With the thousands and thousands of individuals suffering with food allergies, it can be hard to navigate menus or even find a restaurant where you can safely eat. I remember when I first learned that I had to avoid wheat, dairy and eggs. I was convinced I would never eat out again and avoided dinner parties with friends and family, not knowing what I would be able to eat. Many years have passed since that diagnosis and I have learned how to navigate foods to ensure I eat yummy, wholesome foods without feeling like I’m missing out.
It did take time, and I love passing along any new findings regarding resources and products to help others with allergies, which is why I had to share a new website called Allergy Eats. This user-friendly guide has been created to help you find restaurants across the U.S. with over 600,000 listings in their database. Searching is quick and easy: start by selecting your allergies/intolerances, such as peanuts, dairy, wheat, gluten, eggs, soy, tree nuts, fish, sesame, and shellfish. Next, choose your location and select “find a restaurant”.
The list provided will outline all the restaurants that fit within your criteria, along with addresses and distances from your current location. There are fields for users to rate the overall “allergy friendliness” of the restaurant, as well as an overall rating, should they choose. Because the site is relatively new, I found that most restaurants have not yet been rated, which will hopefully come over time as more people start using the site.
I absolutely LOVE the concept of this site, but definitely feel that key features are missing, like a review of the restaurants themselves. Currently, any information posted is comments users have left about their experience, but I want to see what the restaurant has to offer, what makes them allergy friendly for my needs and menus that I can review myself.
It is a good start for all of us allergy sufferers to find places to eat. Until more information becomes available, use this starting point to find menus online or call the restaurants to get additional details.