To be a successful influencer, it helps to have a hook. And for @thickeats, aka Anthony Saady, a restaurant influencer in Virginia Beach, it’s about being larger than life. The spreads are big, the pizza slices and burgers are epic, and the signature beard would make James Harden jealous.

It also helps that Saady knows food. Like really knows food. For nearly 40 years, his family has owned and operated Azar’s Mediterranean Specialties, comprising two restaurants, specialty grocery stores, and a catering business, all honoring their Lebanese roots.

“I was packaging hummus at the age of six,” Saady said with a big laugh. “Like, I understand what it takes. I know the margins. I know the blood, sweat, and tears that people have put into their restaurants.”

Recently, we caught up with Saady, in between restaurant visits, to talk about how an influencer can benefit your business and what that process might look like.

Thanks for chatting with us Anthony! Let’s dive right in: From your perspective, why is it important for a restaurant to partner with an influencer?

A: You know, we used to find new restaurants in newspapers; we used to find new restaurants by word of mouth. Now, you can just scroll on your phone and find any restaurant you want at your fingertips. It's as easy as that. But now it's hard because you're trying to compete with everything else that's on your phone, right? Yelp, Google, this, that…

It makes a difference when a restaurant can feature a trusted source, a local foodie like myself. It’s about building that trust, so the audience goes, ‘I trust his palette; I trust his opinion.’

No doubt, the competition is fierce. Let’s talk a little about the process: If you’re an operator, and you’re not really sure how this works — how do you go about choosing someone to partner with?

A: The best thing is to start by doing your research — look at an influencer's page first, see what they're highlighting. If they're highlighting events or things other than food, sometimes their page won't do as well because of how the algorithm works.

The biggest thing that people get kind of thrown off by is followers. A lot of times followers can be a huge deal, but it’s really all about the views. For a little guy like me — under 10,000 followers — the name of the game is still the number of views. If I can show my followers a really good burger, and they’re engaged with it, that’s a lot of eyeballs locally on that burger — liking it, saving it, or sending it to somebody else.

If a restaurant is interested, are they reaching out to you through your handle?

A: They reach out through email, my handle, my Facebook, my TikTok — I think every platform I have [laughs]. A lot of times it's DMs [direct messages] from people. And then it could be a friend of the family, somebody connected to the industry, that says ‘Hey, I have a friend's restaurant that I'd love you to check out.’

Once an operator connects with an influencer, how does the setup work? What are the expectations for a post?

A: The first thing is what are you really looking for? Are you looking for a one-reel type of thing? Are you looking for some highlights? And then what is the rate for the influencer? Does the influencer have a crew, or is it just you, an iPhone, some lighting, and a nice mic?

It’s about making sure the restaurant is comfortable with how the influencer may portray it. So, setting that expectation for what kind of review it is or establishing the style up front.

I personally don't go to a restaurant without trying it first. My motto is that I want to show you the best food possible. I don't want to just go somewhere, and it’s a stereotypical paid advertisement. It’s more like, I went in, and I approved it myself — I enjoyed that restaurant.

What are the next steps after you create a reel? What kind of legs can a post have?

A: There are a few options. Advertising is huge. I think the perfect budget for a restaurant to be able to stretch out content for at least a week and a half, or so, is like $150. $100 going towards Facebook and Instagram, and $50 towards TikTok does a lot. And it just keeps the content lively and current for the restaurant.

Sometimes, an operator might say ‘Hey, I loved the content, love what you've done for our restaurant. We would love for you to maybe do some of our socials.’ Or if they are hosting a special event, create basically an “on-call thing” that would add some value for both the influencer and the restaurant as well.

Do you recommend that a restaurant work with the same influencer, or is it better to get different points of view?

A: Diversify, diversify, diversify. There might be a woman with an audience of 25,000 that's more tuned to families, things like that. And then there could be a college student that can reach a whole different generation.

But, create that relationship with the influencer and stay in close communication. It's pretty fun! I always get texts from restaurants asking if I know anybody for this or that. I’ll even set up influencer parties and bring 15 to 20 influencers to one place. The restaurant will basically make a spread or provide a tasting of their food — and then optional drink tickets, so you get all aspects of the vibe and hit as many audiences as you can.

Are you seeing certain menu items that are getting more engagement than others?

A: I actually had this conversation about a week ago with somebody, and I advised them — anything cheesy you have; anything with a cheese pull; anything gooey; anything like that from pizza to quesadilla tacos. It’s really visually appealing on a video. You give it the first two seconds of the spotlight on a video and people are drawn to it. I mean, who doesn't really like cheese?

Absolutely! Bacio® Cheese or Contigo® Maestro Blend - Pupusa Cheese would be awesome for that. Have you featured anything that diners have said was the reason they checked out a restaurant?

A: I did a video for a brand-new restaurant. They had this giant wood board, and they served a 16-ounce ribeye steak with colossal shrimp. And it was…oh it was beautiful! It was literally the best experience I've ever had. They did smoked crab dip tableside. It came with broccolini; it came with a bowl of lobster mac ‘n’ cheese.

And I was for like $99. I was like, this is the best deal ever. This is the most luxurious deal; you really can't beat it. The next week, the chef told me they had so many orders, they could barely keep up with the demand.

Whoa! Let’s get that delivered here ASAP. It feels like social media is very people first. Do you ever encourage the staff to get involved with videos — would that be helpful?

A: Only if they're comfortable. I’ll get messages from the waitstaff like, ‘Hey, we had a lot of customers come in and say your name. They were really sweet, they tipped us well,’ things like that.

Lastly, how important is it to partner with an influencer who's local, who kind of understands the community and can speak as a consumer in that community?

A: I mean, the credibility alone is huge. I grew up in the restaurant business. My family has worked with Performance Foodservice for years. I probably have a little bit more insight than some people because I know the background. A lot of my passion comes from that — cooking or being [at the restaurant] late at night or early in the morning.

During COVID, one of our dear friends had a sushi restaurant that we love, but they were struggling. I helped them out for a few years, and it worked! They were really happy. It just kind of snowballed from there. And it’s created so many opportunities like this, where I get to talk to both of you and have a great conversation about restaurants.

Thanks so much Anthony! We’ll have to make a road trip down and try the food at Azar’s.

We’d love to have you! See you guys soon.