Many charge restaurants a fee to visit, eat free food and create content to share with their audiences — essentially functioning as an advertising platform. That approach is understandable as long as creators disclose which posts are paid for, but that often doesn't happen. And that's a violation of federal rules, though it's not something that's widely enforced.
The local influencer scene became a hot topic recently when an account with over 500,000 followers between Instagram, TikTok and Facebook was called out (and not for the first time) for collecting money from small businesses, filming content and then failing to post. The news broke when some of those restaurants posted publicly about their experience with the page.
Jonathan Davis, who runs what was called the Denver Foodie — and started every video with "What's up, Denver," which is now the new handle he's using, @whatsupdenver303 — told 9News: “It's really just been hard for me to keep up, you know. And I'll admit sometimes I might have bit off more than I can chew. I'm doing it all on my own, you know, on top of building my social media presence. It’s a ton of work."
He also took to social media to "speak up for myself and tell my side of the story," in a video in which he explains his involvement in a lawsuit with the current owner of another social media page, I'm From Denver, which Davis says he founded in 2012 and sold in 2020. (Note: I had content stolen by I'm From Denver several times over the years while it was owned and run by Davis, as did many other writers I know.)
Davis now appears to be back to business as usual, posting regular content to his newly named channels — none of which note that any of it is sponsored content or a paid partnership.
All of which made us wonder...
Why is there still so little transparency in the influencer world?
A lack of information about how these accounts work and what's being charged leaves restaurants vulnerable to being scammed and diners unclear on whether that post raving about the hottest new restaurant or the best burger is remotely truthful.So we're digging in, offering that information from one influencer (or in this case, podcaster) at a time.
Kip Wilson and his co-host, Chris Byard (who is also a Westword contributor covering the food truck scene), are behind Stoned Appetit, a podcast centered on the culinary and marijuana scenes that has a loyal following on social media, where Wilson often posts about local restaurants.
Here's what Wilson has to say about how Stoned Appetit operates and the places he loves right now:
Handle
@Stoned_Appetit
Name
Kip Wilson
Number of followers
Like, 40,000?
What's your background, and how did you get started in the food social media scene?
I host a podcast with one of my best friends. Both of us grew up working in the restaurant industry across the South and in Colorado. We started working in "social media" when we launched a spin-off podcast in 2018 for a former sports podcast under their life and leisure section.
How would you describe what you do in the food space?
We try to tell authentic stories of local businesses and their staff in the culinary and cannabis space. We have evolved into a hospitality brand with a focus on food and bev.
Would you call yourself an "influencer"?
No. That word is detestable and is part of the problem with the content creators in the scene. I'd rather be called a podcast host, which also is corny AF, but please don't call us that.
Is this your full-time job, and if not, what else do you do?
No, it's not our full-time job. My co-host has a legitimate job working in the Denver world, and I work with cannabis brands, creating white-label content for their businesses and hosting dinner events for the industry.
Do you charge the restaurants you post about, and if so, how does that pricing structure work?
No. Outside of some rare situations, we don't take money from restaurants, because their margins are small enough. We use our residual income from our day jobs to dine in the community and recommend places we think are worth the "bang for their buck" or worthy of spending hard-earned money for date nights, etc. We try our best to refuse free meals due to the fact that it invalidates the credibility of the review (aka content exchange for free meals).
What kind of results have you seen for the restaurants you post about?
Some probably see a bump in exposure or visits, but we don't really measure that, because we're just telling folks places we enjoyed and think folks in the community would enjoy as well.
What's your best source for finding new places to go?
Chefs. We follow five foodie pages, but if we want quality recommendations, we get them from chefs in our community or from the cities we're visiting. Not only do they actually know what quality food and service looks like, but they're spending their money in these establishments, so we trust the chefs in the community 99 times out of 100 over the person getting a comped meal for promotion.
What places are you most excited about right now?
Same places as always. Hop Alley — their addition of a chef's tasting menu is a wonderful new wrinkle to their already great menu. Sap Sua — fresh ingredients, creative dishes, great chef and staff, they're a team you want to support. Alma Fonda Fina — duh, even the Michelin Guide could see Johnny [Curiel] and the team's excellence and deliciousness.
Where do you dine most frequently?
Yuan Wonton. Every other Friday, we try and visit our shef friends for our favorite dumplings and spicy dishes in the city. Shoutout to P, Ngoc, Carolina, Katarina, Rob and the fam for making us feel at home every time we visit. (Yes, we pay — we don't expect a free dish just because we post how much we like it.)
Stone Cellar Bistro — more folks need to venture outside of the main cut to find dank eats, and they're serving up excellence in Olde Town Arvada.
And Tavernetta. You just can't beat their pasta and wine pairings. It may be higher-end, but it's worth every penny.
Do you have a suggestion for which local food influencer we should talk to next? Email [email protected].
