You had questions so we sought out answers. The Atly team themeselves have answered the top 18 quetions that came through about the app and the Gluten Free Eats Map. Read on!

1. How does Atly ensure the safety of gluten free options listed on the app? Although it’s impossible to 100% guarantee safety, we’re doing the most we can do. We’ve worked with coeliac healthcare professionals to develop guidelines of what makes up a safe or an unsafe place (and everything in between). Each safety classification has strict criteria, and when we’re not sure or can’t verify the information, we err on the side of caution and classify “down”. We are in the (always ongoing) process of verifying the information with restaurants themselves (more on that below) and all the feedback that’s being added to the map is highly monitored so we can see if any places needs to be re-examined. We get send it a lot of reports about places and check all of them. So it’s a joint effort of our data team for the research, community members, and our moderators.
2. What does it mean that ‘the gluten free restaurants and cafes on Atly verified by experts’? Two things: (1) Our safety guidelines, developed by coeliac dietitians, a doctor and a nutritionist (we put together a whole team for this). (2) Vetting with restaurants: We’ve embarked on an ongoing project, where we reach out to restaurants on the map so that we can get all the information straight from the source. It’s challenging! Each restaurant we are able to reach out to gets sent a detailed questionnaire (developed by our healthcare pros) that gets updated once the place fills it out in its entirety and we have a dedicated member who reviews all the information and makes sure it’s “usable”. Then it gets updated in the map, and the places get a “verified by the owner / chef. etc.” Other places on the map that get researched and added by the data team get a “verified by Atly” title, and places that were added by community members (more on that below) get a “added by community” title. Places that have sent in their questionnaire are contacted again 6 months later to make sure the information is still up to date.
3. Can businesses add themselves to the app? Yes, anyone can add new places to the map. However, only our moderators can add a safety classification. So map members can add “secondary” information like filters, but not safety ones. Once it’s on the map, our moderators see it and get to researching the place to be able to give it a safety classification. Reminder, until we check each place, it’s left as unverified (white).. until we can find reliable information about it.
4. Can I filter search results by cities like Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane on the Atly app? Of course 🙂 There’s a search bar at the top of the screen and you can search by city, restaurant name, etc. You can also zoom in and out on the map.
5. How often is the information on Atly’s Gluten Free Eats map updated? Daily! Community members add new places (and info about existing places on the map) on a daily basis. Our data team adds new information every few weeks (expect a HUGE update of places coming up really soon!) , our moderators check information (and edit if needed) daily, restaurant verification happens daily but is updated every few weeks in “batches”, and our team checks back with restaurants that already vetted every 6 months.
6. What’s the difference between “100% Gluten Free” and “Coeliac Friendly” categories on the map? 100% GF means just that – a gluten free facility. “Celiac Friendly” means that the place is not dedicated GF, but is knowledgeable and careful about cross contamination, and they have outstanding protocols. This includes trained staff, and when applicable things like a dedicated fryer, a dedicated kitchen space, etc. There are also 2 other safety classifications: (1) Coeliac accomodating – meaning they can cater to celiacs but reviews are mixed so there’s a higher risk of being glutened. And unverified – places added by community members that we haven’t had a chance to vet them yet (or we have very little information). This will change very soon to a place that just has GF options, to make it less confusing.
7. How do I know if a place listed on the app is safe for someone with coeliac disease? Honestly, you can never know and we can never guarantee with 100% certainty that a place is safe. But we try to add in one place all the research someone would have done in order to feel as safe and comfortable as they can when making the decision where to dine out. Checking a place’s menu and website, checking google reviews (imported into the app to save you time!), community reviews (SO important!), and wherever we can, vetting with restaurants. This is also why we always encourage community member to add their feedback about places, and report places that they felt unsafe in – it helps the community in such a big way.
8. Does Atly include gluten free options for other dietary restrictions, like dairy free or vegan? We do! We have additional filters on the map to include specifications such as Dairy Free Options, Vegan Options, Veggie Options, and Allergen Friendly (these would be places with a clear allergy “menu”). There are also other filters for type of cuisine, meal, and other “lifestyle” choices like kid friendly or cocktails. Yes, cocktails is a lifestyle 🙂
9. Is there a way to leave reviews or feedback on gluten free places I visit through the app? Yes, and it’s such a big part of what we do! Each place on the map has a text box right above reviews other have written, so that people can share their experiences, add photos, and report anything that needs reporting, and a “give feedback” button.
10. Can I save my favourite gluten free spots on the Atly app for easy access later? Yup! Each place on the map has a big “SAVE” button right on the bottom. To see all of your saved places, go to your “home map” (exit the GF map) – on top of the screen you’ll find a tag for saved places – that’s where you’ll find all of the places you’ve saved from all of the maps.
11. Is the app safe? How is my information stored? As safe as all apps are 🙂 We’re complaint with GDPR and CCPA regulations.
12. How reliable are the community reviews on the Atly app? We generally tend to trust the reviews that community members leave in the map because they all pay to be on it, and we’re hoping this means they take it seriously 🙂 However, we want to be as holistic as possible, so we don’t rely only on user reviews: we have our data research (including google reviews), restaurant vetting and moderators.
13. Does Atly cover gluten free bakeries and grocery stores, or just restaurants and cafes? Any place that serves ready to eat food, so yes that includes bakeries too. We do not feature grocery stores. The thinking behind that is you can almost always find GF options in any major grocery stores, and flooding the map with Aldi and Whole Foods kind of takes away from the point. However, we have seen users add local stores (not chain ones) as well as small markets that also offer ready to eat food, and our moderators leave those in because they are helpful.
14. Is the Atly app free to download and use? The Atly app is free to download and free to use, to access the thousands of maps and categories worldwide. The Gluten Free Eats map is one of two subscription-based maps (the other, FYI is a small community map in Florida, grandfathered from a project we helped with about 18 months ago). Access to the GF Eats map is subscription based because it is the only map that has a dedicated team working on it 6 days a week (sometimes 7 🙂 In fact, roughly 70% of our office works on the GF Eats map at least 50% of their time – it’s gotten THAT big!
15. How do I download the Atly app on my smartphone? You can search for Atly on the app or play store, our website here, or the GF Eats map tab here!
16. How much is the app? App is free (as is access to all the information except for the GF Eats map.) The GFE map has 3 payment options (monthly, 6 months and yearly) but the prices vary depending on local currency and taxes (this happens automatically on the appstore / play store)
17. Can I use the Atly app to find gluten free dining options when I’m traveling around Australia? Of course, the map is global! 80K places worldwide and counting!
18. What makes Atly better than other apps or websites for finding gluten free restaurants? In a nutshell, we do alllll the research for you, and display it on an interactive map. We combine our own research, with community input. We’ve got: (1) colour coded safety classifications (2) developed with coeliac healthcare experts (3) vetting with restaurants! (4) dedicated data team that aggregates information about places from their website, google reviews (imported to the map to save research time!) (5) community input that heavily moderated! (6) additional filters like Dairy Free and Kid Friendly (7) a safety checklist for each place on the map.