The Edit · Est. 2026Washington · Baltimore · Northern Virginia · and more
theBEAT™
The best dish near you, right now. One tap for how you eat.
You know the spot’s “top-rated.” You still don’t know what to order.
theBEAT ranks the dish, not the place —
tap a need and the whole board re-sorts, with the kitchen’s own words and the date we read them where we hold them. Bring a group: Group Hunt stacks everyone’s needs and finds one dish that fits the table.
Gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, celiac-friendly, kosher, halal, vegan
— and more. Where we hold no source, the dish says so.
Top 5 dishes on every board, free forever
·Plus + Priority on the App Store
·Lifetime $159 once for the first 50, then $249 — yours forever
Not another food app
No ads. No paid placement.
Ranked by the room — real diners.
Food should sit well with the peoplewho sit with you.
The right meal is the one everyone wants to meet up for again.
Ranked by the dish.
Not the restaurant. The plate is the thing.
Filtered for what you can eat.
Gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, celiac, halal, kosher, vegan and more — free for every reader.
One verdict, timed to the commute.
Tonight’s pick — chosen around what you eat and what’s still open near you. Switch on the alert and set your own hour.
Built for your table, not just you.
Group Hunt stacks everyone’s filters and lets the room vote — one dish everyone can actually eat.
A Kitchen Note
Braised Mushroom Taco
Chaia Tacos · Georgetown, DC
Gluten Free
“Our kitchens are free of gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, and soy, making it easier to accommodate a variety of dietary needs.”
chaiatacos.com/faq · 2026-08-14
Illustrative — a real venue, a real receipt, one honest ask.
A chip is a promise. We show our work.
A green chip is where your conversation with the restaurant starts, not where it ends.
On the dish page this reads under Kitchen Notes: the kitchen’s or the certifier’s own words, where they were published, and the date we read them. When we hold nothing for an allergen or a religious need, the chip becomes the question to ask — “Ask about gluten.” Not every dish carries a receipt yet — we’re building the catalog claim by claim, and we’d rather show fewer chips than an unearned one. A dish without a checkmark isn’t hiding anything; it’s waiting on us. Read how tags work →
Filter by gluten-free, celiac, nut-free, dairy-free, halal, kosher,
vegan, and more — or just curious.
Then by neighborhood. By cuisine. By when you’re hungry.
All filters free, no upgrade required.
* The math is ours,
and it’s written out plainly.
See The Engine →
Whatever you’re after
One verdict. Yours.
The lifestyle & dietary filter stack, the confirmed-visit weighting, the hyper-local DC, Maryland & Virginia editorial — together, they answer questions no other food tool can.
Gluten-free for the kid+Dairy-free for grandma+Halal for our friend+Walkable from Logan Circle+Under $30 a head
→
Three dishes. One verdict. One table.
Most search tools handle one constraint at a time. theBEAT handles all five — in one query. That’s what the Hunt is for.
A green chip earned its color. An amber one tells you exactly what to ask.
Every dietary chip on theBEAT is in one of two states. Green means we hold the venue’s own material — their menu, their FAQ, their certifier — named and dated, on file. Amber means we don’t have that yet, so the chip stops claiming and starts asking: instead of “Gluten Free” it reads “Ask about gluten,” and hands you the one question to put to the kitchen. Most tags start amber. Green has to be earned. And when we can’t source a claim at all, it comes down.
01
We read the menu, not a lab
Every tag is checked against the kitchen’s own published words (menu, allergen page or FAQ) and carries that source and its date. Where the kitchen doesn’t say, the tag stays amber. We don’t run chemical or allergen tests.
02
Borderline goes amber, not off
When a dish is borderline, the chip turns amber and asks instead of claims. For allergens especially, we’d rather hand you a question than assert a wrong answer.
03
Labels describe the food
A chip names the ingredient, nutrient, or eating pattern. It never claims a health outcome — the meaning lives here, so the chips can stay short.
04
Always confirm at the restaurant
Recipes, suppliers, and cross-contact change without notice. Tell your server about your diet and confirm before you order.
We’d rather under-tag than over-promise.
That is a cost we take on purpose. Under-tagging drops a dish out of a filter it
might have earned — we lose the credit. Over-tagging puts the wrong plate in
front of someone who cannot eat it. Only one of those is recoverable.
The Edit
Seven questions, answered before you land at the table.
Every guide below is built the same way every other tag on theBEAT is
— a published source, named and dated, or an honest “here’s the question to ask”
when we don’t have one yet. Sourced in DC, Maryland and Virginia so far. More cities as we open them.
Medical
Dedicated gluten-free
Kitchens that are gluten-free end to end — not one modified dish on a shared line.
“Our kitchens are free of gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, and soy, making it easier to accommodate a variety of dietary needs.” — Chaia, FAQ · read Aug 14
When we hold nothing, the chip asks instead: Ask about gluten.
Group Hunt
Everyone’s needs, held
Every need at the table stays on, named, and nothing gets dropped. A shortlist of five, one vote each, the most votes wins — in a link that lasts 24 hours.
TikTok · Reels · YouTube
Paste the link. We read the dish.
A dish you saw on TikTok, a Reel or YouTube — paste the link into Next Eats and theBEAT reads the post for the venue and the dish, then holds it with your saves.
Circles
Follow whose taste you trust
Opt in, and see where the people you follow are eating. Circle-only by default, Private if you like. Report or block from any profile.
Hot
The paper behind the board
Why a dish moved, what changed, what’s coming: Tonight’s pick, the Saturday Morning Edit, and a Battle to vote in.
Dish Deep Dive
The story behind the plate
The first sentence and a “Did you know” are free on every dish. Plus opens the rest: the story, talking points, what to pair it with, when to go, and the full nutrition panel.
Tonight
One verdict for tonight
One dish to eat out tonight, chosen around how you eat and what’s open near you. A preview for everyone; Plus reads the verdict in full. The alert is off until you switch it on, at an hour you set.
Concierge
Tell us about tonight
The room, the budget, the craving — in your own words. The Concierge sets the table. With Priority, alongside occasion presets and destination Hunt.
Free
Rankings
Every dish ranked on its own, re-sorted by the hour. Pick your needs and every board re-sorts; 33 of them, all free.
Kitchen Notes
The kitchen’s or the certifier’s own words on the dish page, with where they were published and the date we read them. No note yet? The chip becomes the question to ask.
Your Vote
The room decides. No tier buys a heavier everyday vote — its weight is earned by track record. Spotlights, a few weighted picks a month, scale with tier.
Group Hunt
47 texts and no plan? Drop one link — everyone’s needs stack, the room votes on five, one dish wins. Four people on Free, ten on Plus.
The Hunt
Dine in, delivery or takeout — it brings back dishes that fit your needs. Four a week free; unlimited on Plus and Priority.
Make It At Home
Cook a ranked dish yourself, adapted to your needs. Your first three unlocks are free; Plus and Priority include more every month.
Next Eats
Save what you spot, for later. Two folders and twenty dishes free.
From TikTok, Reels & YouTube
Paste the link into Next Eats and it reads the venue and the dish. The saved post sits with the rest of your list.
Circles
Follow people whose taste you trust and see where they’re eating. Opt-in, free to start, report or block from any profile.
Hot
The paper behind the board — why a dish moved, what changed, what’s coming.
Plus
Dish Deep Dive
The story, talking points, what to pair it with, when to go, the full nutrition panel.
Tonight
One verdict for tonight, in full. A preview is free; the alert is yours to switch on, at your hour.
theTABLE
Plan a party where everyone brings a dish — free. Scale a recipe for 2 to 12 and assign who brings what, on Plus.
Priority
The Concierge
Describe the night in your own words and it sets the table. With occasion presets and destination Hunt.
Tap a feature — or just watch it move
For keeps
Subscriptions end. Founding membership doesn’t.
You’re not buying an app. You’re funding the work of reading the menus, so the next person with celiac doesn’t have to call ahead.
$159once · no renewals · ever
~$60 more than a single year of Priority — it just never charges you again.
Every Priority feature, for life
A low founding number, in your profile
5 Spotlights a month, gold ring, Concierge
Your number on the Founders wall, if you opt in
Lifetime · $159 once for the first 50 Lifetime members, then $249.
Lower numbers go to the earliest members. Lifetime doesn’t close; only the price steps up, once.
Full refund within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked.
Correct, and on purpose. Every green tag we publish has to cite the restaurant’s own words, dated — and a tag that hasn’t earned that receipt renders amber, as a question worth asking, never as a claim. That takes time, and we’d rather open with a board you can trust than a board that’s merely big.
So we’re still reading — celiac, halal, kosher, nut allergies, dairy-free, and the ones nobody builds for — so that when you sit down, nobody at your table has to worry.
It’s not on the App Store yet — and the app itself will be free for everyone when it lands (see How this works, above). The seat isn’t the app; it’s keeping everything after launch. When we reach the App Store: same account, same number, nothing to re-buy, nothing that expires.
“Why now and not at launch?”
You’re in early, and you’ll always be early — that never changes. Lifetime is $159 once for the first 50 Lifetime members, then $249. It never closes; the early price is the only thing that runs out.
“What if it’s not for me?”
Not for you? Full refund within 14 days of purchase. No questions.
“Who’s actually behind this?”
A masthead that cares — we sign the work, the way a newspaper does. You don’t have to trust a person: every green chip on the board cites a source you can open yourself, and anything we hold no source for says so to your face — amber, a question to ask, never a claim.
Priority is $99/year. Founders pay $159 once — forever, with your number.
A founding seat from day one — your membership starts the moment you join, while theBEAT is still being built, and you’re joining the launch as a Founding Member.
Every feature, forever — plus every expansion as it ships.
A low Founding Member number — stamped in your app profile, yours alone, revealed in-app. Your name joins the Founders wall only if you opt in — your logs and lists always stay yours.
The gold ring, unlimited voting, the Concierge. A Priority identity ring on your profile — and an everyday vote that counts the same at every tier. Membership buys access, status, and features, never a paid placement.
Spotlights — five a month for your standout picks, each counting for more than an everyday vote.
Where the money goes
A founding seat funds the reading, not a subscription: checking each claim against the kitchen’s own words, the people we invite as the room grows, and the city-by-city work that earns a green chip.
Not ready?
Powered by you.
The math is real, and published below.
The math, in the open
Ranked by people who ate it.— you, included.
Socially powered. Editor-led.
An editorial baseline sits underneath every score; community
votes shape it over time. theBEAT’s Score reflects
diners with a track record, confirmed visits, and members’ Spotlights —
and no restaurant can buy its way up the board.
Read the mathClose the math
Editors seed→Diners vote→Confirmed visits count more
One number, not two. You see theBEAT Score — never the editors’ read and the room’s read side by side, because the score is the two of them together or it isn’t a score.
Inside the Score, in the app: tap the line under any dish’s score and the same explanation opens — the editorial baseline, who voted and with what track record, which visits were confirmed. Free, on every dish.
Every vote moves the board. Confirmed visits move it further. Editors seed, diners decide.
The room is there when you want it. Quiet when you don’t.
Circles is opt-in, and three privacy levels decide who sees what. Pick what feels right. Switch whenever; no pressure.
N° 01
Opt in
Circles is off until you turn it on, and nothing is ever shared unless you did. Just you and the board — the rankings, the filters, the verdict — works just as well. Free to start, whenever you like.
N° 02
Circle-only
The default. Only the people in your circle — the ones you follow and who follow you back — see your activity. Set it to Private and nothing is shared at all: you browse your circle, and no one sees you.
N° 03
Follow
Follow people whose taste you trust and see where they’re eating — and, as the room fills, the Tastemakers: a local specialist featured each week. Go Public and anyone on theBEAT can see your picks, ratings and profile, and a ranked Next Eats list can be shared under your name.
N° 04
Report or block
Both sit on every profile. A blocked account disappears from your room; a report goes to the editors, who read every one.
N° 05
Settle the group chat.
Start a Group Hunt,
drop the link in the chat, and everyone’s needs — the celiac
cousin, the no-cilantro friend — narrow to a shortlist of five. The room votes; the most votes wins. Four people on Free, ten on Plus, and the link lasts 24 hours.
Your lists are yours: Circle-only by default, Private if you like. No leaderboards, no flexing — that’s just not us.
For the one who picks the place — hosts run Group Hunt: everyone’s needs in, a shortlist of five out, one vote, one winner.
Here now, everywhere next
A map, city by city.
Built for greater Washington first — for iPhone, App Store to follow. Ten cities are in the kitchen: tap Global at the foot of the board and every dish we hold there is open to read, none ranked until that city’s board is deep enough to rank honestly. Status is honest, earned by depth.
The full Hunt — the Concierge, occasion presets (hosting visitors, a first date, an anniversary, a birthday, a friend in town) & destination Hunt. Group Hunt itself is free for everyone.
The gold ring · unlimited votes; everyday votes count the same at every tier
The rest of Priority ▾Show less ▴
Unlimited Next Eats — no folder cap, no save cap
5 Spotlights / month — your pick counts 3×, or 5× on a confirmed visit
Gift a month — a month of Priority for a friend, redeemed with Apple. Coming with the App Store launch.
Everything in Priority — in perpetuity, no renewals ever
Founder cohort — the first 50 Lifetime members, at $159
The Founders wall — your number, if you opt in
The rest of Lifetime ▾Show less ▴
One-time $159 for the first 50 Lifetime members, then $249 · yours forever
No paid placements, ever — at every tier.
The rankings are honest, full stop. theBEAT’s Score reflects diners with a track record, confirmed visits, and members’ Spotlights — never a line item a restaurant buys.
Monthly & annual in the app · Lifetime on the web (Stripe) · Cancel anytime
* Every dietary, religious, and lifestyle
filter is free on every tier. The reservation list on this page is how
we’ll write you when the door opens — and in what order.
Coffee, matcha, boba, tea, lemonade, iced drinks and the little sweet things — their own board, from the Rankings tab, filtered the same way. We figured you’d want the whole day handled, not just dinner.
