Keep out theft and robbery. With credit card transactions the owners will be less worried about the cashiers or managers pocketing some of the money. Also with bartenders too. And when you have no money at the site, no one will try to rob you. It also makes IRS audit easier when you don't have cash income.

Maybe a true guy with a push card, but if you extend "street vendor" to food truck, they all have the card swipe cubes on their cell phones.

That is the small family restaurant owner's dilemma: getting rob by robbers or the local government.

I'm talking globally. Yes, newly hip food trucks in US cities take credit cards; it's part of their calculated appeal to the 21st century young, urban, professional market. But traditional street vendors in many other parts of the world are routinely cash-only.

Same.

One night's dinner won't surely be a massive spend to put towards your cc bonus?

I haven’t been to Peter Luger for a few years but I’ve been going there on and off since the mid-90s and it was always cash or their own credit card. It isn’t like a Peter Luger branded Visa or Master Card credit card from what I can tell (I always just paid cash) but rather a store card like Department stores used to have before MC and Visa took over.

It is very hard to view a semi-decent restaurant that is "cash only" as anything other than a tax-dodge. Surely such businesses will attract more than their share of thorough audits from the Revenue?

Interestingly; many of the more trendy craft beer bars in Scandinavia (where I spend more time than is good for me!) are now "cards only" and refuse to handle cash at all.

This is definitely the beginning of an unfortunate trend. I'm starting to see it occasionally, but more often in hotels, airports, etc. than restaurants.

That's funny. You appear to be on a forum where people fly. Presumably you have recently been on a plane? Possibly operated by a US carrier where you can pay money for little food items? Ever notice what they take, or do not take, as means of payment?

It isn't a credit card, per se. Just their own card. But they have the ability to give you credit, as in the T&C it says they charge 1.5% per month for unpaid bills.

Of course. That doesn't make it any easier to believe that a business would turn down legal tender and only take an electronic representation of that legal tender, with a promise from a bank to be reimbursed a day or so later. I'll accept cold, hard cash any time. :)

Your money is LITERALLY no good here!

One of the reasons I questioned the legality is there are a lot of people who don't have credit cards (or bank accounts), particularly those under 18 years old. Can you imagine if fast food and pizza places stopped selling to teenagers?

To your point, if a teenager, with cash, flying alone on a plane can't buy a snack, is that discrimination? He offered to pay for it with legal tender. I'm sure it's legal, but it wouldn't surprise me if this causes some disputes if we keep moving toward a cashless society.

And by the way, business practices are challenged in court all the time. Just because airlines do something doesn't mean it's legal (although I'm sure it is in that case).

Two of my favorite local icons are cash only.

In Pittsburgh, you really don't want to pass up breakfast at Pamela's. The hotcakes are a life-changing experience. Cash only. So what? It's the best breakfast in town, so do it. If I had to pay in pennies for a Pam's hotcake, I'd do it.

And here in DC, you're gonna have to pay cash for that Chili Half Smoke at Ben's Chili Bowl. But you gotta do what you gotta do. With mustard and onions, please.

Local and regional favorites count for more than a few points or miles on your credit card. There's plenty of other opportunities to get your rewards points without missing out on great local stuff.

Haha, you can say that again. But it means most people accept it

It is not just teens, what about foreigners without credit cards? In many countries there are actually requirements to get cards, not like in the US where your dog can sign up. Is that the same as saying you have to speak English to order?

UK banks issue debit cards to kids from 11 years old.

I appreciate that my two teens are not representative of society as a whole, but they regard cash as rather quaint and old-fashioned, and both prefer to live in a 100% digital World.

It's very common in Canada for young children to have debit cards. If they're old enough to pay at a restaurant, they probably have a card. Even Monopoly now has an electronic banking version since playing with paper money seems so last century!