Does Subway, Starbucks, Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Chick-fil-A etc.. Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

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Fast Food Joints That Accept $50 and $100 Bills: Explored

One of our writers recently tried to pay with a $100 bill at McDonald’s but was turned down because they didn’t have enough change in the cash register.

Annoying, but luckily there were obviously many other ways to pay so it didn’t cause too much of a problem in the end.

Phew!

But with that in mind, we decided to do a survey of the top 10 fast food joints in the US to see what their policy is on accepting $50 or $100 bills.

Given most of these companies are franchises, and may have different policies, we contacted 3 branches of each of the top 10 fast-food restaurants to ask this question so we could get an accurate answer for our readers.

Here’s the results….

(Given Mcdonald’s is a lot bigger than the others we did a separate article for them. See here Does McDonald’s Accept $50 bills?)

Does Subway Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

We contacted 3 Subways across 3 different states and got a uniform answer from all of them.

All Subway branches told us that they do accept $50 and $100 bills subject to having the right change in the register.

They did advise us that if we did encounter any problems we could use Apple Pay, debit/credit card, or smaller amounts of cash.

Does Starbucks Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

We again contacted 3 Starbucks across 3 different US states to get the answer to our question.

Two of them gave a flat-out answer that they do but one said they do subject to having the correct change.

They told us that they accept Google Pay, Apple Pay, debit/credit card or smaller amounts of cash.

Does Burger King Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

Out of the 3 Burger Kings, we contacted (in 3 different states again), all of them confirmed that they do accept $50 and $100 bills.

We asked whether they always do and whether they always have change?

They said that they generally do.

We suspect that the people we spoke to hadn’t encountered a situation where they didn’t have the correct change, so bear in mind that we cannot guarantee you’ll never encounter a problem with this issue.

Does Taco Bell Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

Out of the 3 Taco Bells, we asked across the 3 states, all of them said that they do accept $50 and $100 bills subject to having enough change in the cash register.

They told us that they usually do have enough change and there are many other ways to pay if not, including:

Smaller notes
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Credit or Debit Card
Gift Voucher

Related Article: Does Taco Bell Accept PayPal?

Does KFC Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

We spoke to 3 KFC branches in 3 states and all of them said they accepted $50 and $100 bills subject to having enough change in the cash register.

They told us that the other ways to pay include Apple Pay, Google Pay, cash in smaller sums, and credit/debit cards.

Does Chick-fil-A Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

Out of the Chick-fil-A branches we spoke to all of them confirmed that they accept $50 and $100 bills.

They told us that if there isn’t enough change in the cash register then we might be asked to pay with another method but this rarely happens.

They told us we could pay with:

Apple Pay
Google Pay
Cash (in smaller amounts)
Debit/Credit Card

Does Wendy’s Accept $50 and $100 Bills

Wendy’s does accept $50 and $100 bills.

From the stores that we contacted, all of them said that they do and that it would be rare for them to not have sufficient change should someone want to pay with a $50 or $100 bill.

They confirmed they accept them in-store and at the drive-thru.

Does Pizza Hut Accept $50 and $100 Bills

We can confirm that all of the Pizza Huts we contacted confirmed they accept $50 and $100 bills.

However, one of the stores said that their drivers don’t accept $100 bills if your pizza is delivered.

They didn’t say why but we suspect it’s because $100 bills are often counterfeited more than other bills.

Do Stores and Restaurants Have to Accept $50 and $100 Bills?

Whilst federal law dictates that $50 and $100 bills are legal tenders, that doesn’t mean that all stores or restaurants have to accept them.

The answer is that stores and restaurants don’t have to accept your $50 and $100 bills and are free to make their own policy on this issue.

If a store or restaurant declines your $50 or $100 bill then there’s not much you can do about it and you will be left to use a smaller note or other means of paying.

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What to Do if a Store Rejects Your $50 or $100 Bill?

You have several options if a restaurant or store rejects your $50 or $100 bill.

You can:

Pay by credit card
Pay by debit card
Use Google Pay (if supported)
Use Apple Pay (if supported)
Use Samsung Pay (if supported)
Use cash in smaller sum

Do Any Fast Food Joints Accept Personal Checks?

We have made inquiries with most of the major fast-food restaurants and the answer is that they don’t generally take checks.

If you have had a different experience, please leave a comment in the comments section below so we can update this post.

Final Thoughts

It seems that most of the major fast-food restaurants do accept $50 and $100 bills from the research we have done.

As above, most of these restaurants are franchises meaning that they often have their own policies on such matters.

This could mean that some restaurants do in fact reject $50 and $100 bills outright.

The ones we checked with didn’t say this, however.

If you’ve encountered any issues with paying any of the above (or any others) with $50 or $100 bills then we’d love to hear from you in the comments section so we can update our article.

Does Subway, Starbucks, Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Chick-fil-A etc.. Accept $50 and $100 Bills?