[photo source: Maggiano’s]

Allergy-friendly restaurant guide AllergyEats — a crowd-sourced website and app for diners with allergy needs — has released their list of Most Allergy-Friendly Restaurant Chains nationwide for 2015. The results were compiled from AllergyEats diner feedback through December 31, 2014. Ratings are based on a restaurants’ ability to accommodate food-allergic diners — not on traditional factors like taste, ambiance or service.

“The Most Allergy-Friendly Restaurant Chains list — and the growing number of AllergyEats ratings of all restaurants – helps the food allergy community make more informed decisions about which restaurants to visit and which to avoid, based on how well or poorly they’ve accommodated other diners’ food allergies,” said Paul Antico, Founder and CEO of AllergyEats. “While no restaurant chain receives universally great reviews from every diner, AllergyEats incorporates all positive and negative ratings to determine which restaurants are deemed most allergy-friendly by the food allergy community as a whole.”

The top five for “Large” and “Small” chains are listed below — 6 of the 10 chains have locations local to the greater Bergen County area.

Most allergy-friendly LARGE chains: (50 or more restaurants)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (4.41 rating) – Clifton, East Rutherford, Edgewater, Englewood, Fort Lee, Lodi, Paramus, Ramsey, Secaucus, Wayne
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (4.39 rating) – Hackensack, Nanuet, West New York
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (4.39 rating) – Clifton, Paramus, Secaucus, West Nyack
Outback Steakhouse (4.32 rating) – Edgewater, Rochelle Park, Seacucus, Suffern, Wayne, West Nyack
Mellow Mushroom (4.29 rating)

Most allergy-friendly SMALL chains: (under 50 restaurants)
Maggiano’s Little Italy (4.74 rating) – Hackensack
Burtons Grill (4.69 rating)
Legal Sea Foods (4.64 rating) – Paramus
Joe’s American Bar & Grill (4.63 rating)
Not Your Average Joe’s (4.63 rating)

AllergyEats app and website list more than 750,000 restaurants nationwide with web links, menus and more. For more information, please visit the AllergyEats website.