The Best Restaurant Credit Cards Offering Cash Back and Rewards

Published 11/3/07 (Modified 4/24/13)
By MoneyBlueBook

Updated List Of The Best Restaurant Credit Card Offers For Eating And Dining Out

I wish I could be like a green garden plant and photosynthesize my food instead of having to buy it. I spend so much money eating out it's sad. I eat lunch at work and usually spend up to $8 for a sandwich. Dinner usually involves whatever I pick up on the way home and it's frequently $10 or more. Food in downtown Washington D.C. where I work can definitely get very expensive.

Find the right credit card for you

0% Balance Transfer

Cash Back Credit Cards

0% Balance Transfer No Fee

Luckily there are certain credit cards I can use to soften the financial blow by getting cash back or reward points for eating out. Most reward cards only give a measly 1% cash back, and many of the ones that offer a higher percentage back only offer it for purchases at fast food/takeout places. But there are a select few reward cards that offer a very impressive 3%-5% back for all restaurants, including fast food and even coffee shops! If you're a student who eats out often, a young professional who dines out most of the time, or even a family minded foodie who enjoys fancy restaurants, you might benefit from having a utility credit card in your pocket that will allow you to earn rebate rewards and cash back discounts for such meal expenses.

Here is one of the more popular cashback credit cards for eating and dining out:

TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express - This card is brought to you by Costco and is meant for Costco warehouse club members. This card offers you 3 percent cash back on gasoline at US gas stations and on gasoline at Costco up to $4,000 per year in purchases, then 1 percent; 2 percent cash back at US restaurants; 2 percent cash back on eligible travel purchases, including at Costco; 1 percent cash back on other purchases, including at Costco. Terms and limitations apply. The card comes with no annual fee if you have a paid Costco membership. Cash back is awarded annually in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco warehouse. Cardmembership offers access to benefits such as Global Assist and Purchase Protection* *Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Terms and restrictions apply.

This entry was posted on 11/3/07 (Modified on 4/24/13) and is filed under Credit Cards , Deals and Offers , Shopping , Tech . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.

Disclaimer: Discover is a paid advertiser of this site.
Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.

Feed for this Entry

5 Responses to “The Best Restaurant Credit Cards Offering Cash Back and Rewards”

Mac says:
October 9, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I don't see how the 5 points per dollar on the Citi MTVu card translate to 5% cash back. Can anyone explain?

I checked out their Thank You program and the amount of points necessary to get cash back or a statement credit translates to about 3% for restaurant purchases. I'm assuming that things have changed since this was first posted.
Raymond says:
November 22, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Another restaurant credit card option for dining out - Chase BP Visa Rewards Card - Earn 4% rebates on all eligible dining and travel, including airline, car rental, and lodging. Restaurants are considered dining for rebate purchases, but fast food establishments are not. There is currently a 2 month promotional offer of 10% rebates at all BP gas locations and 5% thereafter, and 2% rebates for all other purchases for the first 60 days, and 1% thereafter.
akb says:
December 14, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Rewardsnework.com gives additional cashback to a large list of restaurants. You register your CC with them and when you use it at one of the restaurants in the network you get the additional cashback.
MelMoitzen says:
December 18, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Rewards Network does not have a "large" list of restaurants--not incredibly desirable ones, anyway. Typically they are restaurants hurting for business.

I use a Costco Amex and Chase Professional card for eating out--both get 3%. I also use a Discover card when they have a 5% cashback promotion for restaurants (as they do this calendar quarter). None of these cards make a distinction between fine-dining, quick service or fast-food restaurants--all get the full rebate.
Reeses says:
May 29, 2009 at 6:08 pm
The Citi Foward Card from Citibank is exactly what I needed! The Citi mtvu card was great for restaurants and dining out cashback rewards, but it was only available for students...frustratingly for those of us who aren't students and can't qualify. But the Citi Forward credit card has almost all of the same identical credit rewards for purchases - 5% for restaurants, books, movies, and 1% for everything else. In fact I think it's virtually the same identical card...not sure where the differences lie. It does have have a free $100 sign up bonus...that's the only difference I could find after reading the terms and conditions. - Citi Foward Card fan