Franki Dining App Review: How Franki Rewards Work (2026)
NCnextcard team
Advertiser Disclosure: nextcard may receive compensation from card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain. For the most up-to-date terms & conditions, refer to the official credit card application on the issuer's website.
Rakuten Dining lets you earn 5% cash back at participating restaurants simply by linking your credit card and paying for your meal. Better yet, these rewards can stack with your credit card's normal dining rewards.
The catch? Finding participating restaurants is a bit annoying because you have to use the mobile app and there’s a lot of random location gates applied.
That's where nextcard's MealMaxxer map comes in, helping you find Rakuten Dining restaurants, compare rewards, and maximize your return on every meal.
TL;DR
Rakuten Dining offers 5% cash back at participating restaurants when you pay with a linked card.
You can earn credit card rewards on top of Rakuten Dining’s 5% bonus
Rakuten rewards can earned as Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt Points.
MealMaxxer helps you find participating restaurants and identify additional rewards that can stack.
Rakuten Dining doesn't stack with Bilt Neighborhood Dining or airline dining programs on the same enrolled card
Rakuten Dining is a free rewards program that lets members earn cash back automatically when dining at participating restaurants.
Unlike Rakuten's online shopping portal, you don't need to activate an offer before each visit. Once your eligible credit card is linked, qualifying purchases earn rewards automatically.
Getting started takes just a few minutes:
Create or sign in to your Rakuten account.
Navigate to your linked payment cards.
Add an eligible credit card for In-Store and Dining rewards.
Open the Rakuten app and find participating restaurants.
Pay with your linked card when dining.
You can also register multiple cards.
Once your card is connected, visit a participating restaurant and pay as you normally would.
Imagine spending $100 at a Rakuten Dining restaurant using a credit card earning 3% back on dining.
You receive both rewards without needing to change how you pay, getting you 8% total.
Rewards generally appear in your Rakuten account within three to five days, although payouts follow Rakuten's quarterly schedule.
Although Rakuten primarily advertises the earning as 5% cash back, you can actually elect to earn your rewards as American Express Membership Rewards points or Bilt Points.
How much you earn may depend on your Bilt status:
Payout method | Rewards earned |
|---|---|
Rakuten Cash Back | $5 |
Amex Membership Rewards | 500 points |
Bilt Points (Blue status) | 250 points |
Bilt Points (Silver or higher) | 500 points |
With Amex Membership Rewards, Rakuten converts $1 in cash back into 100 points. Therefore, earning 5% through Rakuten Dining effectively produces 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar. If you value those points at 1.55 cents each, a $100 meal would generate an estimated $7.50 in redemption value instead of $5 cash back.
Rakuten has more than 23,000 participating restaurant locations nationwide, but finding the participating restaurants is pretty annoying. You can’t search on a computer; you have to get the app. Then, the app has many location gates involved, making it hard to view restaurants freely.
That's why we recommend using nextcard's MealMaxxer.
MealMaxxer is a restaurant rewards discovery tool that combines data from over 13 dining rewards and payment programs, covering more than 100,000 U.S. restaurant locations.
Here's how to use MealMaxxer:
Open MealMaxxer.
Enter your city or search your surrounding area.
Filter restaurants by Rakuten Dining.
Select a restaurant to view available rewards programs.
Check which offers can stack and how much you could earn.
You can also use nextcard's dedicated Rakuten Dining restaurant map if you're specifically looking for Rakuten locations.
What makes MealMaxxer particularly useful is its Sample Stack feature, which helps you find the best dining deals. For example, let's compare two San Francisco restaurants, Cheung Hing and 54 Mint, using Rakuten Dining stacks based on MealMaxxer's sample offers.
Rewards | Cheung Hing | 54 Mint |
|---|---|---|
Rakuten Dining | 5% cash back | 5% cash back |
DoorDash In-Store Rewards | $9 credits on $31+ | N/A |
Example Credit card | Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | American Express® Gold Card |
Credit card rewards | 3x Chase points | 4x Amex points |
Rewards on a $100 meal | $14 in cash back/credits + 300 Chase points | $5 cash back + 400 Amex points |
At Cheung Hing, a $100 meal could earn $5 through Rakuten Dining, $9 in DoorDash credits, and 300 Chase Ultimate Rewards points using the Sapphire Preferred (about 20% back).
At 54 Mint, that same $100 meal could earn $5 through Rakuten Dining and 400 Membership Rewards points using the American Express Gold Card (about 11% back).
Cheung Hing offers the stronger potential stack in this example because of its additional DoorDash In-Store Rewards promotion.
That's where MealMaxxer comes in. Instead of assuming Rakuten's 5% is always the best option, MealMaxxer helps you compare eligible rewards combinations and determine which payment method offers the highest potential return.
You can read more about the platform and all the things you can do with it in our MealMaxxer update guide.
One of the best things about Rakuten Dining is that its rewards can potentially stack with other dining rewards programs, allowing you to earn significantly more on a single meal.
Franki is a dining rewards app that offers cash back at participating restaurants. You activate an offer before dining, pay with your connected card, and earn rewards on eligible purchases.
Combining 5% from Rakuten, a 5% Franki offer, and 3% credit card rewards could produce a 13% total return, assuming all three rewards qualify.
DoorDash In-Store Rewards lets eligible DashPass members earn DoorDash credits when dining at participating restaurants. Unlike traditional DoorDash delivery orders, these offers require you to dine in and pay directly at the restaurant with a linked card.
The cool thing is that these rewards are quite lucrative.
Rather than searching through these programs individually, nextcard's MealMaxxer helps you identify restaurants participating in multiple dining rewards programs and compare eligible combinations.
Even when two programs don't stack, MealMaxxer helps you determine which rewards strategy offers the greatest potential value before your next meal.
Rakuten Dining is relatively easy to use, but several restrictions can prevent rewards from tracking.
Linked cards: You must pay with an eligible card registered with Rakuten Dining. Using an unlinked card may prevent rewards from appearing.
Competing dining programs: Registering your card with another Rewards Network program like Bilt Neighborhood Dining can override its Rakuten enrollment.
Restaurant changes: Participating locations and eligible promotions can change. Always verify the offer before visiting.
Delayed rewards: Rakuten Dining rewards generally appear within three to five days, but payments are distributed quarterly rather than immediately.
If your rewards don't appear, check the restaurant's eligibility and linked card status.
You can browse participating restaurants through nextcard's MealMaxxer to locate eligible restaurants and compare additional dining rewards. You can double check if the restaurant is on Rakuten by going on Rakuten’s app.
Yup! Just check to make sure the restaurant is part of Rakuten Dining.
Yes. Eligible Rakuten members can choose Membership Rewards as their payout method. A standard 5% dining offer effectively earns 5 Membership Rewards points per eligible dollar.
Generally, no. Both programs use overlapping card-linked rewards infrastructure, meaning you typically cannot earn both sets of dining rewards on the same enrolled card transaction. You can, however, choose to receive eligible Rakuten earnings as Bilt Points.
Yes. Rakuten Dining is free to join and doesn't require a subscription. You simply link an eligible credit card, find a participating restaurant, and make a qualifying purchase.
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Advertiser Disclosure: nextcard may receive compensation from card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain. For the most up-to-date terms & conditions, refer to the official credit card application on the issuer's website.
