Question 1

What is Mangiamo?

Accepted Answer

Mangiamo is a private, high-trust dining guide and personal restaurant tracker. It helps you track places you want to visit, keep a curated record of your favorite spots, and get recommendations from people you actually know and trust.

Question 2

How do you pronounce "Mangiamo"?

Accepted Answer

mahn-JAH-moh. It's Italian for "Let's eat!"

Question 3

Is Mangiamo free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Mangiamo is free to use during our Private Beta.

Question 4

How do I get access?

Accepted Answer

Mangiamo is currently invite-only. Join by accepting an invitation code from an existing user, or sign up for the waitlist at /join to get access as new spots open up.

Question 5

What platforms is Mangiamo available on?

Accepted Answer

Mangiamo is a fast, responsive progressive web app, accessible from any mobile or desktop browser. Save it to your phone's home screen for an app-like experience.

Question 6

Can I add restaurants that aren't in your database?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Add any restaurant with its name, location, cuisine, and your own Private Notes, and it appears in your personal dining guide immediately.

Question 7

Who can see my restaurant lists and Private Notes?

Accepted Answer

Your dining data is private by default. Connected friends see only what you explicitly mark as a Favorite or a Recommendation. Your To-Visit list, Private Notes, My Lists, and Visited history are visible only to you, unless you choose to share your Visited history — see "Can my friends see where I've eaten?" below.

Question 8

How do I connect with friends?

Accepted Answer

Connections on Mangiamo are mutual and invite-only. Generate a unique invite link from the Friends tab and send it directly to someone — once they accept, you're connected.

Question 9

Does Mangiamo access my phone contacts to find friends?

Accepted Answer

No. Mangiamo never imports or stores your contact book. Adding friends is entirely opt-in — you choose who to invite and send them a link yourself, nothing is scanned or uploaded automatically.

Question 10

What are Friend Groups?

Accepted Answer

A way to organize your connections into smaller circles — coworkers, college friends, a travel crew, whatever makes sense to you. Filter your Explore feed and map by a specific group to see recommendations from just that circle, instead of everyone at once.

Question 11

How do I create a Friend Group?

Accepted Answer

Open the Friends drawer and tap "+ New Group." Name it, add existing friends, and you're set. Rename it, add or remove people, or delete it entirely whenever you want. If you add someone directly this way rather than through the group's invite link, they'll need to accept before the connection is made — it's not automatic like joining via link.

Question 12

How do I invite people to a Friend Group?

Accepted Answer

Each group gets one shareable link. Before joining, anyone who opens it sees a clear note that joining connects them with everyone currently in the group — and with anyone who joins later, too. Once they confirm, they're instantly connected to the whole group, no individual invites needed.

Question 13

If I'm already in a group, do I have to approve new people who join?

Accepted Answer

No. Joining a group's invite link connects a new member with everyone currently in that group right away — there's no case-by-case approval. You'll get a notification when someone new joins a group you're in, just so you know who's now part of your circle; it's there to keep you informed, not something you need to act on.

Question 14

What is Leave Group, and what happens if I use it?

Accepted Answer

Leave Group removes you from that group and stops you from being connected to anyone who joins it after you leave. It doesn't undo the individual friend connections you've already made with people in that group — those stay in place unless you remove them separately. It also revokes your access to any Collaborative Lists linked to that group; restaurants you'd already added to those lists stay for the remaining members. Find it in the group's settings within the Friends drawer.

Question 15

Why did my group invite link stop working?

Accepted Answer

Group links expire after 30 days for security. The group owner can open the group's settings and tap "Regenerate Code" to get a fresh link — the group's name, history, and current members stay exactly as they are.

Question 16

If someone's removed from a group, are we still friends?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Removing someone from a group only takes them out of that group — the friend connection you formed stays in place unless one of you removes it directly.

Question 17

What do my friends actually see?

Accepted Answer

Connected friends see your public picks overlaid on restaurant cards — "Andy favorited this" or "Sarah recommends this" — when browsing their own Explore feed, Map view, or your Friend Profile page. If you've also opted to share your Visited history, they'll see that too. Want to share less? You can manage sharing preferences from the Account Settings window (top right corner of the app under your picture or first initial).

Question 18

Can my friends see where I've eaten?

Accepted Answer

Only if you want them to. By default, your visit history is completely private. You can turn on "Share my Visited history with friends" in Account Settings to let your connected friends see when you've visited a spot.

Question 19

What do my friends see when I share my visits?

Accepted Answer

Mutual friends will see a badge on restaurant cards — "[Your Name] visited" — and your avatar in the restaurant's detail view. They won't see your Private Notes unless you separately choose to share those.

Question 20

What happens if I turn Visited sharing off later?

Accepted Answer

Your visit badges disappear from friends' cards and detail views right away. Nothing about past visits is deleted — it just goes back to being visible only to you.

Question 21

Can friends of friends see what I share?

Accepted Answer

No. Only your own connected friends can see the Favorites and Recommendations you've chosen to share. If someone is a friend of your friend but not connected to you directly, they can't see your activity. Your visibility stays exactly as wide as the connections you've made yourself.

Question 22

Does Mangiamo sell my data?

Accepted Answer

Never. We don't sell your personal data or share your dining history with third-party marketers.

Question 23

How does my location and Primary Dining City work, and do you track where I go?

Accepted Answer

No — we never track your whereabouts in the background. Your Primary Dining City or set location simply serves as your default starting view when you open the app or browse maps, and it's what powers Surprise Me's recommendations. When you use location-based features, like finding spots nearby, we only use your position in that exact moment to show relevant places. We don't build a profile of your daily movements, and we don't sell location data to anyone.

Question 24

Why do you ask for my Primary Dining City?

Accepted Answer

It's entirely optional — you can skip it. If you set one, it centers your Explore map and powers local features like Surprise Me, without needing constant background location access. It's private to you and never sold.

Question 25

Why does Surprise Me say there are no good recommendations near me?

Accepted Answer

Surprise Me looks for spots within 50 miles of your Primary Dining City. If it can't find a good match in that radius, it'll let you know rather than suggesting somewhere too far to be useful — try the search bar to look in a different city instead.

Question 26

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Delete your account and all associated personal data any time from Account Settings, under "Account & Data Management."

Question 27

What is Table Talk?

Accepted Answer

A running conversation on each restaurant's page, just for your mutual friends — tips, what to order, a note about the seating. Think of it like writing on a matchbook and passing it around, not a public review.

Question 28

Who can see my Table Talk comments?

Accepted Answer

Only your confirmed mutual friends. Comments are visible only to your mutual friends — never to strangers, never indexed by search engines, and never posted anywhere public. If you're not mutually connected with someone, they can't see what you've written.

Question 29

How do Table Talk comments differ from my Private Notes?

Accepted Answer

Private Notes are marked with a lock icon and are 100% private to you — nobody else can ever see them. Table Talk is a shared space for your mutual friends to swap tips, what-to-order advice, and notes on a place.

Question 30

Who can delete comments?

Accepted Answer

Only the person who wrote a comment can delete it. Not even the friend whose recommendation started the conversation can remove someone else's reply.

Question 31

Can I react to or like a friend's comment?

Accepted Answer

No — Table Talk deliberately has no likes, hearts, or reaction counts. It's built for genuine tips, not vanity metrics or clout.

Question 32

How do @mentions work?

Accepted Answer

Type @ and tag a friend in a comment to make sure they see it. You can only mention your existing mutual friends — not any Mangiamo user — so there's no way to tag or notify a stranger.

Question 33

Can my friends reply to my recommendations?

Accepted Answer

By default, yes — "Allow connected friends to reply to my recommendations" is on for every account. Turn it off in Account Settings if you'd rather keep replies closed.

Question 34

Are my comments shared with my friends automatically?

Accepted Answer

By default, yes — "Share my Comments with connected friends" is on for every account, so anything you write in Table Talk is visible to your mutual friends right away. Turn it off in Account Settings if you'd rather your comments stay just between you and the restaurant.

Question 35

What happens to my comments if I delete my Mangiamo account?

Accepted Answer

They're permanently erased, along with your Private Notes and My Lists. Mangiamo doesn't keep anonymized or "ghost" versions of your comments on any restaurant page — once your account is gone, your words go with it.

Question 36

Does Mangiamo make reservations for me?

Accepted Answer

Not directly. Mangiamo automatically detects a restaurant's direct booking link — Resy, OpenTable, SevenRooms, Tock, or the restaurant's own site — so you're taken straight to the right place to book with one tap, instead of guessing which service they use. You can also manually log and organize your upcoming reservations.

Question 37

Does canceling a reservation in Mangiamo cancel it with the restaurant?

Accepted Answer

No. Mangiamo is your personal dining journal, not a booking platform. Canceling or rescheduling in Mangiamo only updates your own log — it doesn't reach Resy, OpenTable, SevenRooms, Tock, or the restaurant directly. To actually release your table and avoid a late-cancellation or no-show fee, cancel through the original booking platform or contact the restaurant.

Question 38

Can my friends or the restaurant see my cancellation reason?

Accepted Answer

No. Whatever you jot down when canceling — "plans changed," "not feeling well" — is stored securely and strictly confidential to your account. It's never shared with venues, third-party booking platforms, or your connected friends.

Question 39

What's the prompt I sometimes see after a reservation passes?

Accepted Answer

A quick, one-tap card that shows up the next time you open the app after a logged reservation's time has passed. It lets you mark the spot as Visited, add it to Favorites, or drop a quick Table Talk tip while it's fresh. If your plans changed, tap "I didn't end up going" to update your log.

Question 40

How do I share a reservation with someone?

Accepted Answer

Every reservation has a Share option. On mobile, tapping it opens your phone's native share sheet, so you can send the details through iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, or whatever you'd normally use. On desktop, it copies a link straight to your clipboard, with a quick confirmation so you know it worked. This all happens through your own device — Mangiamo never accesses, reads, or stores your contacts, or any information about who you send it to.

Question 41

What happens when I add a dining companion to a reservation?

Accepted Answer

Dining Companions are for people who are already your connected friends on Mangiamo — search and tag them right from the reservation form, and it shows up on their own dashboard with the full details: time, location, party size, and notes. You can only tag existing mutual friends this way. Mangiamo doesn't let you search or tag anyone outside your connections, so there's no contact lookup or cold-tagging involved.

Question 42

What is the To-Visit list?

Accepted Answer

Your personal dining wishlist. A private collection of spots you want to check out.

Question 43

How many lists can I create?

Accepted Answer

Up to five active personal My Lists at a time — themed however you like ("Late Night Bites," "Parents in Town," a trip you're planning). Manage them from Account Settings under My Lists, or check the box for any of your active lists right on a restaurant's card or listing when you save it. Lists you've linked to a Friend Group don't count toward this personal cap — see "Does a shared list count against my 5-list quota?" below.

Question 44

What happens when I archive a list?

Accepted Answer

Archiving tucks the list into your Archived Lists drawer and frees up one of your five active slots — none of the restaurants on it are deleted. Restore it with one tap whenever you want it back, as long as you're under your five-list limit.

Question 45

What happens if I try to restore a list while I'm already at 5 active lists?

Accepted Answer

You'll need to archive or delete one of your current active lists first before restoring another.

Question 46

Does deleting a list remove those restaurants from Mangiamo?

Accepted Answer

No. Deleting a personal list only removes the list itself. Every restaurant on it stays in Mangiamo's catalog, and stays on your Favorites or Visited history too, if you'd saved it there separately. Deleting a list linked to a Friend Group removes it for every group member — see the Collaborative Lists questions below for what that means for shared lists specifically.

Question 47

How do Collaborative Lists work?

Accepted Answer

Turn any list into a Collaborative List by linking it to one of your Friend Groups. Every member of that group can instantly see the list, add restaurants to it, and remove ones they've added. A list can only belong to one Friend Group at a time.

Question 48

Who controls a shared list — can someone else delete or take over mine?

Accepted Answer

No. Only the person who created the list (the curator) can rename it, archive it, unlink it from the group, or delete it. Other group members can freely add and remove restaurant recommendations, but they can't delete or reassign your list.

Question 49

Does a shared list count against my 5-list quota?

Accepted Answer

No. Your personal 5-list cap only applies to lists that stay private to you. A list linked to an active Friend Group doesn't count toward it.

Question 50

Can I share a list with more than one Friend Group?

Accepted Answer

Not directly — a list belongs to one Friend Group at a time, so a different circle doesn't see recommendations meant for another. If you want another group to have their own copy, use Duplicate List in the Edit List menu — it creates an independent copy with its own restaurants going forward, without mixing notes or members between the two groups.

Question 51

Does duplicating a list count against my quota?

Accepted Answer

Depends on where it lands. Duplicating a list to link it to a different Friend Group doesn't count against your personal cap. Duplicating a list to keep as another personal list does count as one of your five.

Question 52

What happens if I convert a shared list back to personal?

Accepted Answer

Unlink it from the Friend Group (uncheck "Collaborate with a Friend Group" and save) and it becomes private to you immediately. Other group members lose access right away. Converting it back requires you to have room under your five-list personal cap.

Question 53

What happens to a shared list if I leave or get removed from its Friend Group?

Accepted Answer

Your access to that list is revoked immediately, along with your connection to the rest of the group. Any restaurants you'd already added to the list stay in place for the remaining members.

Question 54

What are the List, Status, and Occasion filters?

Accepted Answer

Every restaurant in Mangiamo can carry three kinds of tags, each with its own filter at the top of Explore:

List — curated collections built into Mangiamo, like Best Burger, Hardest Reservation, Michelin Star, or Top 100 NYT 2025. These are our own editorial tagging, not something you create yourself. (Looking for your own lists instead? They live in the separate My Lists filter.)

Status — where a place stands: To Try, Gift Card, New / Unvisited, Tried / Visited, or Permanently Closed.

Occasion — what kind of moment a place fits: Date Night, Group Dining, Casual / Everyday, Special Occasion, Family / Kid Friendly, Solo Dining, Business / Client, Outdoor / Patio, Late Night.

Use the three together to slice the full directory however you're thinking that day.

Question 55

What's the difference between a Favorite and a Recommendation?

Accepted Answer

A Favorite is a place you personally love and return to. A Recommendation is an active nod to your friends — "If you're in this neighborhood, eat here."

Question 56

Can I see restaurants on a map?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Toggle between the Explore grid and the interactive Map view at the top of the app to browse spots around your location or a target city.

Question 57

Can Mangiamo remind me about upcoming reservations?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you turn it on. Reminders are opt-in, set per reservation, and off by default. You can choose a 25-hour heads-up, a 2-hour heads-up, or both.

Question 58

Why 25 hours instead of 24?

Accepted Answer

Most restaurants enforce cancellation windows right around the 24-hour mark. Setting the reminder at 25 hours gives you a one-hour buffer to cancel or modify before you'd risk a cancellation fee.

Question 59

What do I need for reminders to work?

Accepted Answer

You'll need to opt in on the reservation itself, and your browser or device needs notification permissions granted for Mangiamo. If you've previously denied notification access, you'll need to turn that on in your browser or device settings before reminders can come through.

Question 60

Does turning on reminders share my reservation info with anyone?

Accepted Answer

No. Reminders are delivered through your own device's push notification system. The scheduling process that checks whether a reminder is due doesn't send your reservation details or any personal data to any outside service — it just prompts our own system to check.

Question 61

Why didn't I get my reminder?

Accepted Answer

A few common causes:

Do Not Disturb or Focus mode on your device can suppress notifications entirely.

Browser or OS background restrictions can delay or block push notifications, especially if your browser hasn't been open recently.

Network conditions — a spotty or offline connection right when a reminder is due can cause it to arrive late or not at all.

Time zone mismatches — reminders are calculated using the restaurant's local time zone, so double-check that's what you're expecting if the timing looks off.

Question 62

Are reservation reminders guaranteed to arrive on time?

Accepted Answer

No. Reminders depend on things outside our control, including your device settings, permissions, and network connection. Treat them as a helpful nudge, not a substitute for tracking your own reservations and each restaurant's cancellation policy.

Question 63

Is there an app to download from the App Store or Google Play?

Accepted Answer

Not a traditional one. Mangiamo is built as a Progressive Web App, which means you get the full app experience straight from your browser — no App Store or Play Store download, no chunk of storage taken up on your phone, and no manual updates to keep track of.

Question 64

How do I add Mangiamo to my home screen on iPhone?

Accepted Answer

1. Open getmangiamo.com in Safari.
2. Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up, at the bottom of the screen).
3. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
4. Tap Add in the top-right corner. Mangiamo now sits on your home screen like any other app.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Social & Privacy

Table Talk

Reservations & Lists

Reservation Reminders & Notifications

Installing Mangiamo on Your Phone