William Lipovsky
Credit cards, debit cards, and mobile apps have become the most common forms of payment in restaurants and stores alike.
However, there are still businesses that accept checks. Below, we list the restaurants that still accept personal checks as payment.
Before you browse our list, it’s important to note that payment methods may vary at each restaurant location. Most national and regional restaurants are franchises, meaning they have local owners and can choose not to accept certain forms of payment.
Since checks are relatively risky for the business owner to accept (they may bounce), some franchisees choose not to accept them at all. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to contact the location you plan to visit and ask if it accepts checks.
The List
We spoke with customer service representatives at the following restaurants and found that they do generally accept checks — though again, remember that check acceptance may vary by location.
We order our list by which chains accept checks most widely.
Note that you should also have your government-issued photo ID on hand, as restaurants that accept personal checks generally require identification.
1. Cracker Barrel
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Yes[1]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[2]
- Find a restaurant
2. International House of Pancakes (IHOP)
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Select locations[3]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[3]
- Find a restaurant
3. Chipotle
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Yes, at some locations. Chipotle’s restaurants are corporate-owned rather than franchised, but the restaurant managers set payment acceptance policies.[4]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[5][6]
- Find a restaurant
4. Papa John’s
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Some locations at the discretion of the franchisee; you can use Live Assistance on the Papa John’s website to find out the payment methods at your local restaurant[7]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[8]
- Find a restaurant
5. Pizza Hut
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Some locations at the discretion of management[9]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[10]
- Find a restaurant
6. Domino’s Pizza
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Select locations[11]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[12]
- Find a restaurant
7. Jimmy John’s
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Select locations[13]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[14]
- Find a restaurant
8. Applebee’s
- Accepts checks for dine-in orders? Yes, few locations at the discretion of the franchisee[15]
- Accepts checks for delivery/take-out? No[16]
- Find a restaurant
For other places that take checks, see our lists of gas stations that take checks and stores that take checks.
Restaurants That Don’t Take Checks
In the course of our research, we confirmed that the following restaurants typically don’t take checks.
Note that policies may still vary by location, so it’s always a good idea to contact the location you’re visiting and check its payment policies.
- Arby’s [17]
- Buffalo Wild Wings[18]
- Burger King[19]
- Chili’s [20]
- Culver’s [21]
- Denny’s [22]
- KFC[23]
- LongHorn Steakhouse[24]
- McDonald’s [25][26]
- Olive Garden[27]
- Outback Steakhouse[28]
- Panda Express[29][30]
- Panera Bread[31]
- Red Lobster[32]
- Red Robin[33]
- Subway[34]
- Taco Bell[35]
- Texas Roadhouse[36]
If you’d like to dine at one of these restaurants and don’t have any payment method on hand other than checks, you can write a personal check for cash and cash it.
