The post-COVID recovery for the Brooklyn restaurant Black Nile was kicked off by the hit app of the pandemic.
"We went viral on Tik Tok,” said Fanerra Dupree, who owns the restaurant. “A blogger came in and ate our food and did a video. We didn’t know until people started coming in.” The blogger is Muslim Foodies, and the video got 390,000 views.
Now Dupree can’t take the dish from the video—crab-smothered fried chicken—off the menu.
TikTok, which is owned by the China-based startup ByteDance, became a smash hit during pandemic lockdown. The app cleared 3 billion global downloads earlier this month, the only non-Facebook app to do so, according to data from research firm SensorTower.
As New Yorkers start venturing out more, restaurants and nightlife venues are finding the app’s short and punchy videos can be a potent source for potential customers. Videos featuring the hashtags NYCfood and NYCrestaurants together have been viewed more than 500 million times on the app.
“We have definitely noticed a group of NYC TikTok influencers frequently mentioning NYC restaurants in their lifestyle content, and others who are specifically "foodie" influencers who are posting more restaurant reviews on TikTok since Covid,” said Permele Doyle, founder and president of Billion Dollar Boy, an influencer marketing and creative agency.
What helps drive stories like Black Nile’s is TikTok’s focus on algorithm-based video discovery. The app’s “For You” page feeds users an endless stream of videos based on what they have watched previously, outside of whichever accounts they are already following. That creates the potential for videos to reach audiences well beyond the following for any individual business.
It’s also easier than on alternate platforms for old content to resurface, creating long-term visibility for popular posts, according to Doyle, and acting like mini reviews for potential customers—a modern-day Zagat.
Instagram is often the best place to post updates for regular customers who follow the business, such as menus and events, said Natalie Silverstein, chief innovation officer for Collectively, an influencer marketing agency based in San Francisco. TikTok, meanwhile, can get restaurants in front of a wider audience by feeding videos into their “For You” page.
Businesses often partner with popular TikTok users—either through a fee or just a comped meal—who know how to get traction on the app, a strategy that Doyle expects to take off over the course of the next year.
Mike Schulte, a real estate broker from Queens, has gained more than 230,000 followers by posting videos of restaurants and things to do around the city. Opening each of his 15-30 second videos with "It's ya boy Mike," Schulte has recorded himself trying stacked deli sandwiches in Whitestone and a bacon, egg and cheese in Williamsburg, among many other stops. He ends each video with a rating out of 10.
He started making videos last year, mostly just filming himself doing the things he enjoyed around the city. Born and raised in Queens, he said his account has grown by offering an honest look at life as a New Yorker.
As the account grew, he started following up on suggestions from followers and receiving interest from restaurants. He said good food wins above all—he won’t visit a place if he doesn’t believe it’s worth his viewers’ time.
"If you say the place on the corner is great and it's not, you can bet the people in that neighborhood will check you and say 'Nah,'" Schulte said.
Janneh Konneh, whose TikToks about things to do in New York City have amassed more than 1.3 million likes, said the restaurants most likely to go viral on the app have an "it factor."
"What makes someone stop and want to come into a restaurant?" Konneh said. "It is either going to be something special on the menu or in the aesthetic of the restaurant."
One of her top-viewed videos is filmed at Sveta in the West Village, showcasing the restaurant's "adult capri suns." That's a plastic pouch filled with a cocktail (you get a free refill if you post on social media).
A managing partner at Lola Taverna, a Soho Greek restaurant, said that existing relationships with celebrities, socialites and influencers have naturally translated into TikTok posts. “Our space is so instagrammable, or TikTok-y,” the partner, Will Makris, said. “It just kind of carries itself.”
One video of Lola’s flaming saganaki fondue has had 386,600 views since it was posted in January by an account called @theviplist. Social media royalty, like the D’Amelio family and Noah Beck have recently come in for meals. Markis said he can’t break down the exact amount of business they drive, “but I don’t think that hurt,” he said.
TikTok is adding ways for businesses to capitalize when a video takes off on the app. A feature launched last week allows businesses to sponsor a pre-existing post that is trending. If a restaurant is featured in a video racking up views, the business owner could pay to boost the post to a targeted audience.
With the app still in its infancy, the relationship between restaurants and TikTok accounts is developing. Restaurants are still working out the value of a viral post, while local creators are learning how to work with businesses without sacrificing what makes their account popular.
“There’s still a disconnect between the restaurants and the influencers,” said Doyle, who said she expects to see the TikTik food universe grow and monetize over the next year. “Restaurants will realize what a great thing it is to partner with influencers who have large followings.”
