Czech-designed 'Tinder for food' aims to attract gourmets and investors

Prague is known as one of the food capitals of Europe. In a ranking compiled last fall, the Czech capital was named in the top half of thirty major European cities for the quality of food, while it was in the top 10 for vegetarian food and brunch options.

A new app for local food-lovers has been launched to help navigate the growing volume of venues in the Czech capital and beyond. Fooder, being described as “Tinder for food” pairs customers with restaurants via attractive food photos.

The app already includes over a thousand eating points in the Czech Republic, having launched in Czechia in mid-February. The establishments listed on the app include restaurants, pubs, bistros, and cafés. The app has already been downloaded thousands of times, and over 4,000 pictures of food have been uploaded.

Fooder is currently only available in Czech, but when you log on, it’s immediately apparent that the app is designed for intuitive use by Czechs and non-Czechs alike. It’s based on a simple system: beautiful food photos which, when clicked, take you to a page where you can view opening hours and reserve a table.

It might be suggested that an app relying so heavily on attractive images isn’t the most reliable way of working out which food establishments are really worth visiting. But Fooder says its mission is to promote “quality gastronomic experiences.” The app’s creators also encourage people to follow the Instagram account at fooder.one for more information about “interesting Czech gastro projects and concepts.”

The idea is promoting appreciation of food to a greater extent than with more utilitarian food delivery apps, such as Dame Jídlo or Wolt, or text-based platforms for food recommendations such as TripAdvisor.

“Fooder works to some extent like the well-known Tinder application. There’s nothing complicated, just a quick setup and then you can swipe through photos of beautiful dishes. If you like them, click on it, become acquainted with the restaurant that offers it, and either go straight to the restaurant or reserve a table,” said Jan Miksa, one of the founders of the app.

Fooder aims to become of the leading international platforms in the gastronomy segment, with ambitions to cover at least 200 cities in 30 European countries within the next few years, before expanding to North America and Southeast Asia.

The startup will seek seed capital at the end of this year to enable foreign expansion, which is planned to start next year. According to the app’s creators, new elements will be added throughout this year bringing extra features for enjoyable food experiences, although the details of these new options are still unknown.

Fooder has been free to download for iPhone users since February and launched on Android in March.