Terms of Service

Draft, pending legal review.This is a working draft and is not yet in effect. It will be reviewed by a lawyer before PanDeSal launches, and the final version will replace this page.

These terms are an agreement between you and FoodGenome LLC ("we", "us"), which operates PanDeSal. By creating an account or using the app you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the app.

The service

PanDeSal recommends dishes, restaurants, and store finds drawn from editorial sources and your own taste, and lets you keep a journal of what you eat. It is provided for general information and entertainment. The service is provided as-is and may change as we improve it.

Your account

You need an Apple account to sign in. You are responsible for activity under your account. You must be at least 13 years old to use the app.

Your content

The dishes, notes, and images you log remain yours. You grant us the limited license needed to store and display that content back to you and to operate the features you use. We do not publish your journal to other users.

Do not log content that is unlawful or that you do not have the right to use. We may remove content or suspend accounts that violate these terms.

Feedback

If you send us ideas, suggestions, or other feedback about the app, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right to use it for any purpose without any obligation or compensation to you. Please do not send us anything you consider confidential.

Our intellectual property

PanDeSal, including its software, design, text, the compiled dish database, the flavor data and scores we generate, our recommendations, and the PanDeSal name and logo, is owned by us and protected by intellectual-property laws.

We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may not copy, scrape, harvest, redistribute, sell, or use our content — including the dish data and scores — to build or train a competing product or dataset, except where the law expressly allows it.

Editorial sources and third-party names

The dish information in the app is compiled from publicly available editorial sources and aggregated factual information. References to critics, publications, guides, awards, restaurants, and brands are factual references used to describe where a dish has been noted.

We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or otherwise connected to any of those critics, publications, award bodies, restaurants, or brands. All third-party names, trademarks, and logos belong to their respective owners and are used only to identify their goods and services.

Acceptable use

Do not abuse the service: no attempts to disrupt or overload our servers, probe or breach security, scrape other users' data, or reverse engineer the app except where the law permits it.

Copyright complaints (DMCA)

We respect intellectual-property rights. If you believe content in the app infringes your copyright, email hello@eatpandesal.com with: a description of the work, where it appears in the app, your contact information, a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized, a statement under penalty of perjury that your notice is accurate and you are the owner or authorized to act, and your physical or electronic signature.

We will respond to valid notices, remove or disable infringing material, and terminate the accounts of repeat infringers. If you believe your content was removed in error, you may send a counter-notice to the same address.

Food information disclaimer

Dish descriptions, flavor data, and recommendations are editorial and informational — they are not dietary, allergy, or medical advice. Always verify ingredients with the restaurant or manufacturer if you have allergies or dietary restrictions.

Any labels about a dish (for example that it appears vegetarian, vegan, or free of an allergen) are drawn from public sources, may be wrong or out of date, and must be confirmed with the restaurant before you rely on them.

You decide what to eat, where, and from whom, and you assume the risks of those choices. To the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for any illness, allergic reaction, or other harm that results from food you choose to eat.

Restaurant, store, and AI-generated information

Restaurant and store details — such as hours, prices, menus, product availability, and whether a place is still open — come from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Check with the business before you go.

Some descriptions, summaries, and recommendations are written or selected with the help of AI and may contain mistakes. Treat them as a starting point, not as verified fact.

Third-party businesses and links

Restaurants, stores, and other businesses shown in the app are independent of us. We are not responsible for their food, products, service, safety, or prices.

If you book, order, or buy through a link to another company, that transaction is between you and that company and is governed by its terms. We are not responsible for it.

Ads, sponsored placements, and commissions

To keep the app free, we may show ads and sponsored placements, and we may earn a commission when you book, order, or buy through some links. Anything paid for is always clearly labeled as an ad. Recommendations that are not labeled as ads are never paid for.

Alcohol

Some recommendations involve bars or alcoholic drinks. They are meant only for people of legal drinking age where they live. Drink responsibly and never drink and drive.

Disclaimer of warranties

The app is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant the app will be uninterrupted or error-free.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data or goodwill, arising from your use of the app. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of $50 or the amount you paid us in the past 12 months.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, losses, and reasonable legal fees arising out of the content you log, your use or misuse of the app, or your violation of these terms or of any law or third-party right.

Dispute resolution, arbitration, and class-action waiver

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights and requires individual arbitration instead of court for most disputes.

Except for disputes that qualify for small-claims court, you and we agree to resolve any dispute relating to the app or these terms through final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or JAMS under its consumer rules, rather than in court. The arbitration will be conducted in English in California or your county of residence, or by phone or video where available.

You and we agree that disputes will be brought only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, consolidated, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any class or representative proceeding.

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing hello@eatpandesal.com within 30 days of first accepting these terms, with your name and a statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these terms.

If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim — and only that claim — will proceed in court, and the rest of this section will still apply. The rest of these terms remain in effect regardless.

Apple App Store

You download the app from the Apple App Store, but these terms are an agreement between you and us only, not with Apple. Apple is not responsible for the app or its content.

Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for the app and no warranty obligation of any kind. Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app, including product-liability, legal-compliance, or consumer-protection claims, or any third-party claim that the app infringes intellectual-property rights.

You confirm you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. embargo or designated as terrorist-supporting, and you are not on any U.S. restricted-parties list. You will use the app in compliance with Apple's App Store Terms of Service and applicable law. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

Termination

You can stop using the app and delete your account at any time in Settings. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (your content license winding down, disclaimers, liability limits) survive it.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

General

These terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us about the app and replace any earlier agreements. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.

Our not enforcing a term is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

Changes and contact

We may update these terms; material changes will be noted in the app with an updated effective date. Questions: hello@eatpandesal.com