcome bonus: Earn $200 in cash back after spending $1,500 in the first six months.

Why We Picked It: It has the highest cash back available on dining, but it's best combined with other cash back cards because of the $500 reward limit. 

9. Best for Business Dining Rewards: Chase Ink Business Cash Card

If you are a business owner who regularly travels for work or hosts client dinners, the Chase Ink Business Cash Card is a great choice. As a good overall business credit card, you can get 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined office supplies and telecom services, 2% at restaurants and gas stations and 5% cash back on Lyft rides. Like many other Chase credit cards, you can also enjoy Purchase Protection and Travel and Emergency Assistance services.

However, where the Chase Ink Business Cash rewards card stands out is with its signup bonus. You can earn up to $750 bonus cash back — earn $350 after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 within the first six months. Get employee cards at no additional fee. 

Why We Picked It: With no annual fee and a generous welcome offer, this card is a solid all-around business rewards card that offers higher-than-average dining rewards.

10. Best for Luxury Dining Experiences: Chase Sapphire Reserve

If you're looking for a luxury travel and dining rewards card, Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the industry leaders. While the $550 annual fee is steep, if you maximize travel and restaurant rewards, you can earn most of it back. You can get a $300 annual travel credit, plus benefits like credits on Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fees. In addition, you'll get a complimentary DashPass and Lyft Pink membership.

In terms of signup bonuses, Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best. Get 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Then, earn 10 points on Chase Dining purchases and three points at all other restaurants, eligible delivery services and takeout. 

You can redeem Chase points for gift cards, travel and experience, statement credits or luxury dining options. The credit card also offers 1:1 point transfer to airline and hotel partners. Get 50% more value when you redeem points for travel or experiences through Chase.

Why We Picked It: One of the best premium rewards credit cards with high returns on Chase Dining and all other restaurants plus takeout.

11. Best for Free Credit Building: Step

Uniquely, Step does more than give you 3% rewards on food and delivery services. You can use the app to build credit with the secured credit card that doesn’t charge any extra fees. You get 1% on every other purchase, you can save money through the app for that big feast and everything is easy to manage through the app.

Why We Picked It: The Step app and card are brilliant choices for anyone who loves dining, but it also helps you build credit so that you can get two cards in one—on the one hand, you’re improving your financial position. On the other hand, you’re getting rewarded through a secured credit card, which is quite rare.

What Is a Dining Credit Card?

A dining credit card is a type of credit card that offers rewards and perks specifically tailored to food and dining-related expenses. These cards are designed to reward cardholders for their spending at restaurants, cafes, bars and even for food delivery services.

Some common benefits of dining credit cards include earning cash back or points for every dollar spent on dining purchases, receiving discounts or special offers at partnering restaurants, and even access to exclusive dining experiences or events.

Pros and Cons of Dining Rewards Cards

As restaurants compete for your loyalty, these cards promise enticing perks and discounts. But are these cards really worth it? Here are some pros and cons to consider before getting a dining rewards credit card.

How to Choose the Best Credit Card for Restaurants and Dining

When choosing the best card for dining and restaurants, consider where you spend the most and how much you're willing to strategize with the credit card. If you want a simple base of cash back, consider a flat-rate rewards card. 

If you like to maximize rewards and don't mind a higher annual fee and can redeem the bonus rewards, you can earn more through the Chase Sapphire Reserve or American Express Gold Card. Likewise, you could combine the Citi Custom Cash with another rewards card to earn more on both groceries and dining. 

When selecting the dining credit cards ask yourself:

• Do you want multiple cards or a single card?
• Where do you usually spend the most?
• Do you eat out or primarily order takeout?
• Are you trying to build credit, or do you already have good to excellent credit?

Start Earning Rewards With Restaurant Credit Cards

Credit cards for restaurants can make everyday indulgences a little less costly. You could earn cash back or rewards points that you can redeem for travel, experiences, gift cards or statement credits. To choose the best restaurant cash back card for your needs, carefully consider total spending and your highest spend categories. Then, decide whether you want a single dining card with simplicity or whether it's worth having two cards for different types of food purchases. 

Looking for more options? Find the best Mastercards or best Visa cards.

Frequently Asked Questions