The 8 Best Credit Cards for Restaurants, Dining & Takeout in September 2023

Top Picks (Quick Summary)

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1. Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card (Most Popular)

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 an enormous 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 DashPass for 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:

• 5x points on all travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 5x points on all Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
• 3x points on select streaming purchases
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• 1x points on all other purchases

It even has a $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

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.

Hot Tip: If you are using a Chase credit card, check your “Chase Offers” to see if you’re eligible for additional restaurant discounts or cash-back.

2. American Express^® Gold Card (Best for Earning Points)

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 90,000 points with the Amex Gold card. The current public offer is 60,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

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.

To round it out, though, you’ll get baggage insurance, secondary rental car coverage, purchase protection, extended warranty, a complimentary ShopRunner membership, and so much more!

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).

3. 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.

4. Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

While the Chase Sapphire Reserve card has a premium annual fee, it’s packed with equally premium benefits that bring great value for the frequent traveler. These include travel purchase credits, worldwide lounge access, earnings on travel purchases, and a generous welcome bonus.

But to start, it earns Ultimate Rewards points at an impressive pace:

• 10x points on Chase Dining booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards (including prepaid reservations, takeout, and virtual cooking events)
• 3x points on all other dining (including takeout and delivery)

Further, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card includes a free membership to DoorDash DashPass. There’s also a $5 monthly DoorDash credit available.

Furthermore, this iconic ultra-premium credit card boasts additional earning categories:

• 10x points on car rentals and hotels booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 5x points on air travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 1x points on all other purchases

Non-dining benefits include an up to $300 travel credit every anniversary year, a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, a 50% bonus on redemptions made through the Chase travel portal and Pay Yourself Back, access to the Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, a $100 application fee credit for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS, and the best travel insurance from a credit card. The card also has no foreign transaction fees.

4. Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

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 an unlimited 4% cash-back on all dining purchases, as well as 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.

For your other purchases, enjoy:

• 8% cash-back at Vivid Seats
• 8% cash-back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
• 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.

The 4 Best Business Cards for Restaurants and Dining

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!

Card Summary

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1. American Express^® Business Gold Card

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):

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).

The information regarding Citi Prestige^® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and was not provided by the issuer.

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.

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.