Gluten Dude: GF Restaurants

This app is a life saver. We’ve never had a bad experience with any restaurant we’ve found in this app and that speaks volumes to the vetting behind every listing. Part crowd sourced as you can submit a restaurant, mostly creator vetted makes for a more realistic list of gf options. This app is my absolute go to when traveling, I don’t have to worry about being able to find safe food in an unfamiliar area. Usually we end up find amazing restaurants we visit multiple times because they are just that good. The user reviews in the app are more helpful than the typical “I didn’t get sick” seen in other gf finder sites. Getting multiple confirmations that the staff takes gf seriously and the precautions they have at a particular restaurant makes me feel better about trying a new place. With the latest update, chain restaurants have been added in. While we try to avoid chains, this is still incredibly helpful when in an area with little to no gf options. We have come to learn about a couple of chain restaurants we would have never guessed would be gf friendly and it’s nice to have them as an option if we are stuck without other options.

This app is developed by an actual Celiac who cares about his community. Not only did he see a need and creatively fulfill it, but he is actively participates by asking for feedback, being available for questions, offering info on his FB page, and personally vetting restaurants. I love the vetting notes feature that tells you the restaurant’s practices. Gives me extra peace of mind and saves me from embarrassingly over explaining and grilling the waitstaff (even though in most cases they don’t mind and are happy to help). Other apps allow anyone with a wide variety of gluten intolerance and knowledge post whatever they want and the info may or may not be reliable or work for celiac. With GD, users post a suggestion and it is t posted until it’s been reviewed and/or vetted. On a recent road trip the map view was a life saver. I was able to pull it up and see what places where coming down the road and how long until the next safe place to eat. Gluten Dude also helped me find a great spot to eat near a hotel where we wanted to stop for the night. I couldn’t have pulled off my first road trip post diagnosis without this app! Finally- loving the feature that labels/organizes establishments as totally gluten free, recommended, etc. Seriously- try it out!!!

The Gluten Dude app and staff have proven very helpful for us both at home and when traveling. Two of us have celiac and it’s important for us to find safe places to eat. I’ll give a bit of detail to show the level of care in GD’s vetting process - we went to Manhattan in December and the app not only broke down restaurants by location (vs all locations in one listing), but even explained why one location is better than another for gluten free. I consumed gluten for the first 47 years of my life, so some GF foods are harder to accept, but based on the app recommendations, and answers to the questions I submitted, I had probably the best lasagna of my life. I still think about it. It was that good. I can’t wait to go back and have it again! Sensa Gluten, I don’t recall which of their three locations, but it was the location recommended by the app for a sensational meal. Aside from that dinner, the app was extremely useful and helpful for finding things not only the gluten free family members could enjoy, but for everyone to enjoy!