With over 8,000 followers on TikTok, sports management senior Hunter Prabhu, known as “Cstat Grubber,” has amassed a significant following through his restaurant review videos. Prabhu brings fans along for the ride, walking them through the doors and into the restaurant, where he shows himself ordering and trying the food at restaurants around the Bryan-College Station area. Multiple videos have hit almost 90,000 views and given Prabhu a dedicated fan base of foodies who help him decide which restaurants to review.
Q: What inspired you to start your TikTok account?
A: A lot of factors went into it, my mom was a huge inspiration. My love for food started in [Los Angeles], and before I came here, my mom was talking about me starting up a blog or something like that about all the different kinds of restaurants in the College Station area. I kind of brushed it off at first because I didn’t want to start up my own website or anything like that because I wouldn’t get much feedback from anybody.
Q: When did this all begin for you?
A: I started this up in February of [2021], [because] the pandemic was taking a toll on local businesses, especially restaurants. A lot of restaurants had to close down, unfortunately. I went around all kinds of restaurants and slowly, but surely, I gained more of a following. Now we’re at the point where it is today, and I’m totally happy.
Q: What are some of the best places you’ve reviewed?
A: If I had to choose my favorite places that I’ve reviewed and tried for the first time here, Mess Waffles definitely took me by surprise — that was my most liked video out of all the videos I’ve created. That’s what got me a true following in College Station. I love Mexican food and Don Chente is one of my favorites. They have a great array of tacos and other types of Mexican food. If I’m talking about American food, Koppe Bridge. ChicOil is also really good, but it’s hard to pick a favorite.
Q: How do you decide what restaurant to review next?
A: Honestly, a lot of it is based off of my comment section. I see what people comment on my videos, and I give the people what they want. If I see [a restaurant] that’s constantly being commented [on by followers to try] and it’s a repetitive type of thing, I will go there and review it. I want to see what the hype is about and do a food review on it.
Q: Where do you see this account going in the future?
A: It’s tough to say right now. The good thing is I’m at the point where I’ve gained enough attention to where a lot of start-up restaurants have been contacting me. I recently had a project with the Cookshack that’s just opened up, and the CEO reached out to me and wanted me to help him market this place to students. He contacted me and we made a plan of what we would do, and then I was able to market his restaurant for him and make a couple of videos. The food blog that I did for him got 15,000 views, and I always have friends and other people talk to me about how great that restaurant is, so that was a successful type of deal.
Now, I’m doing something very new. Nobody knows about this yet. The Toasted Yolk Cafe opened in September, and they’ve been struggling with gaining attention from students just because they have a lot of competition with Mess Waffles, Snooze and the Kettle. It’s kind of hard for them to market. So, I’m working with them, and I’ll be going to their restaurant and bringing friends, and then making a video for them.
It’s hard to say where this will go because I will be graduating in the spring. I’m not sure if I’m going to be staying in College Station or if I’m going to be venturing out. If I end up finding a job outside of College Station, I was thinking there could be a new ‘Cstat Grubber.’ Somebody could take over my account and then do reviews or something like that. I don’t know what the future is, but I’m still excited.
Q: Is there anything you would like to share with students about the Bryan-College Station food scene?
A: If I had a message for every single person, I would say definitely go local. Support your local restaurants because there’s always a Taco Bell or Jack in the Box or a Chick-fil-A. But a lot of these local restaurants came here for the opportunity. We need to bring attention to them because they deserve it. They do a great job, and they serve us well.
