Best for dining
Best Dining Credit Cards
Get more from every meal.
Pick a card that fits how you spend—and how you like to earn rewards.
Our no-fee pick
US Bank Altitude Go
4x on dining (first $8,000/yr).
$390/year on the sample profile
Annual fee
$0
Welcome offer
$200 · Spend $1,000 in 3 monthsOther cards worth a look
Highest modeled value
Citi Strata Premier
$447/year on the sample profile · $95 annual fee
View card details →
Best premium dining card
American Express Gold
$294/year on the sample profile · $325 annual fee
View card details →Current offer shown; issuer determines eligibility.
Things to know
Unlike groceries, dining bonuses are usually uncapped, so the highest rate genuinely wins on raw earnings. The real tiebreaker is the fee: we charge every card's full sticker, so a 4x-dining card behind a $325 fee nets less here than a 3x card behind a $95 one. Merchant-locked dining and Uber credits are opt-in upside — count them only if you'd spend there anyway (the calculator lets you say so), not as a discount on the fee.
See the full trade-offOur sample spending
groceries: $150/mo · dining: $600/mo · gas: $80/mo · travel: $80/mo · streaming: $30/mo · everything else: $250/mo · total $1,190/mo
Enter your numbers above and every pick recalculates. Rank every card for this spending in the finder →
See full ranking
Also on the first screen's published criteria, in ranking order:
Which one is right for the kind of person you are —
Other strong options
Same ranking, same spending — the next cards after the picks above.
Best if you also spend heavily on groceries: Citi Strata Premier — still the pick with groceries doubled. ($636/yr net with groceries doubled.)
Best long-term value: Citi Strata Premier ($447/yr ongoing) · Best first-year opportunity: US Bank Altitude Go ($590 first year, $390/yr after year one). A one-time bonus never changes the ongoing ranking.
Show rewards math
- Our no-fee pick — US Bank Altitude Go: The best value among cards with no annual fee.
- For points lovers — Chase Sapphire Preferred: The best value among transferable-points cards.
- For dining + travel — Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠: A bonus rate on this category and on travel, with transfer partners. Best value among those cards.
- Best premium dining card — American Express Gold: Highest earn per restaurant dollar among cards with an annual fee, at our typical point value.
- Highest modeled value — Citi Strata Premier: The highest net value on this spending. Money determines rank. Citi Strata Premier earns an estimated $57 more yearly for this sample profile, but charges a $95 annual fee.
Guide text reviewed August 17, 2026 · figures computed at build from cards verified November 4, 2026 or later · Methodology v2026.09.4 · Ranked by net annual value (rewards minus the full annual fee — credits count only if you use them), not by who pays us.
Points valued at typical value (1.5¢ for transferable points). A different redemption style can change this order — switch yours in the finder and watch it change.
Dining is one of the most rewarded categories — most issuers pay 3x–4x, and the bonus rarely hits a cap.
US Bank Altitude Go — where the monthly rewards come from on the sample profile
| Category | Monthly | Rate | Rewards per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| dining | $600 | 4x | $24 |
| other spending | $250 | 1x | $3 |
| groceries | $150 | 2x | $3 |
| gas | $80 | 2x | $2 |
| travel | $80 | 1x | $1 |
| streaming | $30 | 2x | $1 |
Where the winner changes —
Net value vs monthly dining spend
View this chart as a table
| Monthly dining spend | Citi Strata Premier | US Bank Altitude Go | Chase Sapphire Preferred |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0/mo | $123 | $102 | $65 |
| $100/mo | $177 | $150 | $119 |
| $200/mo | $231 | $198 | $173 |
| $300/mo | $285 | $246 | $227 |
| $400/mo | $339 | $294 | $281 |
| $500/mo | $393 | $342 | $335 |
| $600/mo | $447 | $390 | $389 |
| $700/mo | $501 | $426 | $443 |
| $800/mo | $555 | $438 | $497 |
| $900/mo | $609 | $450 | $551 |
| $1,000/mo | $663 | $462 | $605 |
| $1,100/mo | $717 | $474 | $659 |
| $1,200/mo | $771 | $486 | $713 |
| $1,300/mo | $825 | $498 | $767 |
| $1,400/mo | $879 | $510 | $821 |
| $1,500/mo | $933 | $522 | $875 |
Check bonus requirements
US Bank Altitude Go
Requirement: Spend $1,000 in 3 months
Welcome bonus progress
Your regular spending appears sufficient.
Estimated eligible spending: $1,190 × 3 = $3,570 against the $1,000 requirement.
Spending here means this profile’s spending.
Citi Strata Premier
Welcome offer: 60,000 points≈ $900 at our typical valuation
Requirement: Spend $4,000 in 3 months
Welcome bonus progress
Estimated shortfall $430
Below the $4,000 requirement based on the spending entered. Estimated eligible spending: $1,190 × 3 = $3,570.
Check whether ordinary eligible expenses are missing from your estimate. Don't make unnecessary purchases just to earn a bonus.
Spending here means this profile’s spending.
American Express Gold
Welcome offer: 100,000 points≈ $1,500 at our typical valuation
Requirement: Spend $8,000 in 6 months
Welcome bonus progress
Estimated shortfall $860
Below the $8,000 requirement based on the spending entered. Estimated eligible spending: $1,190 × 6 = $7,140.
Check whether ordinary eligible expenses are missing from your estimate. Don't make unnecessary purchases just to earn a bonus.
Spending here means this profile’s spending.
How we value points
Figures use typical point values — the same values as Find a Card, read from one table, never typed on a page.
- Cash back: 1¢ per point typical · 1¢ cash floor
- Citi ThankYou Points: 1.5¢ per point typical · 1¢ cash floor
- American Express Membership Rewards: 1.5¢ per point typical · 0.6¢ cash floor
More card details
Best dining card on sample spending
Our practical pick· Best first-year opportunity· Best $0 annual fee· Best cash back
The card we'd actually carry at this spending. The ranking below is unchanged.
US Bank Altitude Go
$390/year at $600/month dining spending$0 annual fee
The other card earns only about $57 more annually. We'd favor the no-fee option if you qualify.
Highest mathematical value· Best travel rewards
Higher modeled value, but the small difference may not justify another annual-fee card.
Citi Strata Premier
$447/year at $600/month dining spending$95 annual fee · +$57 estimated net value
- Why it wins:
- Strong dining earning (3x) plus useful groceries and gas categories (3x and 3x).
- Standout benefit:
- 3x dining — no annual cap + 3x groceries + points that transfer to 11 partners
- Annual fee:
- $95
- Trade-off:
- $95 annual fee — already subtracted from every figure here. Beats the best $0-fee alternative (US Bank Altitude Go) once you spend about $220/mo on dining + groceries — you're at $750/mo.
+2 more benefits
- — $100 Hotel Savings (annual)
- — No Foreign Transaction Fees
Listed, not priced: perks never become dollars here, and credits count only if you tell us you use them.
Our take — We'd choose the $0-fee option. Citi Strata Premier earns only ~$57 more per year than US Bank Altitude Go — not enough to take on its fee. Already hold a card? Run your numbers →
Why Citi Strata Premier wins the math
Against US Bank Altitude Go, our practical pick: Your groceries + dining spending earns $152/yr more here — enough to come out $57/yr ahead after the $95 fee.
Advertising disclosure: we may earn a commission if you apply through this link. This does not affect your ranking. Full disclosure
Spend across more than these categories?
Enter every monthly number and we'll re-rank all 67 open consumer cards against exactly how you spend.
Run my full numbersFigures are estimates from our net-value model on a sample dining-weighted profile unless you enter your own, with fees counted category-aware (credits count where you'd realize them). See our methodology page. Rates and fees change — verify on the issuer's site before applying.