Why we're building Curio

Algorithms don't have taste

You've seen the top-rated lists. The most-reviewed restaurants. The trending spots. They're optimized for clicks, not quality. For volume, not taste. We believe the best recommendations come from real people whose judgment you trust.

Reviews lie

A five-star rating tells you nothing. Was it five stars for the price? The atmosphere? The Instagram potential? Anonymous reviews from strangers can't replace a recommendation from someone who knows what you like.

Discovery should be personal

The coffee shop your friend loves. The bar their colleague recommended. The restaurant they've been telling you about for months. These matter more than any algorithm-generated list. Good taste is personal, contextual, and human.

Collections > Lists

A list is static. A collection is alive. It's curated with intent, updated with care, and shared with context. It's not just where to go, but why it matters, what to order, when to visit, and what makes it special.

Knowledge should be shareable

You've spent years discovering great places. That knowledge shouldn't die in your Notes app or buried in Instagram stories. It should be organized, shareable, and useful to the people who trust your taste.

Curation is craft

Creating a great collection takes time, thought, and taste. It's not about adding every place you've been—it's about sharing the places worth someone else's time. That craft deserves to be recognized, shared, and built upon.

The best guide is a friend

Before every trip, you ask friends: "Where should I go?" They send you scattered texts, screenshots, half-remembered names. Curio is that conversation, organized. It's your friends' recommendations, beautifully presented and actually useful.

Community over scale

We're not trying to list every restaurant in the world. We're building a community of people who care about where they go and want to share that with others who care too. Small, intentional, and taste-driven.