stray away from things such as rubber bands as restaurant lighting is not usually conducive to seeing them. .
I don't know what made you think this, but... completely wrong imho.
Crazy man's handcuffs is an amazing walk-around/ table hopping routine. It carries light, requires no resets, and it has many stages that you can add from or cut off depending on the table's reaction. It can be a small visual teaser of a trick, or it can be an entire routine. You can do some of the stages in the spectators hand, you can borrow a ring for various effects. You can even give hints for tips by asking them to take out a bill to be used for various effects. At the end of it all, you can even give two simple rubber bands away as a small souvenir and ask them to have a go at it. Trust me... rubber bands are amazing for the worker. If you don't think so, it might be because they don't fit your style of magic/ character, or because you have not tried them enough in a working situation. But, "the lighting is not good enough" is not a reason for you to stay away from rubber bands.
If you take a look over at the table hopping/ restaurant workers forum at the magic cafe, you will see how many people put CMH into their top 5. More than ten people on the first page recommend rubber band magic.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=102538&forum=5&162
Back to the OPs question.
Don't overflood your routine with card tricks. I would say in a set of 5-10 minutes, if you do 4 effects, only 1 card trick... MAYBE two. People like to end with ACR to wallet because it gets big reactions and signed card can be souvenir to the guests. But, ending with ACR will probably mean you can't open with Chicago Opener( red hot mama), because cards into something else, back to cards, is kind of a killer on the flow of your routine... unless you end with invisible deck or start with invisible deck (since it is fast and you barely use the cards).
So, instead of cards, pick up things like extreme burn 2.0 (anything with money is great). Practice bill switch with a TT (borrowed bills again). Get together a card warp deck (it's cards, but not really - and you can also do card warp with a borrowed bill instead of using 2 cards). SPONGE BUNINES/BALLS are an absolute killer and will make kids and their parents very happy. I personally love to open with a sponge ball routine by producing the first ball from the cap of a sharpie (my 'magic wand').
Coins across if their is table space, if not, to the spectators hand.
Color changing knives
one coin routine to jumbo coin
list goes on forever.
Final summary: A lot of new workers will want to throw in a lot of card material, because that is what they have practice the most and is what they are most comfortable with. It doesn't mean the show will not be good, but it won't be as good as it could be. Take away most of the card material, throw in things that are more visual, and where less concentration from the spectator is needed, and your show will be 100 times better.
Pack a very fast and visual opener, and have an amazing "that is freaking impossible" type effect for your closer.
