create and search question for public database

create and search question for public database

I am trying to build a publicy available database, that will accept data from approved sources from various states across the country.  It will essentially list a restaurant.  Then on the same website, i need to build a search feature that allows the general public to search through that filtered data to find specific locations.  I got the first part down pat but I'm stuck on the second.  Can anyone help?  This has been great so far!