Meet Greg Richards in Tucker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Richards.

Greg, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
@atlfoodie was started just to show friends places I ate while I traveled for work. I spent two weeks per month traveling and I thought it was a cool way to limit the food pictures on Facebook. After posting a couple times a month for about 2.5 years. I decided to take it seriously and post consistently everyday. In the last year and a half. It’s grown to what it is today.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s been a learning process for sure. Seeing other food accounts much larger than my own can be intimidating when you have 900 followers. Not understanding what I should post. What type of food to focus on. Investing in equipment. Should I do video? It has been a lot of trial and error but I figured it out for the most part. With help of course.

We’d love to hear more about your blog.
@atlfoodie is a food blog. Its managed by myself but I do have help. I do have one of my best friends Mauricio helping out when he can. Managing the account when I’m out of the country or in situations when I’m not able to. Visiting restaurants, I’m not able to get to. Particularly north of the perimeter. The goal of @atlfoodie is to let you know about good food in GA. Whether that’s in the city or out in the country. Whether cheap or very expensive. If it’s good, we’ll let you know and maybe you’ll take our advice and try it out. Or, if you love looking at visually appealing pictures. We can help with that. Highlighting mom and pops and showing that Atlanta’s food scene can rival the best cities in the country.

I’m proud to not do this for money. I enjoy being @atlfoodie because I’m passionate about it. I get asked the question all the time… “How much do restaurants pay you?”. Nothing! I’ve got spreadsheets of receipts from 2016 and 2017. On average, I spend well over $5k on eating out a year. Because of that, I’m not posting a dish that isn’t good in my opinion because it’s pretty or advising people to visit a place that I don’t like for profit. I won’t do that.

What sets me apart is I’m not looking to be the next big influencer or look for this to pay my bills. I go to spend my money so I can be unbiased opinion. I go to enjoy a fantastic meal. I go because I love food. I’ve been cooking since I was nine years old. I went to culinary school after college. Culinary is important to me. I experiment with food. It’s a big passion of mine.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up the smallest kid in my schools. As early as five years old. I was watching Race cars, golf, and Chef Martin Yan cooking shows. As I got into my teen years, I got into sports, a little trouble, and more cooking. Thanks to Emeril Lagasse! Other than food, cars has been another passion of mine. I could tell the make and Model of a car by just the headlights when I was a kid. Cooking, sports, and cars were my childhood loves. And still are to this day.

Contact Info:

• Email: anatlfoodielife@gmail.com

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