Ballard developer creates “Ballard Spot Roulette” restaurant picker

A Ballard developer has created an app that helps you solve one of your most burning questions: Where should I eat tonight?

Norbu Tsering calls his creation Ballard Spot Roulette, which he says was born out of chronic eating-out indecision.

“My girlfriend and I used to take turns picking where to eat, but I’m terrible at decisions. Sometimes I’d drag it out and she’d get frustrated,” Tsering told My Ballard. “So I made this site as a fun and easy way to choose where to eat. When I showed it to her, she laughed and said I had to share it.”

Ballard Spot Roulette picks a random restaurant, bar, cafe, or dessert place from one of 58 spots he’s so far populated in the app. You can filter by type (restaurants, bars, cafes, desserts) and even use sub-filters like vegan or vegetarian options.

When it lands on a spot, it gives you the opening hours, some “must-try” menu options, and a little descriptor. If you don’t like the sounds of it, you can click the “roll dice” button for another option.

To create the app, Tsering looked at his and his girlfriend’s Google location histories and added their favorite spots. He then wrote the code so the app would pick one at random.

“I sourced the hours, images, and directions from Google Maps, removing any I thought were unflattering to the restaurant,” he said.

Tsering describes himself as a solo developer, building tools and experimenting with neighborhood-scale projects. “This one started as a small experiment for my girlfriend and me, but now I want to see if other people find it useful too.”