With 6.3 million people living in metro Atlanta, nearly 301,000 of those residents are of Asian descent, according to the 2020 census. Many are also members of ATL Asian Eats, one of the largest online communities in metro Atlanta influencing the Asian food scene.
Karly Giang, owner of Milla’s Macarons, a pop-up specializing in desserts like macaron ice cream sandwiches and dacquoise, founded the special interest Facebook group in 2019. Primarily comprised of Asian community members, the group now includes over 40,000 people who always seem to know the best places for hot pot, sushi, or all-you-can-eat dim sum well before most traditional media outlets.
ATL Asian Eats remains a private Facebook group, only admitting new members once they’ve requested to join and been vetted. Keeping it private helps protect the group’s integrity, making it a trustworthy source for unbiased restaurant recommendations. Members must agree to a set of guidelines when applying (i.e., no bullying, no spamming, and no self-promotion) and adhere to these rules once accepted into the group.
The level of control Giang and fellow moderators maintain isn’t to prevent people from having a voice, but rather to allow them to feel safe to speak. She sees ATL Asian Eats as a welcoming community where all questions and opinions are treated with respect.
Despite membership being majority Asian, non-Asian people regularly join the group and see it as a place to learn about Asian culture and food. Most ATL Asian Eats members stay on top of recent Asian restaurant openings and closures in metro Atlanta, the new dishes to try, price updates, and even changes of ownership. That insider knowledge comes from being well-connected within the Asian community.
“It is my hope that our ATL Asian Eats family serves the Atlanta community as a welcoming platform to provide our food recommendations over Google’s SEO [search] recommendations,” Giang said of its fundamental purpose.
While most members post basic updates or pop on to ask a question, some people publish reviews along with photos, like top ATL Asian Eats contributor Raven Jade. She prefers this group over other consumer-driven review sites like Yelp because she finds the members more informed and educated about the restaurants and food experiences they’re sharing. Sometimes members offer personal insights, like reflecting on a dish they ate at a restaurant that reminded them of a meal their mom made or a dish that reminded them of one from back home.
Jade prolifically posts her food takes on the group’s Facebook page to highlight mom-and-pop restaurants that, while familiar to most of its Asian members, may help make non-Asian members feel less intimidated about visiting and exploring new cuisines. If she can convince one person to try a restaurant she enjoyed, her job is done, she said.
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Another member, Bruce Hein, views ATL Asian Eats as a community of food lovers. He appreciates that members provide a different perspective on how to determine if a restaurant and its food are worth checking out.
While people on Yelp factor in a combination of criteria, such as ambiance, decor, service, price, and food, in their restaurant feedback, members of ATL Asian Eats tend to emphasize the food above all else. A lack of a buzzy vibe or Instagrammable decor at a Chinese restaurant wouldn’t deter most group members from heading in for dumplings that might just be the best they’ve had in metro Atlanta.
Jade and Hein don’t consider themselves influencers. Instead, they call themselves “foodies” who are passionate about Atlanta’s Asian food scene, constantly exploring, tasting, documenting, and sharing their knowledge with group members. For Jade and Hein, the food is the vibe.
To reduce the number of redundant questions on the group’s page, like where to find the best place for phở, for example, ATL Asian Eats offers food guides organized by town or cuisine to make it easier to search. And while spamming is prohibited, there is a section dedicated to self-promotion where restaurant owners can share information.
The impact of ATL Asian Eats on smaller restaurants, many of which can’t afford PR firms or include owners inexperienced in setting up a website or social media account, has been significant. Some restaurants see a noticeable surge in business after an ATL Asian Eats review, similar to when TikTok restaurant reviewer Keith Lee visits restaurants.
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Members also don’t hold back, sometimes offering brutally honest opinions of their restaurant experiences. Some restaurant owners see this as highly beneficial, no matter how critical or negative the feedback, using the information to improve service and/or food.
Ming Han Chung of Minhwa Spirits in Doraville likes that the Facebook group isn’t algorithm-driven and SEO based, calling the restaurant recommendations on ATL Asian Eats “as real as you’re going to get.” Glancing at a photo of spring rolls won’t automatically make 20 more spring roll images appear in your feed, nor are posts ranked in any way.
“On the Facebook group, I can straight up reply as the owner and have a real discourse. There aren’t many places where you can just chat about whatever. Instagram comments aren’t the same,” Chung said, who finds the feedback on ATL Asian Eats more helpful and trustworthy as a business owner.
Peter Tong, a “group expert” chosen by the admins to help answer questions and share his knowledge, said restaurants can see spikes in business after even a single member visits.
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“A friend of mine has a family restaurant out in Marietta that serves Vietnamese and Thai dishes. They’ve been there a pretty long time,” Tong said. “Knowing they had certain ingredients in the kitchen, I asked him if I could order something off-menu, a bowl of phở but with a Lao-style spin to it.”
Tong posted about his positive restaurant experience on ATL Asian Eats. That same week, his friend said the family’s restaurant had new and returning customers requesting Tong’s special dish. The restaurant ran the special for a while before discontinuing it due to supply issues.
ATL Asian Eats also offers a safe space for deeper discussions concerning topics such as business food costs, cultural appropriation, and other more controversial issues about the intersection of food, culture, and the Asian diaspora. Sometimes these discussions become heated, but often lead to constructive dialogues that encourage people to try to understand multiple perspectives, regardless of agreement.
That networking is central to Giang’s vision for ATL Asian Eats. She admits it’s a lot of work to maintain a group of 40,000-plus members, especially while operating Milla’s Macarons and working full-time. But for Giang, it’s important to continue cultivating ATL Asian Eats so members can connect over their love of food.
For members, many of them immigrants or children of immigrants, ATL Asian Eats provides a sense of community, something they may be missing in metro Atlanta. And a simple greeting that shows love, care, and concern between Asians has now become the Facebook group’s ultimate icebreaker question: “Have you eaten [at this new restaurant] yet?”