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Eat Out Better

For people managing high cholesterol

Know what to order before the server comes back.

Eating out with high cholesterol? Snap any restaurant menu. Eat Out Better scores every dish from 1 to 10, tells you why in plain English, and shows you an easy swap. In about 30 seconds.

One email when it launches. That's it.

  • Free to download
  • No account needed
  • Menu photos never stored

The Larder

Dinner

  • Cedar-Grilled Salmon

    Lemon, dill, charred broccolini, wild rice

  • Smoky Black Bean Burger

    Avocado, pickled onion, brioche bun, fries

  • Chicken Fajitas

    Peppers, onions, flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream

  • Grilled Chicken Caesar

    Romaine, parmesan, croutons, house Caesar dressing

  • Beer-Battered Fish & Chips

    Cod, fries, tartar sauce

  • Fettuccine Alfredo

    Cream, butter, aged parmesan

Animation: a phone photographs a restaurant menu, reads six dishes, and ranks them best to worst for cholesterol, from Cedar-Grilled Salmon at 8.7 out of 10 down to Fettuccine Alfredo at 1.8.

  • Steakhouse
  • Italian
  • Thai
  • Mexican
  • Diner breakfast
  • Sushi
  • Burgers
  • Indian
  • Brunch
  • Pizza
  • BBQ
  • Mediterranean
  • Chinese
  • Pub food
  • Seafood
  • Tapas

The problem

Menus are written to sound delicious, not to tell you what’s in them.

Hidden

The richest ingredients go unnamed.

Cream, butter and coconut milk rarely make the menu. An alfredo, a curry or a risotto can carry a day's saturated fat without saying so.

Misleading

“Salad” isn't always the safe bet.

Creamy dressing, cheese and croutons can outweigh the greens. Meanwhile grilled salmon, which sounds rich, is often one of the best picks on the page.

Rushed

And you have about a minute.

The table is chatting, the server is waiting, and you're doing nutrition math in your head. So most people just guess.

How it works

Three steps. About half a minute.

  1. 1

    Snap the menu

    Photograph each page. No typing, no searching. Pinch to zoom in on small print.

  2. 2

    We read every dish

    The app reads names and descriptions straight off the page, through odd fonts, angles and dim lighting.

  3. 3

    Ranked for your heart

    Every dish scored 1–10, best to worst, each with a plain-English reason and a swap where one helps.

Try it here

Tap a dish. See what the app would tell you.

No guilt, no forbidden foods. Just the reason behind the number, and a way to make it work.

The Larder

Sample menu · tap any dish

Starters & Salads

Mains

What Eat Out Better tells you

Enjoy occasionally

Fettuccine Alfredo

Cream, butter, aged parmesan

1.8/10

Cream, butter and parmesan make this likely more than a full day's saturated fat in one bowl.

Make it better

Same pasta with marinara or garlic and olive oil scores far higher.

Illustrative dishes and scores. In the app, every dish on the real menu gets this, ranked best to worst.

How we score

A score you can check, not a black box.

The AI’s job is narrow: estimate what’s in each dish. The score comes from fixed, published rules in our code. Every dish gets one question: how is this likely to affect your cholesterol?

7–10Top pickA great choice for your heart.
4–6.9In moderationOkay now and then. Small swaps help.
1–3.9Enjoy occasionallyFine as a treat, not every day.
Saturated fat is the main lever
We estimate each dish's saturated fat against about 13g, roughly a full day's heart-healthy budget by American Heart Association guidance.
We read between the lines
Menus rarely name the cream or butter. We infer likely hidden fat from the dish itself: a curry, an alfredo, anything “crispy”.
Good fats and fiber help
Omega-3s, olive oil, avocado and beans can lift a score, which is why grilled salmon can beat a “light” salad drowning in dressing.
Cooking method matters, a little
Deep-fried dishes lose a point. Grilled, baked, steamed or poached is neutral to favorable.

Scores are informed estimates from a dish’s name and description, not lab measurements. Read the full method.

In moderation

Chicken Fajitas

Peppers, onions, flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream

5.8/10

The chicken and vegetables are a solid base. Most of the saturated fat comes from the cheese and sour cream on the side.

Make it better

Skip the cheese and sour cream; load up on pico and guacamole instead.

Built to help you say yes

Not a list of things you can’t have.

You don’t need the perfect order. You need one you feel good about. So most scores come with a swap that keeps the dish you wanted and makes it work better for you: sauce on the side, grilled instead of fried, salad instead of fries.

  • Order with the table, not off a separate menu
  • See the trade-off, then make your own call
  • Never feel lectured about a birthday dessert

Private by default.

Photos are discarded

Menu photos are analyzed, then thrown away. Never stored on our servers.

No account needed

Scan right away. Sign in only if you want saved scans on a new phone.

Your data isn't for sale

We don't sell data. Ever. Read the privacy policy for the details.

Questions

Good to know

What does Eat Out Better do?

You take a photo of a restaurant menu and the app reads every dish, scores each one from 1 to 10 for how it's likely to affect your cholesterol, ranks them best to worst, and tells you why in plain English. Where it helps, it suggests a swap, like dressing on the side or grilled instead of fried.

How is a dish scored?

Mostly on estimated saturated fat, measured against about 13 grams, roughly a full day's heart-healthy budget by American Heart Association guidance. Heart-healthy fats and fiber can lift a score; deep-frying lowers it a little. The AI estimates the grams; the score thresholds are fixed rules in code, not the AI's opinion, so results stay consistent.

Does it work at any restaurant?

It works on any printed or posted menu you can photograph, from diners to steakhouses to Thai. The app reads dish names and descriptions straight off the page, including small print you can zoom into.

Do I need an account?

No. You can scan menus without signing up. An optional free account (Apple, Google, or email) backs up your saved scans so they follow you to a new phone.

What happens to my menu photos?

They're analyzed and then discarded. Menu photos are never stored on our servers.

Is this medical advice?

No. Scores are informed estimates from a dish's name and description, not lab measurements, and they're general dietary information. Talk to your doctor about your own needs.

Is it on Android? What about other conditions?

iPhone first. High cholesterol is the first condition; others are planned, but we'd rather do one well before adding more. Join the list and we'll tell you when they arrive.

Your next menu, sorted.

Eat Out Better is coming to iPhone. Join the list and we'll email you the day it's on the App Store.

One email when it launches. That's it.