Best Credit Cards for Restaurants

No, there isn't a McDonald's credit card available at the moment. McDonald's has never offered its own credit card, but their locations will accept credit cards issued by a U.S. Bank from Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover as valid forms of payment. In addition, McDonald's customers can pay with cash, debit cards, and digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. McDonald's sells gift cards, called Arch Cards, too.

The closest McDonald's has come to offering credit cards is when they give out a McGold card from time to time. The McGold card isn't a credit card, as it extends no line of credit. Instead, it offers cardholders free McDonald's food for a certain period of time. Naturally, this isn't a card that you can apply for, and very few people actually have it.

Alternative Credit Card Options

If you want a credit card that gets good rewards at McDonald's, check out 2023's best cards for restaurants and food delivery. Some good options include the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card, and the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card. 

Yes, you can use a credit card for food. You can buy food with a credit card at grocery stores, restaurants, wholesale clubs, food trucks, fast food locations, and anywhere else that sells food and accepts credit card payments. In fact, using the right rewards credit card to buy food can save you up to 6%.

Some of the Best Credit Cards for Food

Paying for food with a credit card is both convenient and cost-effective. For more options, check out the rest of WalletHub's picks for the best credit cards for grocery stores, restaurants, and food delivery.

Yes, both Chase Freedom Flex℠ and have restaurants as a bonus rewards category. More specifically, these cards give 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services.

With very solid rewards and $0 annual fees, both Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited are great cash back credit cards. Just keep in mind that you'll need at least good credit to get approved for these Chase cards. If you'd like to know where you stand, you can check your credit score for free, right here on WalletHub.

The best dining rewards program is Neighborhood Nosh because it has flexible rewards redemption and members can earn up to 10% back on eligible dining purchases. When a member reaches $20 in earned rewards, Neighborhood Nosh mails a pre-loaded card with rewards on it the next month. The member can then use the card anywhere Amex is accepted.

There are plenty of other dining rewards programs available for food enthusiasts, however, and they all offer different levels of savings on restaurant purchases.

Best Dining Rewards Programs of 2023

Neighborhood Nosh: Best Overall

Frequent diners who don't care for branded loyalty programs will enjoy the high-earning Neighborhood Nosh dining program, which gives its rewards in the form of a mailed American Express Rewards Card. Members initially earn 5% back by dining at participating restaurants and paying with a linked credit card. When they've made $750 in eligible purchases in a given year, they'll start earning 10% back. Rewards cards are mailed the month after the account reaches $20 in rewards.

American AAdvantage Dining: Best Airline Dining Program

American Airlines' dining program works in tandem with their AAdvantage loyalty program, so dining out and paying with a linked card turns into free flights. Anyone with an AAdvantage account can sign up for the AAdvantage dining program to earn American Airlines miles for spending at participating restaurants, bars, and clubs. You can earn up to 5 miles per $1 spent, and new members earn 1,000 bonus miles for spending $25 in the first 30 days.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining: Best for Ongoing Bonus Rewards

Southwest is serious about bonus rewards. There's an initial bonus of 1,000 points for spending $25 at a participating establishment and writing a review afterward. The first time you earn 1,500 points through dining purchases, you'll get a 500-point bonus. And every time you reach 1,000 points by dining or completing online reviews after that, you'll earn another 300 bonus points.

In addition, diners who write a review earn 10 points per review. And those who opt-in to email marketing will earn 3 points per $1 spent.

Hilton Honors Dining: Best Initial Bonus

Hilton Honors members will get lots of value out of Hilton's loyalty program offshoot, Hilton Honors Dining – especially if they can spend $25 at a participating establishment and complete an online review in the first 30 days. New members who do this will earn 5,000 bonus points. Outside of the bonus, Hilton Honors Dining members can earn up to 8 bonus points per $1 spent at participating restaurants, bars, and clubs.

Rakuten Dining: Best App-Based Dining Program

Rakuten Dining requires the Rakuten mobile app to cash in, but it's well worth your phone's storage space. Enter your mobile phone number on the Rakuten website, download the Rakuten app, link a credit card, and enable cash back at participating restaurants to start earning 5% cash back on your dining purchases. Like its retail cash back rewards, Rakuten's dining rewards are paid out with your choice of a check or a PayPal transfer.

Finally, to maximize your dining program earnings, consider linking your dining rewards program account with one of the best credit cards for restaurants.

The best dining rewards credit card is the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card because cardholders earn unlimited 4% cash back on dining, which includes restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges, bakeries and fast-food chains. Plus, the Capital One Savor gives a bonus of $300 for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.

Best Dining Rewards Credit Cards

Before you compare dining rewards credit cards, you'll probably want to check your credit score to see which cards will give you high approval odds. You can check your credit score for free on WalletHub.

Yes, Grubhub does accept PayPal Credit as a valid form of payment, though only for orders placed through the Grubhub mobile app, as opposed to the website. In addition to PayPal Credit, Grubhub takes credit cards, debit cards, eGift cards, digital wallets, and cash.

How to Use PayPal Credit with Grubhub

1. Go to settings in the Grubhub app.
2. Click “Payment,” and select “Add a new payment.”
3. Change the payment method to “PayPal.”
4. Follow the subsequent instructions to link your PayPal account with Grubhub.
5. Check out with PayPal Credit the next time you place an order through Grubhub.

Keep in mind that PayPal and Venmo cannot be used on the Grubhub website – only on the mobile app – and that cash payments only work for restaurants that choose to accept cash.

Yes, Chipotle does take American Express credit cards, along with Visa, Mastercard, and Discover cards. Chipotle Mexican Grill also accepts prepaid cards, debit cards, cash, and Chipotle gift cards as valid payment methods. Finally, Chipotle takes digital wallets, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Just keep in mind that you can't pay for Chipotle using a check or money order. Regardless, you shouldn't have any trouble paying with an Amex credit card at Chipotle.

The payment methods Grubhub accepts are Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit cards, along with debit cards and eGift cards. Grubhub also lists Apple Pay, Android Pay, Venmo, PayPal, and cash as valid payment options. You cannot pay for your food with a check or money order.

Keep in mind that some of these payment options, such as PayPal and Venmo, are only available when you order through the app. If you choose to place an order from the Grubhub website, your payment options may be slightly restricted. Either way, the selection of payment methods is broad enough that you shouldn't have trouble paying for your meal no matter how you order.

Yes, bars do count as restaurants for credit cards most of the time, especially when the bar serves food. If a bar is classified as a restaurant based on its merchant category code (MCC), that bar will always count as part of the credit card's dining rewards category.

If the bar is classified as a “drinking place” instead, the bar will only count as a restaurant if the credit card's dining rewards category includes the MCC for drinking places. Many dining rewards categories do include the MCC for drinking places, but it's never a guarantee.

Popular Credit Cards that Count Bars as Restaurants

The easiest way to find out if a bar counts as a restaurant for your credit card is just to buy something at the bar. You can then check your credit card statement to see if the purchase got the dining category rewards rate or the base rewards rate. 

Alternatively, you can call the bar and ask what their merchant category code is. Then, call the card issuer to ask whether that merchant category code is included in the credit card's dining rewards category.

The Amex Global Dining Collection is a group of the world's top restaurants at which eligible cardholders can get exclusive experiences and special access to reservations. Eligible cardholders are account holders of American Express Platinum card and Centurion® Card from American Express, certain business cards and co-branded cards. The Amex Global Dining concierge can also help eligible cardholders find and book reservations at many restaurants around the world.

Cardholders can check for exclusive Global Dining Collection events online and then use the concierge for reservations by calling the number on the back of their card. After telling the Amex concierge the restaurants you're interested in, they'll get back to you with reservation options.

More info about Amex Global Dining Collection

When you call the concierge for reservations, the agent should inform you of the restaurant's cancellation policy, which you'll be subject to once you confirm the reservation. Since American Express owns the dining app RESY, having a RESY account often makes the process easier.

Keep in mind that you won't know which perks you'll get at a Global Dining Collection restaurant on any given night. You may be offered a free drink, you may be offered a tour, and you may not get anything out of the ordinary. But forum users online who have booked through the Amex Global Dining Collection report many memorable experiences.