Today we’d like to introduce you to Che Cruz.
Che, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Before my food blog, I started writing Yelp reviews of places I’ve eaten and became an official Yelp Elite in 2015. I take pride in it and always ALWAYS provide my honest opinion and my experience at each location. Myfood blog coming to fruition was an extension and a more visual representation of this. Ever since I got my first smartphone in high school, I was naturally drawn towards food photography. I combined two of my passions, food, and photography without even knowing. I knew it was a time to create a separate account for my food blog once my friends started saying “all you post is food”.
I’m all about high-quality content, so if I wanted to jump into the food blogging world, I wanted to do it right with a proper camera. I know with today’s tech it’s possible to just take and edit photos from your smartphone. However, again, quality is my top priority.
I started blogging in October 2017. One night I just said “What am I waiting for?” And I just did it. I had a hard time landing on an Instagram handle that I felt represented me. A few months into blogging, “cheeatsalot” just came to mind and that’s when I knew that was the name for me.
I initially started food blogging in Boston because that’s where I lived at that time. I’m originally from SoCal, born in Long Beach and raised both there and Orange County. Then I went to school in Boston and stayed two years after graduation and made my return home to SoCal September of last year.
Fast forward almost two years, I’m back in SoCal, eating my way through Long Beach, LA and Orange County. I’m starting to get to know/make friends with other local foodies and collab with restaurants. You can find me eating/restaurant hopping on the weekends and occasionally traveling to see what else (other food) is out there!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like any food blogger, it was hard to gain traction at first. Part of what held me back from wanting to even start blogging my food was by the sheer amount of food bloggers in the space and on top of that thinking “will my content be good enough?”
Another thing that was difficult at first was not understanding how much commitment and consistency comes with running a food blog. Had to think about branding; how do I differentiate myself from other foodies since there are literally millions out there; how do I best portray each meal but still keep it me? My day job is doing social media for an advertising agency, so it kind of felt like I was still working after hours and doing what I do 9-5. However, it’s different when it’s for my blog because I’m in charge of the content strategy and all that good stuff.
This blog started from a place of love for food and I simply just want to document what I eat and what I enjoy. I’ve made so many friends via this platform and I love meeting people with the same passion. Now that I’m starting to find a community, I’m excited to collaborate with other foodies and more businesses in the future.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I run my food blog @cheeatsalot. I am solely on Instagram. Since Instagram is more of a visual platform, I leave my honest/thought out reviews on Yelp. I’ve been a Yelp Elite since 2015 and haven’t stopped since.
I specialize in taking pictures of food. Cuisines I usually photograph are Asian cuisines and fast casual, honestly whatever sounds good at the moment! I started taking pictures/my food blog in Boston, so my earlier content was Boston content, sprinkled in with some SoCal content as well as NY content. One thing I’m trying to accomplish with this blog is to provide people with good eats by city. I have my specialized hashtag #cheeatsalot but I also have specific hashtags per city, for example #cheeatsboston #cheeatsla you get the idea.
What I’m most proud of is honestly just jumping the gun and following my passion. I had no idea that I would ever get this far or meet as many other great people through this platform. I’m very grateful I get to do so and am just so happy with where my blog has brought me thus far.
What I am still to this day figuring out how I differentiate myself. All the other foodies on the internet is focusing on the content. No fluff, no BS, just focusing on the content. I want to be a resource to those looking for advice on where to eat on where to avoid. I want people to have the same, if not better experiences than I have, at each restaurant I dine in. I want to bring people a sense of happiness, even if it’s in the form of a meal recommendation. I also want to highlight businesses/restaurants that deserve the limelight. I too have worked in the restaurant industry all of my college years. It’s no joke, it’s hard work and a lot of the times customers don’t realize it. So I want to be of service to both the customers and well as the businesses.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Let’s see. Proudest moment. Though it’s small, only until recently I had my first restaurant collaboration. It was in Boston when I was on vacation with my boyfriend. As a microinfluencer, it’s hard to have restaurants collaborate with you since you don’t have as strong of a following as others. I also really revered this restaurant for a few years since they’ve opened. So to me, this really meant a lot and has shown me how far I’ve come and how much further I can go. It really reminded me why I do what I do and inspired me to keep going.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @cheeatsalot.com
- Yelp: cheeatsalot.yelp.com
- Other: chelseacruz.com
Image Credit:
Che Cruz (all my own images)
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
