Picknic, a restaurant search engine for dietary restrictions, is launching in Nashville during Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 10 to May 16. With data for over 350 restaurants in Nashville, Picknic allows people with critical dietary restrictions such as food allergies and celiac disease to find restaurants and menu items that match their needs.
missing or outdated ad configWhen asked about launching a restaurant app during the COVID-19 pandemic, Picknic founder Beau Bristow said that it hasn’t dampened the team passion for what Picknic is providing, but it has required some changes to the launch plan.
“We added some features like ratings for delivery-friendly and pickup-friendly,” said Bristow. “We are also making the app free for now to support our partners in the restaurant industry during this difficult time.”
Over 35 million Americans, including an estimated 220,000 in Middle Tennessee, have critical dietary restrictions such as food allergies or celiac disease. In these cases, ingestion of specific foods can cause severe, immediate, and possibly life-threatening health effects. As someone with celiac disease, Bristow knows the challenge this presents personally.
“So much good happens around the table with friends or family at a restaurant,” Bristow said. “But you’ll miss it if you’re constantly anxious about whether or not your meal is safe”.
Picknic’s most popular features among beta users include allergy-friendly ratings for restaurants, details about a restaurant’s food preparation process, and tips for eating there. Picknic also allows users to search by their dietary restrictions (e.g. gluten-free, peanut-free, etc.) to see the menu items that match their needs.
Restaurants work with Picknic to build their dietary restriction menu, improve their process for serving guests with dietary restrictions, and even get certified as allergy-friendly. According to Ryan Dean, Operations Director for Chattanooga’s Bantam + Biddy restaurant, “having our dietary restriction menu in Picknic’s format has been very helpful to our operations and our guests.”
To learn more about Picknic, visit https://picknic.app. For more information about Food Allergy Awareness Week visit https://www.foodallergy.org/take-action/food-allergy-awareness-week
Picknic provides restaurant ratings, food preparation details, ordering tips, and menu information for the top 8 food allergies, gluten, and more. Though tailored for people with critical dietary restrictions such as food allergies and celiac disease, Picknic also serves those with vegetarian or vegan diets.