With buttery brisket sandwich halves, bougie frito pie and fluffy banana pudding, the samples at Sí Baby-Q last Saturday made for the perfect menu for a gathering of one of Austin’s most-trusted food reviewer’s followers. 

The Hungry Longhorn hosted his first celebration at the new food truck outside the Zoé Tong restaurant last Saturday to celebrate his 700th restaurant review. The celebration welcomed about 200 of UT alum Anthony Matthews’ (The Hungry Longhorn) followers for delicious free samples, live music, a unique opportunity to meet the local Instagram food blogger face-to-face and the chance to connect with other followers over a meal.

“Food for centuries has always been a uniter,” Matthews said. “Food first and foremost is to keep us alive, but it’s the love for the food that brings us to a happy place.” 

As a full-time food reviewer for about three years, Matthews has developed The Hungry Longhorn brand into a profitable account with over 70k followers. He said the 700th review celebration worked as a trial run for how a potential future grub club could work for his followers like a run club for foodies.

“Ever since COVID, I think people have been looking for communities to join for that third place that’s not work or working out. So, I have dabbled into the idea of potentially in the future doing a food club,” Matthews said. “So this (was) a good excuse to see if first and foremost there’s enthusiasm (for that).”

Matthews invited followers to RSVP for the event ahead of time with 200 spots open for a night of free food. Matthews also invited attendees to channel their “inner bloggers” by posting at the event for the chance to win a gift card for Sí Baby-Q.

“I’m from Houston, so it’s hard to find a hard variety of food in Austin,” said Chloe Juanico, a UT alum who attended the event with a group of friends. “So, I follow his Instagram if I want to find somewhere new (to eat).”

Juanico and her friend Emily Do said they have participated in Matthews’ giveaways before and would definitely attend another event he hosted.

“Having somebody that’s credible (as a reviewer is helpful),” Do said. “It’s easy to be like, ‘Hey let’s try this out,’ because The Hungry Longhorn has tried it out.”

Matthews said he felt happy about how the event turned out, especially getting to share his milestone review with so many of his followers.

“It was really nice to have my friends there to support (me). A lot of those friends have been plus-ones to dinners in the past,” Matthews said. “It was nice to see everybody in one place to support me and push me along.”