About AllergyFind
Helping restaurants provide allergen answers their guests can trust.
It started with grilled chicken tenders
My wife has a dairy allergy. Every time we ate out, the same frustrating routine played out: Google the restaurant, hunt for allergen info on their website, decipher a confusing PDF, then wait for the staff to confer for a correct answer. Most nights ended with her ordering grilled chicken tenders — the only thing she felt confident about.
I spent nearly ten years working in restaurants before moving into engineering at a tech consulting firm. When I was laid off in March 2025, I had time to solve a problem I'd seen from both sides — as someone who served guests with allergies and as someone who dines with one.
The first version
I built an automated tool that could search for restaurant allergen menus, parse PDFs, and instantly filter to show only safe items. It worked for us — she could finally go from "where should we eat?" to "here's what I can order" in seconds instead of 20 minutes. But I realized two things: many restaurants don't publish allergen info, and an automated search tool wasn't going to help.
Why restaurants use AllergyFind
Most restaurants don't have a single, accessible place for allergen information. It might live in a binder, a PDF, or the head chef's memory — but it's not easy for guests or staff to access in the moment. AllergyFind gives every restaurant one page where guests and staff see the same verified allergen info — plus the official PDF for documentation.
About me
Michael Martin
After nearly a decade in restaurants and several years as an engineer building AI systems, I'm focused on one thing: helping restaurants give guests like my wife the confidence to order more than chicken tenders.
What we value
- Accuracy first — every item verified with the kitchen.
- Operational fit — works for FOH, BOH, and guests.
- Transparency — PDF provided alongside the interactive view.