Brian Can't Stop Eating
Brian Can't Stop Eating
This content creator is hosting "Best of Brooklyn" at the New York City Wine & Food Festival
About six years ago, Brian Lindo started documenting his love affair with food. The New Yorker would stop in at burger spots or dumpling shops throughout the city, spotlighting the food and the people behind the meals he enjoyed.
At first, Lindo’s Instagram, Brian Can’t Stop Eating, was something of a hobby for the tech sales executive. But the number of followers increased, thanks in part to his fine editing skills and the fact that his reviews rang of honesty: Lindo says that he purchases all of his meals, eschewing free meals and restaurant payouts for features on his Instagram, which currently has 233,000 followers. Instead, Lindo chooses to seek out smaller restaurants that he finds interesting. “I’ve developed a great relationship with my followers by going to places that don’t get that loud media splash or have a PR team. We try to have the most authentic experiences we can have when we go somewhere to eat. We’re not trying to get special treatment.”
Lindo says that, for him, paying for meals allows him to have the freedom to say what he wants to say. “A big part of not accepting free meals is that I never feel on the hook. The food, the ambiance, the service is how a restaurant makes it onto my page.”
Last spring, Lindo said he finally realized that his Instagram account was generating more income than his sales job and that his career had officially tipped the scales, and he turned his social media passion into a full-time career. Now, Lindo and his fiance, Alyssa, have another goal: To travel to all 50 states, discovering each state’s iconic food.
“The goal is to visit all 50 states in a year and a half,” says Lindo, adding that the strategy is to visit a few states at a time before regrouping in New York. Lindo started in August and has visited 10 states, with five more scheduled for the months ahead. “I’ve done the New York food scene and feel like I’m well versed in it, but this was a way for me to level up my content. I wanted to meet different people and tell their stories. I want to discover what regional food makes up these states and what’s the best each place has to offer,” he says.
But, before Lindo gets back on the road, there’s the New York City Wine & Food Festival, where Lindo will host his own event on Thursday, October 12 called, “Best of Brooklyn”. The event, held at the 74Wythe event venue in Bushwick, will feature food and drink by some of Brooklyn’s most loved restaurants including Red Hook Tavern, Cafe Spaghetti, and Lingo. Says Lindo of the event, “We’ve compiled a list of all-star Brooklyn restaurants. There’s a lot of variety from Italian to Asian to plant-based dishes — it’s all there.”
Lindo says don’t believe the hype that you had to have gotten in on the ground floor of Instagram or TikTok to make a mark in the world of social media creation. “The name of the game is that there aren’t that many content creators that started at the beginning and are still at it. Stay consistent and try to improve the quality of your photo or video every time. It’s not too late. Brands are starting to respect social media now more than ever.”