How do you keep track of the restaurant recommendations you receive from friends and family?
If you’re a casual foodie, you may just keep them in the back of your mind, hoping they’ll come back to you when you’re in the mood to try something new.
In order to ensure that he actually hits all the spots his friends recommend to him,
founder Ryan Mattison (pictured above, center right) used to keep an intricate spreadsheet on his computer for reference. And if he didn’t have his computer handy, he’d make a note on his phone to update the spreadsheet later.
But Mattison’s system wouldn’t work for most of us. Dining out is often spontaneous, and juggling a list with a map while on the go is just too much work.
Mattison’s startup is working to make checking out the recommendations of people you trust just as easy as turning to Yelp or Google. With user-generated restaurant lists and options to sort by location, cuisine and any custom tag you can think of, you can easily find spots you’ve been dying to try that fit your cravings and whereabouts.
“The idea is to make it super easy for people who care about what restaurants they go to to keep organized on their recommendations, and to make a platform where favorite recommendations can be shared seamlessly with their communities,” said Mattison.
Aside from the question of the extent to which reviews on sites like Yelp or Google can be trusted, looking at aggregated reviews can be a poor indicator of whether you’ll actually end up liking the place. Atmosphere and selections aren’t just “good” or “bad” — many bars and restaurants are tailored for specific experiences. For those spots, recommendations from friends are far more reliable.
Nomwell also lets you create lists of places you’ve already been to and enjoyed and take notes about what you liked about them. If your friends are on Nomwell, they can browse your spots and add them to their own lists. Lists can also be exported and shared via email or text — for instance, if you have friends in town looking to try something off the beaten path.
Mattison said the idea for the app came about when he was trying to find a place to take his wife out for dinner on her birthday. Having just moved to Chicago from New York to attend Booth Business School, he was impressed with the food scene, but he didn’t have a good network of people to ask about hidden gems. He ended up asking fellow students at Booth to email him recommendations.
As his inbox filled up, Mattison decided to start working on an app that made the process easier.
He hopes the prospect of writing private reviews for friends and family will be more appealing to avid diners than open forums like Yelp and Google. To get you started, however, the company has launched a companion site where some of Chicago’s Michelin chefs and prominent food critics have listed their favorite spots. (Those lists can be also imported to your app).
As for the name, Mattison said “Nomwell” reflects precisely what the app is all about.
“It came down to the fact that ‘nom nom nom,’ among our generation, is very linked to enjoying food — almost ecstatic,” he said.
Images via Nomwell.
Have a tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Shoot us an email or follow us on Twitter @BuiltInChicago.
