Which airline program(s) are you signed up with? Just about every single participant is in the midst of a promo right now, and you can be a member of all of them at the same time (if you have enough credit cards!).

It takes 12 dines to make "elite" dining status for maximum benefit (10 miles per dollar, with a few [rare] 20 milers out there), so having tiny tabs all over town might make sense, but save your receipts! Check your online account(s) regularly starting 3-4 (calendar, not business) days after your restaurant visit. If you don't see the meal within a week as posted, you need to call Rewards Network; they'll likely require you to mail/fax the receipts to them in Miami to credit your account by hand (appearing on your account as Manual Tickets).

Restaurants come and go fast - I strongly urge you to double check the participant list as close to your departure as possible. Also, on rare (although sadly it does happen) occasion, a joint will patipate with certain airlines, but not others; if you are signed up with multiple plans, you cannot "assume" the listings are completely identical.

Good luck and welcome!