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85 American restaurants in San Diego, CA that earn more on your cards

San Diego, CA has 85 American restaurants in our listings: 82 take a dining program and 3 have a card perk. Most common price: $$ (moderate). Top neighborhoods: San Diego (16), North Park (7), and Pacific Beach (7).

85 restaurants

  • KnB Bistro

    up to14%

    Wine bar · $$$ · Del Cerro

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xUpside8%+10 more

  • bar Ella Pacific Beach

    up to13%

    American · $$ · Pacific Beach

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xUpside7%+10 more

  • Barrel Riot

    up to12%

    American · San Diego

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Upside6%

  • Barrio Burger

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Central San Diego

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Bobby's Pizza

    up to12%

    American · $$ · East Village

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Bowlegged BBQ

    up to12%

    Barbecue · $$$$ · Mt Hope

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Communion Mission Hills

    up to12%

    American · $$$$ · Midtown

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Denny's

    up to12%

    American · $$ · North Park

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Denny's

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Kearny Mesa

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Evan's Deli and Brew

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Point Loma Heights

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Kitchen 46

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Midway District

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Original 40 Brewing Company

    up to12%

    Brew Pub/Brewery · $$$ · North Park

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Rosemary & Thyme Cafe

    up to12%

    Breakfast · $$ · Hillcrest

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Tacos Tortas & More

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Ocean Beach

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • The Duke Cocktails & Grub

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Grantville

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Vanman’s - San Diego

    up to12%

    American · $ · Pacific Beach

    American Express Gold Card + Upside

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+10 more

  • Bahia Mexican Food & PB Juice Bar

    up to12%

    Mexican · $$ · Pacific Beach

    American Express Gold Card + Rakuten Dining

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+9 more

  • Barrel Riot

    up to12%

    American · $$ · Rancho Bernardo

    American Express Gold Card + Rakuten Dining

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+9 more

  • Boards N' Beans

    up to12%

    Coffee/Tea · $$ · Pacific Beach

    American Express Gold Card + Rakuten Dining

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+9 more

  • Brazil By The Bay

    up to12%

    Brazilian · $$$ · San Diego

    American Express Gold Card + Rakuten Dining

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+8 more

  • Brew Wave Coffee

    up to12%

    Coffee/Tea · $$ · Ocean Beach

    American Express Gold Card + Rakuten Dining

    Hilton Honors Dining8xIHG Dine & Earn8xEat Around Town6x+8 more
Restaurants
85
Neighborhoods
36
Cuisines
34
Dining programs
14
With a card perk
3

The 3 best cards to bring to dinner in San Diego

Ranked by what each card earns across this city's restaurants at our point valuations, counting the dining program that pays most at each one. Card credits aren't counted. AAdvantage Dining (70 restaurants) and Eat Around Town (70) are the most widespread dining programs here, out of 85 restaurants. American Express Gold Card tops the list here on its own dining rate — ≈$6.00 on a $100 dinner before any program.

All the best cards for dining

14 dining programs that pay in San Diego

Dining programs pay on top of your card. Join one, link a card, and every meal at a participating restaurant earns twice.

33 cuisines in San Diego

American in 36 San Diego neighborhoods

447 more cities and towns in California

Some restaurant addresses, phone numbers, websites and cuisines come from Overture Maps Foundation open data (Meta and Microsoft, CDLA Permissive 2.0; Foursquare, Apache 2.0; AllThePlaces, CC0 1.0). Overture attribution Some neighbourhoods come from Who's On First boundaries (CC-BY 4.0). Who's On First licenses Some opening hours, phone numbers, websites and cuisines are © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0). OpenStreetMap copyright

Editorial disclosure: CardRewards.ai is an independent comparison service. Card data comes from issuers' published terms; catalog last published October 12, 2026, and each card page shows when its terms were last checked. Card issuers do not influence our rankings or content.