Legal Question in Consumer Law in Illinois

Re: Limit for using a credit card at a restuarant

Sure. They do not have to take credit cards at all. It might violate their merchant agreement with Visa/MC/Amex/etc. and it might not be good for business relations, but there is nothing illegal about it. Most merchants have to pay a minimum fee per transaction in addition to a percentage of the amount charged, so it's not really fair to the restaurant to have to cover that transaction fee because people do not want to carry a little bit of cash.