theBEAT™
Filters Lifetime Free
Vol. I · The Edit · Est. 2026 Washington · Baltimore · Northern Virginia · and more

theBEAT™

Order the best thing. Every time.

You know the spot’s “top-rated.” You still don’t know what to order — or whether it’s right for how you eat. theBEAT ranks the dish, not the place — filtered for exactly what you can eat, and scored by the people who actually ate it. …and after a year, it comes back to you, printed.

Top 10 dishes, free forever Plus + Priority at launch Lifetime $159 — about $60 more than a year of Priority, yours forever, plus the Annual Edit

Not another food app

No ads. No paid placement. Ranked by the room — real diners, not data centers.

Food can — and should be — more mindful. More intentional. More about what sits well with those who sit with you. The right meal is the one everyone wants to meet up for again.

Ranked by the dish.

Not the restaurant. The plate is the thing.

Filtered for what you can eat.

Celiac, Crohn’s, halal, diabetic, GLP-1 — even the rare ones, free for every reader.

One verdict, timed to the commute.

Tonight’s pick — chosen around what you eat and what’s still open near you. Switch on the alert and set your own hour.

No paid placements. Ever.

Socially powered. Editor-led.

№ 01 · However you eat

Built for the way you actually eat.*

Filter by celiac, Crohn’s, low-FODMAP, kosher, halal, vegan, low-carb, GLP-1, pregnant, picky, or just curious. The rare ones too. Then by neighborhood. By cuisine. By when you’re hungry. All filters free, no upgrade required.

* The math is ours — and we publish it, openly. See The Engine →

N° 02 · Whatever you’re after

One verdict. Yours.

The lifestyle & dietary filter stack, the verified-visit trust, the hyper-local DC, Maryland & Virginia editorial — together, they answer questions no other food tool can.

Gluten-free for the kid Low-FODMAP for grandma Halal for our friend Walkable from Logan Circle Under $30 a head

Three dishes. One verdict. One table.

Most search tools handle one constraint at a time. theBEAT handles all five — in one query. That’s the part no other tool catches up to.

See the rankings in action →

N° 03 · Where the tags stop

We read the menu, not a lab.

Every food app tells you what its filters catch. Here is where ours stop — the same four notes the app itself shows you, before you trust a single chip.

01

We read the menu, not a lab

Editors review each dish’s publicly listed ingredients and how it’s prepared. We don’t run chemical or allergen tests.

02

We tag conservatively

When a dish is borderline, we leave the tag off rather than risk a wrong one. For allergens especially, we’d rather under-tag than over-promise.

03

Labels describe the food

A chip names the ingredient, nutrient, or eating pattern. It never claims a health outcome — the meaning lives here, so the chips can stay short.

04

Always confirm at the restaurant

Recipes, suppliers, and cross-contact change without notice. Tell your server about your diet and confirm before you order.

We’d rather under-tag than over-promise.

That is a cost we take on purpose. Under-tagging drops a dish out of a filter it might have earned — we lose the credit. Over-tagging puts the wrong plate in front of someone who cannot eat it. Only one of those is recoverable.

The Edit · Vol. I

Every way the city tells you where to eat.

theBEAT Rankings — real app capture: Washington's top dishes, ranked by the room.
theBEAT Best Right Now — real app capture
theBEAT theTABLE — a dinner that assembles itself, scaled and assigned. Real app capture.
theBEAT — the room decides: cast your vote, every vote counts the same. Real app capture.
theBEAT Next Eats — real app capture
theBEAT The Hunt — tap a few wants, one verdict back. Real app capture.
theBEAT Group Hunt — real app capture
theBEAT Make It At Home — real app capture

Coming Soon

Import from TikTok & Reels

Paste a recipe TikTok or Reel. theBEAT writes it out into a clean, editable recipe — saved to your profile.

Free

Rankings

Every dish, ranked by the people who actually ate it.

Best Right Now

The list re-ranks by the hour — plus one verdict for tonight.

theTABLE

A dinner that assembles itself — scaled, assigned, list and all.

Your Vote

The room decides. Every vote counts the same, on every tier.

Group Hunt

47 texts and no plan? Drop one link — everyone’s filters stack, the room votes, one dish wins.

Make It At Home

A dish you loved, turned into a homemade homage — easy, do-able steps. Free covers our popular dishes; Plus writes any dish, on demand.

Plus

Next Eats

Save what you spot. It raises its hand when you’re near.

Priority

The Hunt

Tap a few wants — or type the whole night out — one verdict back.

Coming Soon

Import from TikTok & Reels

Paste a recipe TikTok or Reel — theBEAT writes it out into a clean, editable recipe, saved to your profile.

Tap a feature — or just watch it move

N° 06 · For keeps

Subscriptions end. Founding membership doesn’t.

Lifetime Priority access — every feature, every expansion, no renewals. Plus the Annual Edit, hand-mailed each spring.

Yours wherever you live — your member number locks in the moment you join, and reveals in-app when theBEAT opens in your city.

$159 one payment · no renewals · yours forever

Founder seats are limited.

Priority is $99/year. Founders pay $159 once — forever, with your number and the printed Edit.

  • A founding seat from day one — your membership starts the moment you join, while theBEAT is still being built, and you come in early through TestFlight (free for everyone) as it ships city by city. You’re not paying for beta access or a finished app — you’re joining the launch as a Founding Member.
  • Every feature, forever — plus every expansion. New-city launches and feature betas reach Founders first, the moment we start testing them.
  • The Annual Edit, mailed each spring — Vol. I, personalized to your year and neighborhood, hand-numbered “№ X of the first edition.” First edition lands Spring 2027.
  • A low Founding Member number — stamped in your app profile, yours alone, revealed with an in-app ceremony when theBEAT opens in your city. Your name joins the Founders wall only if you opt in (first name or handle) — your logs and lists always stay yours.
  • The gold ring, unlimited voting, the Concierge. The founder’s mark on your profile and your notes — and the same equal everyday vote as every reader. Membership buys access, status, and features, never a paid placement.
  • Spotlights — put your standout picks in front of the editors each month.
  • Priority invites to share — a starter bundle the day you join, plus more each month, so you can bring the people you eat with in with you.
Become a Founding Member — $159 A gift for someone special
Cohort Founder
Seats Limited
Held by Stripe

Not yet? Plus is $6.99/mo — full filtered rankings, same daily Edit. →

Not powered by data centers.* Powered by you.

The math is real, and published below.

* Confession: theHUNT’s Concierge mode does use an AI to read what you typed. It never votes, never ranks, never picks favorites — just translating you to the room.

N° 07 · The math, in the open

Verified by people who ate it. — you, included.

Socially powered. Editor-led. An editorial baseline sits underneath every score; community votes shape it over time. theBEAT’s Score reflects verified diners, tastemakers, and members’ Spotlights — the mathematics, when published, are open, and no restaurant can buy its way up the board.

Read the math Close the math

Every dish carries two readings: an editorial baseline set by the masthead, and community votes from real eaters. We blend them with a Bayesian weighted average — the math long-running rating registries have always used when the room is still filling.

Votes are signal-weighted. Verified diners with a real history on the app, and Tastemakers who’ve proven their taste over time, carry more weight than brand-new accounts — the same way long-running rating registries weight repeat raters over first-time entries. It’s the structural defense against spam and brigading, and it’s earned, not bought.

Members also get a gentler, earned lever: monthly Spotlights (1 on Free, 3 on Plus, 5 on Priority & Lifetime). A Spotlight is your pick, counted at 3× — or 5× once you’ve verified you ate there — a small, transparent boost for a dish you’re championing, never a way to buy your way up the board.

Read the full methodology →

N° 08 · With your people

The room can get active. You can quiet it down.

Four ways to do the people thing — fully solo to a whole crew. Pick what feels right. Switch whenever; no pressure.

N° 01

Solo

Just you and the editors. No followers, no feed, no noise — only the verdict, the rankings, the filters, the book. Honestly? Most people stay right here.

N° 02

Small

Your inner circle — the partner, the roommate, the friend you always end up eating with. Their picks quietly show up in your Hunt and Next Eats. Nobody else sees a thing.

N° 03

Open

Follow the verified Tastemakers — chefs, writers, cooks — and readers whose taste lines up with yours. Their track record earns them extra trust in the room, so the good stuff finds you faster.

N° 04

Opt out

Want none of it? Switch it all off — no follow buttons, no leaderboards, no carousels. Just the tool, doing its job. Works just as well.

N° 05

Settle the group chat.

Start a Group Hunt, drop the link in the chat, and everyone’s tastes — the celiac cousin, the no-cilantro friend — flow into one consensus pick. Eight people, one verdict, zero 47-message threads.

See how a Group Hunt works →

Your lists stay private. The only public number is your follower count. No leaderboards, no flexing — that’s just not us.

N° 09 · Here now, everywhere next

A map, city by city.

Open here first — launching here, App Store coming soon. NYC, Chicago, Miami, Austin are next — seeding now, auditing in weeks. More cities follow as density proves out. Status is honest, earned by depth.

WashingtonDC
Launching first
BethesdaMD
Launching first
ArlingtonVA
Launching first
BaltimoreMD
Launching first
New YorkNY
In the kitchen
Los AngelesCA
In the kitchen
See all 26 cities →

Priority carries National Rankings — your city, measured against the best of every other.

N° 10 · Pull up a chair

Free, and three ways forward.

Free is genuinely useful — rankings, filters, the room. Three optional tiers go further, up to a Lifetime membership that never renews.

N° 001 · Free

Free

The curious.Taste the room.

  • Top 10 dishes closest to you — time-aware, location-aware
  • Group Hunt — host or join; settle the group chat in one link
  • Every dietary, religious & lifestyle filter — free, always
The rest of Free Show less
  • Tonight — a preview of the daily pick; Plus unlocks the full verdict
  • Solo Hunt — 4 a week
  • Next Eats — save what you spot; it finds you nearby
  • 25 votes / week · equal weight, same as every free reader
  • 1 Spotlight / month — your pick counts 3×, or 5× once you’ve verified you ate there
No card required
N° 002 · Plus

Plus

The reader.The full picture.

Everything in Free, plus

  • The full rankings — every dish, not just your Top 10
  • Inside the Score, Off the Plate & extended Deep Dives
  • Tonight, at home too — a cook-tonight version of your pick
The rest of Plus Show less
  • The Saturday Morning Edit — a weekend dispatch, tuned to your taste
  • Unlimited votes & Solo Hunt · same equal weight as every reader
  • 3 Spotlights / month — your pick counts 3×, or 5× once you’ve verified you ate there
$6.99/mo · or $39/year · auto-renews, cancel anytime
N° 003 · Priority

Priority

The regular.Your table, handled.

Everything in Plus, plus

  • The full Hunt — the Concierge, occasion presets (date night, birthdays, hosting) & destination Hunt. Group Hunt itself is free for everyone.
  • National rankings — your city vs. NYC / LA / Chicago
  • The gold ring · unlimited votes, same equal weight as every reader
The rest of Priority Show less
  • 5 Spotlights / month — your pick counts 3×, or 5× once you’ve verified you ate there
  • First in on new features — the moment they roll out
$12.99/mo · or $99/year · auto-renews, cancel anytime
N° 004 · Lifetime

Lifetime · Priority

The patron.Yours, in perpetuity.

Everything in Priority — in perpetuity, no renewals ever

  • The Annual Edit catalog — mailed each spring, personalized to you
  • Founder cohort — the lowest member numbers + a hand-numbered first edition
  • Monthly invite codes — share Priority with your people
The rest of Lifetime Show less
  • Cover variants by cohort — collectible Vol. I editions
  • First into every new city and feature
One-time $159 · about $60 more than a year of Priority, yours forever, plus the Annual Edit · Founding offer
Verified Tastemaker · parallel program

The Tastemakers

By invitation — earned, not bought.

  • Your reviews and picks given the spotlight. Featured editorial placement in theBEAT — your work doesn’t get lost to the doomscroll. It’s archived, surfaced, and credited.
  • Possibly printed in members’ Vol. I catalogs. When a member’s taste aligns with yours, your articles can land in their personalized annual book — mailed to their door each spring. Your work, on someone’s coffee table.
  • The Tastemaker badge on your profile — distinct from the Priority gold ring. Signals you’re a curator whose taste shapes the catalog, not just a member.
  • The most-trusted vote in the room. Tastemaker status is earned, not bought — and earned trust carries the heaviest weight in the rankings.
  • Comped Lifetime Priority access — recognition for taste that’s already shaping theBEAT.
  • Featured public profile page on theBEAT.
How you get here — contribute thoughtful picks, write the kind of review the editors notice, and you’re tapped when a seat opens. Seats are hand-issued, season by season.

No paid placements, ever — at every tier. The rankings are honest, full stop. theBEAT’s Score reflects verified diners, tastemakers, and members’ Spotlights — never a line item a restaurant buys.

Monthly in the app · Annual & Lifetime on the web (Stripe) · Cancel anytime

* Every dietary, religious, and lifestyle filter is free on every tier. The reservation list on this page is how we’ll write you when the door opens — and in what order.

App Store Coming soon In the meantime Reserve a seat
One more thing

And yes — we did matcha for you too. We know.

The best coffee, matcha, boba, and little sweet things — their own board, their own filters to play with. We figured you’d want the whole day handled, not just dinner.

Off the Plate · coming next