May, 2010 – AllergyEats, the fast-growing source for finding allergy-friendly restaurants, has made several improvements to its site, including the addition of 57,000 more establishments to its database, bringing the number of restaurants available for rating by diners to well over 600,000.

The additions come as the AllergyEats website, http://www.allergyeats.com/, celebrates a mere three months in existence. In that short time, the website has garnered over 8,000 unique visitors and 50,000 page views.

“We are very excited about the high level of acceptance the site has earned in just 90 days and are pleased that the food allergy community is using the site to help make more informed dining choices,” said Paul Antico, founder of AllergyEats.

While the extensive and growing database is the foundation of AllergyEats, the real value comes from the ratings and comments that diners make. They represent real experiences from real people and help the food allergy community as a whole make important decisions when deciding to dine out.

“Geographic pockets of strength are beginning to emerge, the most impressive example being Boston,” Antico said. “The metro Boston area alone already has roughly 150 restaurants rated and over 200 ratings.  We fully expect this kind of viral growth to appear in other markets over time, and in fact it has begun to do so in various regions already.”

Antico said the database of restaurants will now be updated much more frequently to keep up with the fast-changing nature of the industry.

Other improvements to the site include:

• AllergyEats search results now include chain-level ratings for those restaurants that are part of a regional or national chain. In addition, allergy-specific ratings have also begun to appear, though they are limited in number at the moment until enough individuals with a specific allergy rate the same restaurant.
• 150 chains now have menus, allergen lists, gluten-free menus, nutrition info, and other publically available information included with their listings.
• AllergyEats search results now include links to the websites of virtually every restaurant that has one. Therefore, even without a rating, each listing includes much information of use before going to a restaurant – the web address, phone number and address of most, plus menus and other information for many.
• While AllergyEats already denotes those restaurants certified as gluten-friendly under the GFRAP program from the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), and those participating in GIG’s Chef-to-Plate Program, more certifications can be expected soon.

AllergyEats combines the best of Internet technology with peer-to-peer information to help people know in advance how well (or poorly) a restaurant responds to people with food allergies and other food intolerances, such as Celiac Disease.

The website is searchable by geographic location, provides maps and driving directions, lists phone numbers and includes menus, industry certifications and other information of interest to food allergy sufferers when available. 

Users are encouraged to help the rest of the food allergy community by answering three simple questions (takes less than a minute) about their dining experience. The answers are compiled into an objective “allergy-friendliness rating” that gives users instantaneous at-a-glance information about the “allergy friendliness” of specific restaurants.

There is also a place on the site for written comments, which will be monitored to ensure they contain only food-allergy related opinions.

Among the groups endorsing AllergyEats are the Gluten Intolerance Group, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.

For more information and to rate some restaurants, visit www.allergyeats.com