AllergyEats, the Most Comprehensive Source for Finding Allergy-Friendly Restaurants, Celebrates Two Year Anniversary & Significant Milestones

 Free Resource Improves the Way Food-Allergic & Gluten-Intolerant Diners Eat Out 

BOSTON, MA (February 27, 2012) – AllergyEats (www.allergyeats.com), the biggest and fastest growing source for finding allergy-friendly restaurants, is celebrating its second anniversary and an assortment of significant milestones.

In the past year, AllergyEats has:

• Launched its free AllergyEats app (available for iPhone and Android smartphones and tablets), which provides access to the same important information that’s featured on the core site – including peer-based allergy-friendliness restaurant ratings, diner feedback, menus and other information – while on-the-go.
• Launched the AllergyEats Disney World microsite (www.allergyeats.com/disney), which focuses on the allergy-friendliness of restaurants in and around the popular theme parks and greater Orlando area. This site was just introduced in December, and in only two months, users have already rated an impressive 47% of in-park restaurants.
• Grown the site substantially, with hundreds of thousands of users accessing AllergyEats in the past 12 months.
• Doubled the number of visits and unique visitors in year 2 vs. year 1.
• Increased viewership to more than half a million annual pageviews and continued to strengthen its geographic depth of ratings.
• Been named as a finalist in the About.com Readers’ Choice awards in two categories – Best Food Allergy App and Best Online Support Site.
• Experienced a 150% increase in AllergyEats Blog followers, who are enjoying (and commenting on) a variety of food allergy-related topics. In the past year, more than 50 AllergyEats Blog entries have spotlighted dining in Disney World, restaurants’ menu changes and concerns, tips for dining out with food allergies, nut-free baseball games, food allergy-friendly play dates, interviews with chefs that cater to food allergies and, of course, restaurants that are more accommodating (like Not Your Average Joe’s and Legal Sea Foods) and less (such as Applebee’s and IHOP).
• Experienced a rapidly growing number of people sharing tips, information and ideas through the AllergyEats social media sites. There are now more than 4,000 Facebook “likes” and 1,800 Twitter followers.
• Secured a significant amount of media attention, including stories, features and mentions in Parents Magazine, About.com, MarketWatch (a division of the Wall Street Journal), Newsday, The Boston Globe, Nation’s Restaurant News, FAAN (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network)’s newsletter and website and KFA (Kids With Food Allergies)’s newsletter and website – among many other outlets.
• Obtained new endorsements from high-profile individuals and organizations, including Chef Ming Tsai, Disney pioneer and food allergy advocate Chef Joel Schaefer, and MiniMunchers, the ultimate resource for children’s menus in New York City. AllergyEats has already been endorsed by well-respected food, health and allergy organizations, including the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Gluten Intolerance Group and Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
• Launched an allergy-friendly bakery section, which lists bakeries nationwide that cater to the food allergy and gluten-intolerant community.
• Added more allergy-specific information and ratings, based on user feedback.
• Began new contests and giveaways, like the AllergyEats Great Gift Card Giveaway, which has awarded more than 80 restaurant gift cards (valued at $25-50/each) over the past 40 weeks, and given away free AllergyEats products, such as refrigerator magnets and t-shirts.
• Created a Special Deals program where AllergyEats users can receive exclusive deals and discounts on food allergy-related merchandise from vendor partners.

AllergyEats, a free website, provides valuable, peer-based ratings and feedback about how well (or poorly) restaurants accommodate food-allergic customers, so the food allergy community can make more informed decisions about where to dine (and which establishments to avoid.)

“AllergyEats helps families with food allergies reduce the guesswork – and the anxiety – surrounding dining out. We’ve created a peer-based ratings and review experience that lets people see at-a-glance which restaurants are willing and better able to accommodate special dietary requirements – and which are not,” said Paul Antico, founder of AllergyEats, food allergy advocate and father of three food-allergic children. “This resource is helpful whether you’re dining out across town or across the country, and whether you’re planning a meal in advance or grabbing something while on-the-go.”

As a former mutual fund manager at Fidelity Investments, Antico was frustrated with the inconsistencies in restaurants – some were willing to cook meals without dairy, nuts, eggs and his food-allergic kids’ other ‘trigger foods,’ and some were not. He wondered why there wasn’t a quick, easy online restaurant guide that indicated where food-allergic individuals could more comfortably eat. So he created one.

“Over the past two years, AllergyEats has become an extremely valuable resource – and supportive online network – for the food allergy community,” Antico added. “The outpouring of support and comments is really exciting to see, and it demonstrates a definite need for a site like this among the food allergy community,” Antico explained.

AllergyEats lists well over 625,000 restaurants nationwide, which food-allergic diners can rate. The site also offers information on restaurants’ menus (including gluten-free menus), allergen lists, nutrition information, certifications, web links, directions and more.

Most restaurant review sites include information about establishments’ food, ambiance or service, but AllergyEats is singularly focused on food allergies, with peer reviews spotlighting where people with food allergies or intolerances have more comfortably eaten and where they’ve encountered challenges.

For more information, please go to www.AllergyEats.com.