Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spending (2020)
Make sure to read the tips and general advice in our Optimize Rewards by Using Different Cards for Different Purchases guide.
Because the opportunity to travel has dropped due to the Covid pandemic, several credit card companies have made temporary changes to their travel-oriented credit cards. These may affect the card you use for your restaurant purchases.
- Restaurant charges count towards the Citi Prestige Card's $250 travel credit, Hilton Aspire Card's $250 Hilton Resort credit, the Bonvoy Brilliant Card's $300 Marriott credit, and the Altitude Reserve's $325 travel credit. This is a great way to use up any remaining credit you still have for these cards.
- Ultimate Reward points can be used to offset restaurant purchases (and grocery and home improvement purchases) made with the Sapphire cards. With the Sapphire Reserve, points are worth 1.5 cents each. With the Sapphire Preferred, points are worth 1.25 cents. If you want to easily cash out your Ultimate Reward points, you might want to use these cards for some of your restaurant spending. For example, you can use 40,000 points to "erase" $600 worth of charges on your Sapphire Reserve card.
- The Alaska Airlines card earns 2x miles on your first $1,500 per month of restaurant spending in June and July.
- The Altitude Reserve earns 3x points (4.5%) on dining even when you can't use your mobile wallet (until the end of the year).
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Card suggestions
- If you want to keep it simple, stick with the Sapphire Reserve Card. It earns 3x easy-to-use Ultimate Rewards points on restaurants (and travel), valued at 5.1 cents per dollar. After adjusting for the $300 automatic travel credit and the $60 DoorDash credit, the effective annual fee is $190-250. It also unlocks the ability to earn 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on everyday purchases with the Freedom or Ink Unlimited cards.
- You can get even more value from the Citi Prestige Card. It earns 5x Thank You points on restaurants (and airfare), worth at least 7.5 cents per dollar. To get the most value from ThankYou points, you'll need to transfer them to frequent flyer programs and use them for award tickets. But, even if you just use them to purchase travel through Citi, 5 points are worth 5 cents per dollar (5.55 cents if you also have the Reward+ Card), about the same as the Sapphire Reserve. The drawback is the effective $245 annual fee, which is a lot to pay for higher reward rates on restaurant and online travel agency spending. But, if you spend at least $10,000 per year on restaurants, can take good advantage of the Prestige Card's unique 4th night free benefit, want a Priority Pass membership that includes unlimited guests, or have access to a lower annual fee as a Citigold customer, it can make sense to use this card, instead of the Sapphire Reserve, for restaurant and online travel agency purchases.
- If you are planning to get the Amex Gold Card for purchasing supermarket gift cards, it is probably your best option for most restaurant spending. You'll earn 4x Membership Reward points on restaurants and the annual fee can be justified by the 4x points on grocery spend. Keep in mind that many restaurants, especially outside of the United States, won't accept Amex cards.
- If you can deal with some extra complexity, the Wells Fargo "Combo" is your next best option. It earns 4.5% on dining, without any annual fees. The trick is that you need to have two different Wells Fargo cards. And because you can only get one Wells Fargo card every 15 months, it will take some time to put this plan into action. The Wells Fargo Propel Card earns 3x points on Restaurant (and Travel, Gas, and Streaming Services). Normally these points are only worth 1 cent each. But, if you also have the Wells Fargo Visa Signature Card, you can redeem points at 1.5 cents each, for airfare purchases through the Wells Fargo portal. That works out to 4.5 cents per dollar.
- If you don't spend a bunch on restaurants and don't already have a better card, there are several no-annual-fee cards that earn 3% back.
If you want to concentrate on Membership Reward points and don't plan on spending a bunch on groceries, the Amex Green Card is an interesting option. It earns the same 3x points on Travel and Restaurants as the Sapphire Reserve Card but earns Membership Rewards points rather than Ultimate Rewards points. The effective annual fee is a little lower than Sapphire Reserve's as well. But unless you are sure you going to use your points for frequent flyer tickets, it is probably better to get the extra benefits and points flexibility from the Sapphire Reserve.
Quick comparison
The point values used in the table below are estimates based on a typical traveler. They may need to be adjusted for your individual preferences and travel patterns. For example, if you highly value premium cabin award tickets and are willing and able to build up large point balances, Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and ThankYou points are much more valuable and you should earn as many of those types of points as you can. If you have trouble finding good frequent flyer redemptions, you might want to focus on cards that earn points that can be used more like cash. Deciding What Type of Points to Earn
The annual costs in the table below reflect the annual fee minus any travel credits. For travel credits that are harder to redeem, we value the credit at 50% of the maximum credit amount. We value the Amex Airlines Incidental Credit at only 25% of the maximum credit amount. If you are willing to do the work or are otherwise able to get full value from these credits, the effective annual fee can be considerably lower.
Some cards waive the annual fee for the first year. But the table focuses on what you would pay in the longer term.
| Card | Value | Earns | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Prestige | 7.5% | 5x TY | $245‡ |
| Amex Gold | 6% | 4x MR | $30-250 |
| Amex Business Gold Rewards Card (if it is one of your two bonus categories) |
6% | 4x MR | $295 |
| Sapphire Reserve Card | 5.1% | 3x UR | $190-250 |
| Wells Fargo Propel Card (with Wells Fargo Visa Signature) |
4.5% | 3x GoFar | $0 |
| US Bank Altitude Reserve (on mobile wallet purchases only) |
4.5% | 3x | $75 |
| US Bank Flexperks Gold | 4.5% | 3x FP | $85 |
| Amex Green Card | 4.5% | 3x MR | $150 |
| Fairwinds Visa Signature | 4.5% | 3x | $249 |
| Citi Premier | 4.5% | 3x TY | $95 |
| Altitude Go | 4x | 4% | $0 |
| Capital One Savor Card | 4% | 4% | $95 |
| BOA Premium Rewards | 2-3.5%† | 2-3.5x | $45 |
| Ink Cash (business card) | 3.4% | 2x UR | $0 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 3.4% | 2x UR | $95 |
| Hyatt Card | 3.4% | 2x | $75 |
| CNB Crystal Infinite* | 3.3% | 3x | $150 |
| Morgan Stanley* (for Morgan Stanley customers only) |
3% | 2x MR | $0 |
| Capital One SaverOne Card | 3% | 3% | $0 |
| Costco / Sam's Club Credit Card | 3% | 3% | $0 |
| AARP | 3% | 3% | $0 |
| Uber | 3% | 3% | $0 |
| Hilton Surpass | 2.7% | 6x | $75 |
* Cardholders with more than $20,000 in combined balances at BOA / Merrill Lynch earn bonus rewards, maxing out at 3.5 points, or 5.25 cents on travel purchases.
† Bonus rewards on US Restaurants only.
‡ Citigold customers get an effective annual fee of $100.
Supercharge your dining rewards with a credit card dining program
By taking advantage of dining programs, you can earn even more points from using your credit card at some restaurants. You simply register your card with the dining program, and you’ll earn extra points each time you use it at a participating restaurant. Earn Extra Rewards by Enrolling in Credit Card Dining Programs
