My girlfriend, Maria, is a coeliac. We hated having to spend hours on website search engines looking for places to eat before we went out for an evening. Even worse was popping into a restaurant and spending 20 minutes explaining to one or more waiters our ‘special’ food requirements only to discover they don’t cater for coeliacs or don’t understand what we’re saying.
Over the years we’ve tried all the solutions available and found them to be a combination of not practical to carry around, too expensive or simply not good enough for our needs. We decided to do something about it!
We created the GLUTOWN Project. Our vision is simple.
– To build the largest gluten free restaurant and groceries database in the world; We want to bring to an end the fragmented and uncoordinated way information about where to eat and what to eat is currently being organised. There is a need for a single source and we want to make it happen.
– To remove the word ‘disease’ from anything to do with coeliacs; …..Have you ever seen a waiter take a step back when you tell them you have the coeliac “disease”? …….no it’s not contagious! My girlfriend is intolerant to gluten just like some people are intolerant to chocolate, milk, grass, pollen, perfume etc. Has anyone ever had the “hay fever disease”?
– To build an iPhone App and make it free to download & use. No we’re not crazy. If you want to know how we fund our project read the how comes it’s free? post.
We have called the App GLUTOWN and in just a few short months managed to put together a global network of contributors and researchers. We have a huge database of over 20,000+ restaurants that advertise gluten free food on their menu. Our database is growing at a rapid rate as users, restaurants and website owners send in their suggestions.
Our database currently covers the USA, UK, Italy and Australia and fast food outlets worldwide. We are talking to database owners all over the world so our database will only get bigger.
Yes, iPhone Apps already exist that have some of the functionality we want. None do all and we didn’t like having to install 5 Apps to do what can be done with just one well designed App. We asked one of the UK’s leading iPhone App developers CyberNexus to create an iPhone App that has more features & functions than any existing coeliac App. CyberNexus delivered! In a few months CyberNexus will build us an Android & Blackberry version too.
Using GLUTOWN there are various ways in which you can find the perfect eatery:
Nearest to you – So you’re out shopping and hunger sets in. What do you do? Open the GLUTOWN app! GLUTOWN immediately presents you with a list of restaurants closest to your current location. The default is up to 3 miles but can change the setting anywhere between 1 to 9 miles. You can even change the UOM from miles to kilometres.
By Post Code, town or name – Are you going to the theater or staying in a hotel for the weekend? Use GluTown to search for whats available up to 100 miles from you current location. Just enter the post/zip code of where you will be and GLUTOWN will display all the eateries nearest the where you will be.
Restaurant Selection – Did GLUTOWN list a restaurant that you have not visited before? – No problem. GLUTOWN will display reviews from customers who have!
Have a look on the iTunes Store. No other celiac App or website offers what we do as a single source. GLUTOWN is like having SEVEN Apps in ONE!
List of Features:
– Automatically list restaurants nearest to your exact location.
– Find restaurants by zip/post code, town or name.
– See restaurant reviews & ratings.
– Dining/Restaurant cards translated in nearly 64 languages.
– Easy access to nearly 4,000 gluten free food & drink recipes.
– SOS/Emergency cards translated in nearly 64 languages.
– Easy access to coeliac medical reference websites.
GLUTOWN is simple, quick, easy to use and free. Maria and I hope you find it useful.
PS: If you like GLUTOWN please make sure you take the time to rate it on the iTunes Store. If there is something about the App you would like us to improve just email me on [email protected]. I’ll review your comments and take the appropriate action.