Analyzing restaurant menus in view of consumer preferences

A method of interpreting menu items, comprising:

• receiving a list of menu items and menu ingredients associated with the menu items;
• comparing the list of menu ingredients with a stored list of ingredients on a mobile device;
• for a match between at least one of the menu ingredients and at least one of the stored list of ingredients, excluding a menu item containing the matched menu ingredient from a filtered list of menu items;
• and
• displaying on the mobile device, the filtered list of menu items.

A computer-readable storage device having instructions thereon to perform a method for interpreting a restaurant menu, the method comprising:

• receiving user input associated with medical-related concerns with ingredients;
• storing a list of ingredients on a mobile phone based on the received user input, the list of ingredients being problematic or undesirable ingredients for a user to consume;
• connecting the mobile phone to a restaurant network;
• receiving a list of menu-item ingredients and associated menu items from the restaurant network;
• comparing, on the mobile phone, the list of menu-item ingredients to the stored list of ingredients;
• and
• displaying menu items on the mobile phone associated with menu-item ingredients that do not match ingredients on the stored list so that a reduced list of menu items is displayed.