Picknic
Picknic is a web-based restaurant discovery platform that helps individuals with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and plant-based diets find vetted dining options across 58,000+ US locations, monetized via a $4.99/month premium subscription.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersNashville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Picknic does
Picknic, operated by OWOC, LLC and founded in 2018 in the Nashville, Tennessee area, is a direct-to-consumer web application that helps individuals with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, vegetarian, and vegan diets find and evaluate restaurants. The platform's core product is a searchable database of 58,000+ restaurant locations across the United States, including 60+ national chains and a growing set of partner restaurants, with detailed information on staff training, cross-contact risks, modification options, and menus for gluten-free, top 8 allergens, vegetarian, and vegan diets.
The underlying technology is a browser-based application at search.picknic.app, with no mobile app, public API, or SDK. Restaurant data is collected manually by an in-house research team composed of people who personally manage food allergies or special diets, who conduct direct conversations with restaurant management to verify allergen protocols and, in some cases, build and host partner restaurants' allergen, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan menus. Personalization features include user-configurable dietary settings, a proprietary Picks and Possibles curation layer, and an Allergy Excellence certification flag.
Picknic operates a freemium subscription model: users can browse with limited access without an account, sign up for a free Basic Account that unlocks search filters and partner restaurants, or subscribe to a Premium Account at $4.99 per month or $19.99 per year for access to non-partner restaurant guides. The company is privately held, bootstrapped with no disclosed venture or institutional funding, and distributes primarily through its website, monthly email digests, organic search, and word-of-mouth within the food allergy and special diet communities.
Picknic firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Picknic
- Legal name
- OWOC, LLC
- Website
- https://picknic.app
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Picknic is a web-based restaurant discovery platform that helps individuals with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and plant-based diets find vetted dining options across 58,000+ US locations, monetized via a $4.99/month premium subscription.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Picknic industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Restaurant Discovery Platform / Dietary Restriction Software
- NAICS
- All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Natural Specialty Food Stores (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Keto, Allergy-Friendly) (CRAHAEAE)
Keywords
Where Picknic is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nashville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Picknic business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Premium Subscription: Freemium model with premium tier at $4.99/month or $19.99/year providing access to non-partner restaurant guides and expanded search results.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | No Account - Limited access |
| Freemium | Monthly | Basic Account - Free |
| Subscription | Monthly | Premium Account - Full access |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Picknic product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Picknic is a web-based restaurant discovery application that helps individuals with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, vegetarian, and vegan diets find safe dining options. The platform provides a proprietary database of 58,000+ U.S. restaurant locations — including 60 national chains and hundreds of local restaurants — with detailed allergen, cross-contact, and menu information gathered through direct conversations with restaurant management. Users can sign up free for Basic Accounts with full search filters and partner restaurant access, or subscribe to Premium for $4.99/month or $19.99/year to access non-partner restaurant guides.
Product overview
Picknic is a single unified web application (not yet available as mobile app) that helps people with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan diets find appropriate restaurants. The platform offers three access tiers: no account (limited access with basic search), Basic Account (free tier with full search filters and partner restaurants), and Premium Account ($4.99/month or $19.99/year for access to non-partner restaurant guides). The service covers over 58,000 restaurant locations nationwide including 60 national chains and hundreds of local partner restaurants, with detailed information on cross-contact risks, allergen menus, and modification options.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Picknic Restaurant App (Web App) Web-based restaurant discovery platform that helps people with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan diets find and research restaurants. Provides detailed information about restaurant policies, procedures, staff training, cross-contact risks, and menu options tailored to specific dietary needs. Covers 58,000+ restaurant locations nationwide.
- Basic Account (Free Tier) Free account tier providing access to all search filters and all partner restaurants on the search page. Users sign up with an email to view restaurant guides and access search filters, though no paid subscription is required.
- Premium Account (Paid Subscription) Paid subscription at $4.99 per month or $19.99 per year that provides access to restaurant guides for non-partner restaurants, allowing users to view these additional restaurants in search results beyond the free Basic Account access.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 58,000 restaurant locations listed nationwide
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Picknic
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Picknic technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Picknic partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Partner Restaurants (Unnamed)corePicknic works with partner restaurants through deeper engagement including conversations with managers and owners about restaurant operations and support for food allergies and special diets. For some partners, Picknic builds and hosts their allergen menu, gluten-free menu, vegetarian menu, and vegan menu. These restaurants receive dedicated gluten-free, allergen-free, vegetarian, and vegan restaurant guides and enhanced visibility on the platform.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Picknic competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- HappyCow: HappyCow is a global vegan and vegetarian restaurant discovery platform with mobile apps and community reviews. It is the closest direct peer to Picknic's vegan/vegetarian offering and has a substantially larger international footprint.
- Find Me Gluten Free: Find Me Gluten Free is a restaurant discovery platform focused on gluten-free dining, with mobile apps and a large user community. It is the most direct competitor to Picknic in the gluten-free / celiac segment of the dietary-restriction restaurant discovery market.
- AllergyEats: AllergyEats is a peer-rated restaurant guide specifically for food-allergic diners, with a rating system for allergy-friendliness across the US. It overlaps directly with Picknic on the food-allergy segment and competes for the same end user.
Others
- OpenTable: OpenTable is a restaurant reservation and discovery platform with restaurant-side SaaS tools. It is adjacent rather than direct: the customer base (diners) overlaps with Picknic's, but the core offering (reservations) and B2B model differ.
Emerging players
- Spoonacular: Spoonacular is a food and recipe API platform that includes allergen and dietary data across recipes and some restaurant menus. It is an emerging player whose food-data infrastructure could overlap with Picknic's dietary data moat over time.
- VegGuide: VegGuide is a community-driven vegan restaurant guide. It overlaps with Picknic's vegetarian/vegan segment but with a smaller dataset and less structured allergen or cross-contact information than Picknic.
Broad incumbents
- Yelp: Yelp is a broad incumbent in restaurant discovery with mobile apps, reviews, and limited dietary filters. It is not specialized for food allergies but competes for the same restaurant-finding use case and dwarfs Picknic on traffic and SEO.
- Google Maps: Google Maps is the default restaurant discovery surface on most US smartphones, with restaurant info, reviews, and increasingly dietary tags. It competes with Picknic for the same restaurant-discovery intent and has structural distribution advantages.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Picknic social profiles
Digital presencePicknic financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Picknic leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Picknic funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Picknic M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Picknic
What does Picknic do?
Picknic is a web-based restaurant discovery application that helps individuals with food allergies, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, vegetarian, and vegan diets find safe dining options. The platform provides a proprietary database of 58,000+ U.S. restaurant locations — including 60 national chains and hundreds of local restaurants — with detailed allergen, cross-contact, and menu information gathered through direct conversations with restaurant management. Users can sign up free for Basic Accounts with full search filters and partner restaurant access, or subscribe to Premium for $4.99/month or $19.99/year to access non-partner restaurant guides.
Is Picknic a public or private company?
Picknic is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Picknic founded?
Picknic was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Picknic based?
Picknic is headquartered in Nashville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Picknic make money?
One revenue line is on record: premium Subscription.
Who are Picknic's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are HappyCow, Find Me Gluten Free and AllergyEats. OpenTable is listed as an others. Emerging players are Spoonacular and VegGuide. Broad incumbents are Yelp and Google Maps.
Does Picknic have an API?
No public API is recorded for Picknic.
What industry is Picknic in?
Picknic's product category is Restaurant Discovery Platform / Dietary Restriction Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAHAEAE, Natural Specialty Food Stores (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Keto, Allergy-Friendly). Its NAICS code is 445298 and its SIC code is 5810.