1851

For years, the world of restaurant reviews belonged to the professional critics. It wasn&rsquo;t until the launch of online platforms like Yelp that regular consumers were able to voice their opinions about their favorite&mdash;or least favorite&mdash;spots to eat. But even then, there was a disconnect between the information being made available to people about restaurants and what they actually wanted to know. That&rsquo;s where The Infatuation found its voice.

Founded in 2009 by Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal, The Infatuation is a one stop shop for consumers looking for the perfect place to eat. But Stang and Steinthal didn&rsquo;t always consider themselves restaurant pros&mdash;in fact, the two were both executives in the music industry when they got the idea for The Infatuation. While Steinthal worked as the VP of Public Relations at Warner Bros. Records, Stang was the VP of Marketing at Atlantic Records. The two met on the set of TRL while attending a conference for music directors at college radio stations, and ran in the same group of friends. Designating themselves the planners of that group, they became familiar with the ins and outs of New York&rsquo;s ever growing restaurant scene.

That&rsquo;s when they realized that they had a unique opportunity to build a new kind of business. Instead of turning to somewhat snobby critics for recommendations, they could instead become the voice for regular people looking for restaurants. With that idea, The Infatuation&rsquo;s original blog was born.

The brand&rsquo;s premise is simple: real people write reviews about the restaurants that they visit. They aren&rsquo;t supposed to contain the language you&rsquo;d find in a traditional newspaper or publication&mdash;instead, each review is written in the way that you&rsquo;d recommend a restaurant to a friend.

In an interview with Business Insider, Stang said, &ldquo;A lot of times when people sit down to write a review, they sort of think to themselves, &lsquo;Well, what&rsquo;s a restaurant review supposed to sound like?&rsquo; We tell people to write the way they talk so that what they say sounds like it&rsquo;s coming from a friend, not from a &lsquo;restaurant authority.&rsquo;&rdquo;

To say the idea caught on would be an understatement&mdash;young New Yorkers made The Infatuation their go-to site before checking out a new restaurant. The platform, which now includes a website, newsletter, mobile app and text message recommendation service, is now available in Austin, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California and Washington, D.C. in addition to its home city.

Social media has helped fuel the platform&rsquo;s success, especially Instagram. The co-founders realized early on that in order for their idea to succeed, it needed to be interactive. As soon as Instagram became a major player in the digital space, they realized it was the perfect tool to accompany The Infatuation&rsquo;s initiative. That&rsquo;s when they launched the hashtag #EEEEEATS, which tracks and shares photos of meals in the brand&rsquo;s established cities.

Stang told the Washingtonian, &ldquo;It also became really clear to us that if we were going to be successful in community building on the platform that we needed to make it a two-way conversation. We didn&rsquo;t just want to post and hope that people would interact with our photos. #EEEEEATS just felt fun. People wouldn&rsquo;t have been that excited to tag a photo with #infatuationgram.&rdquo; He continued, &ldquo;We definitely sacrificed a little bit of brand because we went about it that way. So many people use that hashtag and don&rsquo;t know we started it. We&rsquo;re totally fine with that. For all the people that don&rsquo;t know it was us who started it, there are plenty of people that do.&rdquo;

Stang and the rest of The Infatuation&rsquo;s team have been quick to adopt the latest digital trends in an effort to consistently stay ahead of the curve. That proactive approach to building their business&mdash;especially in today&rsquo;s tech driven society&mdash;has been instrumental in the brand&rsquo;s success. And Stang says there&rsquo;s no chance of The Infatuation changing its strategy any time soon.

&ldquo;Our audience is much younger than most of our competitors&rsquo;, so staying on top of mobile is particularly important to our growth,&rdquo; said Stang in an interview with The Next Web. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re also excited about the idea of doing other lightweight apps which help people solve problems, as well as continuing to release digital ebooks and guides.&rdquo;

Young Entrepreneurs: Chris Stang of The Infatuation

1851 Franchise

By capitalizing on digital trends and being proactive about engaging the online community, The Infatuation has become a strong voice in the previously exclusive world of restaurant reviews. 



young-entrepreneurs-chris-stang-of-the-infatuation

Children's Lighthouse

How Children’s Lighthouse Stands Out Among Other Children’s Education, Childcare, and Daycare Franchises

how-childrens-lighthouse-stands-out-among-other-childrens-education-childcare-and-daycare-franchises

The Growth Coach

The Growth Coach Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

the-growth-coach-franchise-costs-fees-profit-and-data-for-2025

One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning

Why One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning Sees People as the Power Behind Franchise Growth

one-hour-heating-air-conditioning-franchise-growth

Lawn Doctor

Design with photo of John Perry and Lawn Doctor logo

How a 20-Year Industry Veteran Tripled His Sales With a Lawn Doctor Franchise

lawn-doctor-franchise-success-story-john-perry

Fitness Premier

The Secret to Fitness Franchise Success? It's Not Just the Workouts

fitness-premier-franchise-marketing-support

Buying a Franchise Masterclass

 Franchise Opportunities

Get Support Buying a Franchise

How to Buy a Franchise White Paper

How to Buy a Franchise

How to Sell Franchises

How to Grow a Franchise

Find a Franchise Supplier

1851 Franchise Opportunities

Franchisor News

Franchisor Power Rankings

FranCamp Mastermind Summit

Franchise Development Website Builder

Franchise Resources

What ALEC-Laffer's Report Means for Franchising

Website Awards

Power Rankings

About 1851

Advertise on 1851

Contact 1851 Editorial

Terms of Use

1851 Login

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

Design with American and Federal Reserve flags against light blue background

Federal Reserve Expected To Cut Rates by Quarter Point, a Move That Could Boost Franchise Growth

fed-rate-cut-boosts-franchise-growth

Potbelly to be Acquired by RaceTrac in $566 Million Deal 

racetrac-acquires-potbelly-in-566-million-deal

Health Care Hiring Slowdown Highlights In-Home Care Franchise Opportunities - 1851 Franchise Agg

Health Care Hiring Slowdown Highlights In-Home Care Franchise Opportunities 

health-care-hiring-slowdown-in-home-care-franchise-opportunities

Caribou Coffee Names Scott Kennedy CEO, Eyes Continued Growth

caribou-coffee-names-scott-kennedy-ceo-eyes-continued-growth

McDonald’s Launches New Extra Value Meals as Consumer Demand for Value Continues to Climb

mcdonalds-launches-extra-value-meals

DevHub - Meet the Supplier - 1851 Franchise

DevHub: Scalable Digital Marketing for Franchises and Multi-Location Brands

devhub-meet-the-supplier

Mike Revak - Chief Business Officer - Sky Zone - Franchise Marketing Leaders - 1851 Franchise

Top 25 Franchise Marketing Leaders: Mike Revak — President and Chief Business Officer, Sky Zone

top-25-franchise-marketing-leaders-mike-revak-chief-business-officer-sky-zone

BooXkeeping: Making Bookkeeping Cool for Franchisors, Franchisees, and Small Business Owners

booxkeeping-making-bookkeeping-cool-for-franchisors-franchisees-and-small-business-owners

Top 25 Franchise Marketing Leaders: Brittany Knollmiller — Head of Marketing, Yogurtland

top-25-franchise-marketing-leaders-brittany-knollmiller-head-of-marketing-yogurtland

Hely and Hiral Patel Bring Their Longtime Dream to Life With The Brass Tap

brass-tap-franchise-pasadena-maryland-hely-hiral-patel

1851 Keyword - The Secret To Succeeding With a Part-Time Franchise Is Picking the Right Model

The Secret To Succeeding With a Part-Time Franchise Is Picking the Right Model

part-time-franchises-picking-the-right-model

Franchisee spotlight graphic with photo of Ricki Oberoi and Layne's Chicken Fingers logo

Young Entrepreneurs: Chris Stang of The Infatuation

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS