My wife has celiac disease. If you don't live with someone who has it, here's the short version: it's not a preference, it's not a diet trend — a single crumb of regular bread can make her sick for days. So when we travel, "where should we eat?" is never a simple question.
We've stood outside restaurants scrolling through menus on our phones, trying to guess whether "gluten-free available" means a real, thought-out gluten-free menu, or just a burger with no bun and a shrug from the server. We've had trips where she ate the same safe salad three nights in a row because it was the only thing she could be sure of. We've watched her ask a server the same four questions, get a confused look back, and decide it wasn't worth the risk.
"I just want to know before we walk in — not after I've already ordered."
That's the sentence that started this whole project. Not a business plan. Just my wife, tired, hungry, and frustrated in a city we were supposed to be enjoying.
As a designer, I couldn't fix celiac disease. But I could build something that removes the guesswork: a place where the gluten-free community can find restaurants and dessert shops that have actually earned their trust, see exactly what "gluten-free" means at that specific place, and hear from other people who've eaten there safely. That's Gluten Free For Me.