iPhone + Foodies = Yummy Apps!

I’ve finally admitted to myself that the iPhone really will give me the functionality that I need now that my business is growing.

So I started taking a look at all the apps that my iPhone crazy friends have been talking about and low and behold I discovered 10 apps just for foodies! And best of all may of them are free and none cost more than $2.99 so even a skinflint like me can comfortably purchase an app or two.

So, here’s the list from free to $2.99:

Free

• Yelp: Using the iPhone’s GPS system, this app delivers handy reviews and restaurants near your location
• Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List: Over 27,000 delicious and easy recipes
• What’s the Wait?: Hungry but too tired to wait for a seat just touch this app and  find local restaurants that still  have open reservations
• All Recipes Dinner Spinner: Thousands of  recipes with color pictures and a randomizer feature that lets your iPhone choose your dinner menu
• Big Oven: Just 170,000 recipes and shopping lists available just in case you still can’t figure out what to eat after consulting the other cookbooks apps
• Whole Foods Market Recipes: Learn how to make tasty (and healthy!) meals with this simple to use cookbook/grocery list/store locator program

$0.99

• Tipulator: The perfect app for those of us who are sick and tired of the three hour discussion of who owes what that invariably follows a group meal. This handy app calculates how much the tip should be and then tells you how much each diner should contribute.
• Local Eats: A running lists of the 100 best restaurants in any given area in the States. Just type in your zip code for recommendations.
• GroceryIQ: This little app remembers your shopping history so that you don’t have to continue to start your next shopping list from scratch.
• Kitchen Calculator Pro: Another must have for me when I’m just too lazy to do the mental math. It looks pretty cool.

$1.99

• Smart Chef Substitutions: This is definitely going to be added to my iPhone since I never am sure about how to make ingredient substitutions. (My friend Fran will probably appreciate not being a walking recipe conversion tool.)
• Nutrition Menu: This handy app has over 93,000 food items right at your fingertips. It helps to track your daily calorie and water intake, exercise patterns and weight.

$2.99

• UrbanSpoon: Feeling lucky? This app takes its cues from Vegas slot machines with three columns — one for price, neighborhood and cuisine. One “pull” and you’ll be presented with restaurant of the day. Sounds cute and is a much faster way to decide when you have a group of “I don’t know, where do you want to eat?” to work with.
• Veggie Spots: Finally a way for vegetarians to locate restaurants that meet their needs. Using the GPS system you just type in your zip code and a list of restaurants ranging from vegetarian friendly to vegan only will appear.
• Fast Food Calorie Counter: The perfect app for health and weight conscious people. It has nutritional information for more than 6,000 menu items of over 50 popular fast food restaurants. This will be an excellent app for me — one look at all those calories generally make me lose my appetite.
• Calorie Tracker by LiveStrong.com: While this is another calorie tracker it’s also a portable fitness center that keeps count of what you eat and how many calories you’re burning throughout the day. Pretty good deal for only $2.99.
• Locavore: Looking for fresh produce grown locally and/or organically. Then all you need to do is click on this handy app and get a pretty complete list of local farmer’s markets and stores that meet your requirements

I was really surprised to find out just how many applications they have dedicated to cooking (12) and other eatery information.  I’m starting to get a glimpse at why people are so jazzed up about this phone. Menu planning will never be the same for me again. I’m looking forward to getting my phone — I think my first app purchase will be the GroceryIQ because I can’t seem to keep a shopping list in my hands more than 10 minutes before I lose it. Thanks Apple!