How it works

Triage the menu, then investigate the dish.

Clearplate works in two stages. First it scans the whole menu in seconds. Then, when you tap a dish, it goes deep. Here is exactly what happens at each stage, and where Clearplate can be wrong.

Step 1Set your profile
Step 2 · Menu ScanScan to triage the menu
Step 3 · Dish AnalysisTap to investigate a dish
1 Set your allergen profile

Tell Clearplate what to watch for.

Choose from the Top 9 (peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish, and sesame).

Clearplate uses your profile to judge every dish, so the same menu reads differently for you than it does for anyone else.

Your allergen profile
Peanut avoid Shellfish avoid Sesame avoid Milk limit Egg limit + Add an allergen
2 Scan the menu Menu Scan

Scan the menu to triage it.

Point your camera at the menu. In seconds, Clearplate reads every dish, including the ones with short or vague descriptions, and labels each one so you can triage the whole menu at a glance. Every dish gets one of three labels.

Hard avoid. A conflict Clearplate can stand behind, like the menu naming your allergen. Rule it out.
Looks promising. No conflict Clearplate can stand behind. Worth a closer look, not a promise that it's safe.
Not enough info. The menu doesn't say enough to assess the dish. Look closer before deciding.

Clearplate only marks a dish hard avoid on trustworthy evidence, and when the menu is too thin to tell, it says not enough info rather than guessing. Triage does not guess at a dish's full recipe. That deeper read is the next step.

Triaging this menu against your profile
Pad thai
Peanut named on the menu
Hard avoid
Grilled chicken skewers
No conflict found, worth a look
Looks promising
Chef's special curry
Not enough detail to assess
Not enough info
3 Investigate a dish Dish Analysis

Tap a dish to investigate it.

When a dish is worth a closer look, tap it. This is where Clearplate goes deep on a single dish: it predicts the likely ingredients from the description, shows which ones raised a concern and the allergen each maps to, and gives you specific questions to ask your server.

A predicted ingredient is one Clearplate believes is likely in a dish, not the same as a confirmed ingredient. The investigation expands on the triage label and shows its work, so you walk into the conversation with your server knowing exactly what to ask.

Grilled chicken skewers
Predicted ingredients · looks promising
Chicken Garlic Lime Cilantro Peanut sauce? Fish sauce Sugar
Ask your server: is the dish served with a peanut sauce, and is fish sauce used in the marinade?

Where Clearplate can be wrong.

Actual ingredients in a dish can vary by restaurant. A kitchen may use sesame oil that the menu never mentions, or leave out an ingredient you expected. Clearplate is honest when a description is too short or too ambiguous for a confident read, and it labels those dishes not enough info instead of guessing.

That's why Clearplate is a second pair of eyes, not the final word. A looks-promising label is a starting point for investigation, never a claim that a dish is safe. Always confirm with your server before ordering.

More on accuracy and safety →

Read your next menu with a second set of eyes.

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