Terms of Service

Last updated: August 4, 2026

1. Acceptance

By accessing or using TopDishy (the "Service"), including topdishy.com and the TopDishy mobile app, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. These terms incorporate our Privacy Policy.

2. The Service

TopDishy lets you discover dishes, write reviews, build a personal stack ranking of the dishes you have eaten in a category, and view aggregated community rankings. Critics and businesses can subscribe for additional features. The mobile app delivers most of the Service through a web view; sign-in, the camera, and in-app purchases are native components.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. We ask for your date of birth once, when you first sign in, to confirm this; the date is used only for that check and is not stored (see the Privacy Policy). An account that does not meet the minimum age is closed. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use the Service only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.

4. Accounts

You sign in using Google, Apple, or Facebook, or with an email address and a password you choose. If you use an email address, you must verify it before your account is active, and you are responsible for keeping your password confidential. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your sign-in method secure. Provide accurate information; do not impersonate another person or claim a critic or business identity that isn't yours.

5. User Content

You retain ownership of content you submit (reviews, photos, ranking entries, critic posts). By submitting content, you grant TopDishy a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute that content within the Service and to promote the Service. This license ends when you delete the content, except to the extent the content has already been incorporated into aggregate community rankings or where retention is required for legal, fraud-prevention, or audit purposes.

You represent that you have the right to post the content you submit and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights.

Direct messages. Messages you send to another member are private between the two of you and are not published or used to promote the Service. Every message is screened by an automated moderation system before it is delivered, and a message that system flags is not delivered. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted: they are stored on our systems, and we may additionally review a message if it is reported to us or where review is required to comply with the law or investigate abuse. Blocking someone stops messages in both directions. Unsending a message clears its text for both of you; deleting a conversation removes it from your own view and leaves the other participant's copy intact; and deleting your account clears the content of the messages you sent. Messages are text only. The Acceptable Use rules below, including our no-tolerance rule for objectionable content and abusive behavior, apply to them in full.

6. Personal Rankings, Sharing, and Critic Publication

Your personal stack rankings are private by default. You can:

  • Generate a share link for one of your category rankings and send it to anyone you choose. You can revoke the link at any time.
  • Hold a critic subscription, which makes the rankings published under your critic profile public on-platform.

We compute community rankings from everyone's private rankings in aggregate. Community rankings are public; the individual inputs are not.

7. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

  • Post content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, hateful, sexually explicit, or that depicts violence or illegal activity.
  • Submit fake reviews, paid reviews you have not disclosed, or reviews of restaurants you have a conflict of interest with.
  • Manipulate rankings, including coordinated voting, sock-puppet accounts, or incentivizing others to rank a dish a particular way.
  • Impersonate another person, business, or critic.
  • Scrape, crawl, or bulk-extract data from the Service without our written permission.
  • Probe, attack, or attempt to bypass security or rate-limiting on the Service.
  • Use the Service to send spam, bulk unsolicited messages, or repeated messages to someone who has not accepted your request.

There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users on TopDishy. We use automated screening (image moderation on every uploaded photo, text moderation on review notes and on every direct message before it is delivered) and we act on user reports: reported content is reviewed by a person, typically within 24 hours, and we may remove content, restrict features, suspend accounts, or terminate access for violations of these terms, without prior notice where the violation is serious.

8. Subscriptions and In-App Purchases

Critic subscriptions and business memberships are paid plans that unlock additional features. Pricing and features for each plan are shown at the point of purchase.

  • Web (Stripe). Subscriptions purchased on the web auto-renew at the interval shown until you cancel. Cancel any time in Settings; access continues through the end of the current paid period. Fees already paid are non-refundable except where required by law.
  • iOS (Apple) and Android (Google Play). In-app purchases are managed by the respective app store. Auto-renewal, cancellation, and refunds are governed by Apple or Google's terms; manage or cancel from your store account.
  • We may change prices on a going-forward basis. We will give you notice before a price change affects your subscription, and you may cancel before it takes effect.

9. Restaurant and Critic Listings

Restaurant and dish information may come from public sources, user submissions, or operator-claimed business profiles. We make reasonable efforts to keep listings accurate but do not guarantee accuracy. If you operate a restaurant and want to claim or correct your listing, follow the in-app claim flow.

10. Termination and Account Deletion

You may delete your account at any time from Settings on the web or mobile app. After deletion, your sign-in identities and identifying profile fields are cleared and you are signed out everywhere; reviews and rankings are retained in a de-identified form because removing them would distort community rankings (see the Privacy Policy for details).

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms, if your account is used for fraud or abuse, or if we are required to do so by law. We will provide notice where practical.

11. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that ratings or rankings will reflect any particular standard of quality, or that listed restaurants will operate as described.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, TopDishy will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or (b) US$50.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold TopDishy harmless from claims arising out of content you submit, your use of the Service, or your violation of these terms.

14. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of laws principles. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts.

15. Changes

We may update these terms. If we make a material change, we will update the date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Continued use of the Service after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected].