Have you ever wondered whether a restaurant in town is worth your time? Then look no further than some of UT’s own students who have created social media accounts to review food across Knoxville.

Gracen Groves, a junior business management major, is one of the most prominent reviewers. His instagram account, @gracengrovestv, has accumulated thousands of followers since his first video in May of 2025. He started off reviewing food from his hometown of Memphis, but soon began reviewing at a larger scale.

One of his most popular series on his account is eating at different restaurants solely to review a sandwich. He is on day 131 of this series, as of Feb. 17.

He explained his reasoning behind this specific series.

“I chose sandwiches because I’ve worked at two delis,” Groves said.

Despite how especially interesting this sandwich series may seem, he has also reviewed countless other foods from restaurants in and outside of Knoxville. A large number of his reviews are out of Knoxville and Memphis, but he has also reviewed at places such as Raleigh, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as a few other nearby cities in Tennessee.

He often chooses to review restaurants after first seeing them on social media.

“I usually just look on Instagram or TikTok and try to find a video on a place that’s done good or gotten a lot of views,” Groves said. “When I first started out, people would tell me where to go a lot. It still happens, but not as much as when I first started.”

Groves’ inspiration to first start the account came from watching Food Network and Dave Portnoy’s food reviews when younger. He always wanted to start a social media account, and the topic of food was something he was familiar with.

The account doesn’t only provide viewers with potentially valuable information about the restaurants around them, it also benefits Groves himself.

“Posting on this social media definitely has had an effect. You kind of realize people are going to criticize whatever you do, so it’s kind of helped me stop caring what others think and do whatever I want,” Groves said. “It’s kind of relieving in that matter. I also love it as a creative outlet.”

Not to mention, the reviews can often help the restaurants out as well, despite what people may think.

“Food reviews are really just trying to help out restaurants. Like, I know a lot of small town restaurants don’t know how social media works,” Groves said. “I used to work for one which is why I started, just to try to get eyes on small, local, good places that serve good food for good prices and are friendly.”

Groves does his best to give transparent and honest reviews, however restaurants don’t always take well to them.

“I think this has only happened one time, in like, the like, over 100 restaurants I’ve done, but the owners of one place weren’t happy that I gave them a low score for their sandwich. I explained in the video what was wrong with it, and they just just got back to me that they weren’t happy,” Groves said. “I’m not trying to bash the place, but it was overpriced, it wasn’t good, so I gave them a bad score, and they weren’t happy. I’m not just making up lies. I would never do that.”

Groves isn’t the only food reviewer out of UT. A new account, @funkyfellas.foodreviews, is run by three students; Aiden Johnson, a junior supply chain management major, Ian Duncan, a junior supply chain management major, and Tyler Shilling, a junior accounting major.

Though the account is relatively new with their first video being posted on Jan. 25, the three have already racked up a few hundred followers for their reviews.

Duncan explained what inspired the three to start this journey together.

“We had always passed by food places and wondered if anyone had eaten there, so we started this account for fun to review places not a ton of people have been to,” Duncan said.

The reviews they’ve posted so far have been for smaller restaurants in the downtown area that are located close to UT, allowing students to get a glimpse of the potential restaurants around them and what kind of food they offer.

With their reviews, these three students will be able to widen the horizon of UT students’ food options while also allowing them to have some fun with it.

“It’s been fun for the most part getting to post videos and try new places,” Duncan said.

These accounts may seem silly to some at first, but sharing their experiences is still a way to assist students in finding new things to enjoy while giving the creators of the accounts valuable experiences in their time at UT.