Yes – you can get paid to go out to eat.

Top banks offer boosted rewards – cash back, points or miles – for using certain credit cards to pay for take-out and restaurants. With the average American spending $2,841 a year on eating out, according to CNET, there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage.

Those rewards can build over time, leading to hundreds of dollars in cash back each year, or points or miles that cardholders can redeem for travel.

Narrowing down the choices to one card that best fits your spending habits can be tricky.

The Independent analyzed six credit cards from well-known issuers, then chose the top four for dining rewards and ease of use.

Bonus bites

There is a wide range of rewards credit cards that offer points or cash back for dining. Every major bank offers one, including Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

An easy way to narrow down which card is the best fit is to look at annual fees. Some cards don’t have one, while others can charge as little as $95 or as much as $795.

The top cards with dining rewards and no annual fee are:

Each card offers 3 percent cash back or three points for every dollar spent on dining purchases.

So if dinner costs $100, each card will add $3 or 300 points to its reward balance. Cardholders can check their reward balance by logging into the banking app or online account.

The next step in finding the right card is to look at sign-up bonuses. These are typically a dollar or points amount that a cardholder earns if they spend a certain amount of money in the first months of owning the card.

For example, the Chase Freedom Unlimited awards $200 in cash back if the cardholder spends at least $500 in the first three months of owning the card.

Simplicity is key. The easier it is to use a card, the more likely you’ll earn rewards. For that reason, the Chase Freedom Unlimited and Capital One Savor are excellent choices.

Each card offers an easy-to-understand rewards system, provides a $200 bonus for $500 spending in the first three months. Neither card has an annual fee.

Designated dining

Rewards credit cards only earn points when you use them to pay for dining purchases, in person or online. In general, most restaurants and fast-food locations will count as restaurant – but read the fine print for exceptions.

For example, the Capitol One Savor card doesn’t earn points at bakeries, caterers or on meal-kit delivery services.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited won’t earn dining rewards for purchases inside businesses like sports stadiums, hotels, casinos and theme parks.

If a purchase doesn’t qualify for rewards specific to fast food locations or restaurants, it will likely still earn the base rewards rate for most cards – 1 cent or 1 point per dollar.

Reap the rewards

Redeeming dining rewards is relatively easy. Cards that earn cash back typically have a running rewards balance that customers can view through the issuer’s app or via a web browser. Options include applying cash rewards to the card’s balance, sending them to a connected checking account or using them to pay for recent card purchases.

Cards that only provide points instead of cash are slightly more complicated at redemption. In many cases, issuers let cardholders redeem their points for cash, apply them to purchases made through an issuer-sponsored online shopping portal or, in some cases, convert them to travel points to book flights or hotels.

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