Apps and Entrées

Stars align over Austin's junction of tech and food. Whether cooking at home, perusing our town's bountiful farmers' markets, or diving into the award-winning restaurant scene, Austinites can use these food apps to help prevent bad meals with personalized solutions to many food issues, inside or outside of the home.

STAYING IN?

Food on the Table

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

Created by an Austin team, this app is intended to promote stress-free planning and shopping for weeknight meal preparation. By making it easy to find new recipes, keep track of family favorites, create grocery lists, and shop sale items at the grocery store, Food on the Table leaves just the fun part of cooking to users.

Cooking Planit

iPhone and iPad; free

Billed as a "personal kitchen assistant," this homegrown app provides instructions and guidance on planning custom meals even around strict dietary restrictions. There are hundreds of recipes to browse, a unique cooking feature with a voice control option, and clearly designed procedural steps and tips, but the full range of recipes requires an upgrade for $2.99.

Key Ingredient

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

Synced between mobile and desktop, this good-lookin' app is simple and effective. It focuses on collecting and sharing recipes; dishes from home cooks, cookbooks, and professional chefs are searchable by ingredient, title, or keyword. The app offers an easy option to share with the world or save favorites by tapping a heart icon.

Buycott

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

Featured on the Forbes website, this app "brings transparency to your transactions." Whether you're trying to avoid GMOs or Monsanto, save the rainforests, or support LGBTQ-friendly companies, Buycott can help users to support their most important campaigns, and even find out about others. Just scan an item's barcode to learn about brands or send feedback to the company.

inBloom

iPhone and iPad; free

Based in New York, this app makes Austin its second home while it serves users who believe in voting with their wallets. "Buy what you believe in" by setting eating, shopping, and traveling preferences ranging from sustainable business practices to gluten-free or vegan diets, and then pick almost any type of establishment, cuisine, price, product, or business to support your "goodness."

GOING OUT?

Goodybag

iPhone and iPad; free

For those hungry Austinites who can never seem to decide on what to eat, Goodybag offers a variety of ways to explore, remember, and discover dishes and restaurants around town. In addition to menu item descriptions, prices, and maps, a large number of local establishments have partnered with the app to offer rewards via a virtual punch card.

Tabbed Out

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

This app focuses on the business end of the food and drink world by bridging a gap between merchants and consumers, and speeding up a precarious spot in the hospitality business. Customers use the app to open, view, and pay tabs, while merchants can gather info about customer preferences and feedback through POS-integration.

Locate Special Diet

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

The brainchild of ATX Gluten-Free blogger Jessica Meyer helps users find local spots for eats, drinks, and groceries that cater to gluten-free, vegetarian, and organic dietary needs. It has expanded to a variety of U.S. cities and towns, and it utilizes maps and user tips to enhance the service.

Austin Food Carts

iPhone and iPad; free

In a town quickly becoming known for its mobile food truck industry, it's no wonder there's an app for that. Both location- and cuisine-based, the app includes a large variety of tasty trailers all over the city. Only trouble? With all those roving carts, this app needs a major update.

Food Tripping

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

Adrian Grenier (Entourage) and his co-founding partner and film producer, Peter Glatzer, premiered their new app for sustainable food on-the-go at SXSW 2013. Simple to use and surprisingly helpful, Food Tripping helps users find farmers' markets, vegan eateries, fair trade coffee shops, and more. It's also compatible with Sync voice control in Fords.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Austin Restaurant Week

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

Although the spring ARW has passed (April 7-10 and 14-17), this user-friendly app provides an overview of the featured restaurants' menus. Plenty of time to prep for the fall.

Austin Food & Wine Festival

iPhone, iPad, and Android; free

Profiles are still up for the festival's featured foodies from this past April's event. Only nine more months 'til next year's fest!