It’s that time of year again! Each year, we put together a list of the best foodie influencers to follow in the Bay Area. According to a Hubspot survey, 71% of consumers are likely to buy products or services based on social media referrals. This is why partnering with trusted influencers is so important, and we are lucky to work with some of the most talented foodie influencers in the Bay Area.
Check out this year’s recommendations, and if you haven’t already, read our 2016 and 2018 recommendations.
Tim C. of @bayarea.foodies
When and why you started your Instagram page: I started it as a means to express my creative side and decided to share my food photos with people. I find a lot of joy when people appreciate my work!
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: School. Play with my toy poodle, Macho. Hangout with friends. Work on my coding side projects.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: San Tung in San Francisco & Lucy’s Mexican Grill in San Jose. Those are the two restaurants I will always crave!
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: It’s a lot of hard work! People think that it’s just about posting food photos and you will automatically be successful. They don’t see the amount of dedication and strategy that we put towards our photography and our brand.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: The Bay Area food scene has been expanding very quickly! Stay tuned for the latest hype!
Kelly Huibregtse of @asideofsweet
When and why you started your Instagram page: I started my Instagram account when the Android app was released. It was a natural extension of my food blog which I started almost 13 years ago!
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I’m a physician caring for some of the Bay Area’s tiniest residents in a neonatal ICU.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: Papito has the best burritos in San Francisco. The duck confit burrito will change your life.
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: I wake up looking forward to starting work every day, which I feel very lucky to say.
Kristopher Lam of @theirregularens
When and why you started your Instagram Page: I started my food Instagram page about three years ago because, like almost everyone on Instagram, I love to share what I am eating. I am passionate and fascinated with food culture. My explore page was always filled with inspirational photos and videos from pages like @buzzfeed and @beautifulcuisines. One day, a thought popped into my head… why not utilize my photography skills to capture what I am having for lunch in a unique way?! This was the perfect way to be creative with something I am passionate about and also allowed me to have fun with it, too.
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I love playing basketball and exploring different parts of the city on the weekends.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: 3rd Cousin!
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: One thing I would say is to have fun with it and capture your photograph in a unique way as if the audience was right there at the dining table with you.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: Don’t be afraid to test your limits and think outside the box when creating your Instagram content! That’s how you’ll stand out, build, and retain your followers.
Yen Phan of @foodiswhyimbroke
When and why you started your Instagram page: I started my IG back in 2016 when I was studying abroad in Hong Kong. That’s when I traveled a lot and ate a lot all throughout Asia. I didn’t start building a following until 2017 after I moved to San Francisco. I’ve always LOVED eating food and I have a passion for photography, so I stopped spamming my friends on Facebook with my food photos and put them on Instagram.
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I travel and Instagram the world’s best food. I travel once a month, so if I’m not eating in SF, I’m eating somewhere in the world. Besides that, I also have a full-time job as an art director.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: Oh wow, that’s tough, but I would say San Tung. Everyone knows my love for fried chicken and San Tung is on another level.
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: We don’t do this for show; we genuinely LOVE food and love creating interesting content because we care. I don’t do this for any sort of benefit. I paid for the majority of the food on my Instagram.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: At the end of the day, I’m still just a normal girl. I don’t really like how people think “influencers” have these perfect lives. We don’t. I certainly don’t. It’s as raw and as real as your life. So don’t feel bad if it looks like we have our shit together because we really don’t. 😉
Hee Jin Lee of @hungryhungryheejin
When and why you started your Instagram page: In 2011, I started my page to keep a food diary because I used to eat out every day, three times a day. I don’t eat out as much as I’d like to now, but I still love trying the newest restaurants and will try anything once!
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I am usually hanging out with my pups and thinking about my next travel destination.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: Avery. Chef Rodney is amazing. And I also love Wako for sushi.
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: Being an influencer & content creator can be a hobby but also a job. I think most people forget that it can be someone’s livelihood and are dismissive of the work that content creators do.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: I am always looking for new places to eat at, so please send me your favorite recommendations!
Alyssa Wang of @feedmeimei
When and why you started your Instagram page: It’s a funny story actually. I started my page in 2014, when I was a student at UC Davis. I realized there wasn’t really a resource for people to look to for food around Davis — it was pretty much just word-of-mouth and Yelp. So I started an Instagram called @davis_eats. I wasn’t taking it too seriously, but I loved doing it. It was all anonymous at the time and sometimes I’d be at a restaurant and overhear people talking about me and how I sent them there. It was super funny to me to hear that because little did they know, I was sitting just a few feet away from them. Fast forward to 2017, I was graduating and moving back home to the Bay Area. This is when I knew I had to rebrand, but I wanted to be able to post whatever I wanted, not be specific to a certain area anymore. That’s when I became @feedmeimei.
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I’m focusing on creating awesome content for my YouTube channel! The two go hand-in-hand, but video is much more work (it takes way longer to edit a ~10 min video than it does to edit a picture or ~1 min video.) Check out my channel!
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: For boba, my favorite is Urban Ritual. Their Matcha Toffee with Crème brûlée Pudding is life changing. My favorite ramen spot in the Bay is Ramen Nagi. Make sure you get the Red King. I like Third Culture Bakery for their mochi donuts & mochi muffins. Cheeseboard Pizza is my favorite pizza spot. They have THE BEST green sauce to go with their pizza. Sorry, I know it was supposed to be favorite and not favorites, but I get carried away when talking about food.
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: It takes a lot of work to get the perfect shot! I get a lot of questions about how I maintain my aesthetic for my Instagram and people asking me for tips. Natural lighting is key, and that might mean bringing your food outside, putting it on the floor, standing on chairs/tables, running around the street with ice cream dripping down your arms, etc. It’s definitely not easy, but 100% worth it!
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: I used to be an engineer at a tech company, but I recently quit and decided to pursue my personal brand full-time. It’s definitely a risk, but I want people reading this to know that you can pursue your passions and dreams, even if people think you’re crazy. Thank you for reading!
Adrienne Hamrah of @willwanderforfood
When and why you started your Instagram page: I’ve always loved taking photos of food. In May 2017, while I was vacationing in Vietnam and eating my heart out, I was inspired to start my food-only Instagram page.
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I’m at the gym so I can eat more, or planning my next food trip.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: Mourad – accessible upscale dining and cocktails, and you don’t have to make reservations months in advance.
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: Good lighting goes a long way!
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: My Instagram is a diverse mix of food, but when I blog it’s a deep-dive in fine dining around the world: www.willwanderforfood.com
Christy Wang of @girlfromcalifornia
When and why you started your Instagram page: I started my Instagram page in the fall of 2016. I was in my last semester college and 1) needed a creative outlet and 2) loved to go out and eat and basically spent all of my money of food. Starting my page (at the time it was @eatwithchristy) was the perfect combination of both things.
What you do when you’re not Instagramming the Bay’s best food: I have a day job and work in marketing at a tech company. Outside of that, I love cooking and hosting brunch and dinner parties with my friends (mimosas and wine for all, please!). I’ve also recently become an OrangeTheory addict and you can find me there most mornings.
Your favorite Bay Area restaurant: Oh this is a tough one, but I always find myself craving a bowl of pho ga from Turtle Tower. It’s also great for morning afters.
What is one thing you want people to know about being a foodie influencer & content creator: It’s a lot of work! I know everyone says this but a lot of time can go into the conception and editing of a photo or recipe post.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know: I just moved to New York a few days ago, so there will be more east coast content on @girlfromcalifornia soon! I’m also super excited about being closer to Europe.