“Is this the best restaurant in New Jersey?” “Is this the best apple cider donut in New Jersey?” “Is this the best pancake at the Jersey Shore?”
You may have come across videos of 25-year-old PJ Johnson on your feed, posing these – and many more – food queries as he travels around the state. He’s looking to find the best local eateries for his popular food review brand, Traveling Tastebuds.
Traveling Tastebuds’ road to more than 123,000 TikTok followers and 35,000+ Instagram followers began the way many stories of social media stardom do – during the pandemic.
“I was going to all these places to see what I like and what I don’t like, and I started a video journal – I have a background in making videos,” Johnson says. “I was also seeing a lot of places shut down because of Covid, so I wanted to see if I could do anything about that.”
“…about a week after I posted the video, I went back and the owner was like, ‘Everything you talked about in the video sold out.’ That was the moment when I really took it seriously.”
At the start, in August 2020 to be exact, Johnson was posting photos and reviews of dishes from nearby spots, all via takeout due to the pandemic restrictions. But as time went on and restaurants re-opened, he began to make videos of his reviews at the location. In 2021, he posted his first viral video.
“I’d never seen that many views before, it was insane,” he says. “It was for the Burger Barr in Washington Township, and the really cool part was about a week after I posted the video, I went back and the owner was like, ‘Everything you talked about in the video sold out.’ That was the moment when I really took it seriously.”
Since then, Johnson has visited hundreds of restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops, tasting everything from BBQ and cheesesteaks to apple cider donuts and ice cream. He’s traveled to the Jersey Shore for fudge and wings and brunch and visited dive bars and wineries as he showcases the best eats, snacks and drinks that the Garden State has to offer.
But it’s not just about jaw-dropping food, says Johnson. He also makes sure to speak with owners of the various spots whenever he can to share their story with his followers.
“I think it makes the restaurant unique,” he says. “Food is unique, and every place has different dishes, but everyone has unique stories.”
Like the gelato maker who studied in Italy to become a maestro and now makes gelato for coffee shop and gelateria, Dolce Vita. Or Valenzano Winery, where they’ve been growing grapes on the same vines for 20 years. But the most memorable story for Johnson belongs to Sewell sandwich spot, Louie G’s.
“That family has been with me since day one,” says Johnson. “The brother, Lou, was one of my early followers, maybe the 10th follower. I remember going in about a month into starting, and he’s like, ‘Oh my god, you’re the guy I follow.’ Ever since then, I’ve always been sure to show them off.”
And that goes a long way. After Traveling Tastebuds’ recent return to Louie G’s, the family told Johnson they sold out soon after Johnson’s video was posted. “I love moments like that, where I can help out a small business,” he says. “That’s exactly why I started the page.”
Over the years, Traveling Tastebuds followers have watched Johnson bring along friends, family and even fellow influencers as he searches for new spots to try. But his most recognizable partner in crime is Mike Aloi. Aloi has been a staple since Johnson joined Grungo Law, where Aloi is an attorney, as a social media specialist last year.
While it’s easy to think Johnson has been in the social media game since graduating college, he actually earned his degree in computer science and worked full-time as a coder until being laid off last year. That’s when he took a leap and decided to apply to some social media management positions.
He points to Traveling Tastebuds as the reason for landing an interview – and eventually his current position – at Grungo Law. “They saw the community I built, so they were like, ‘We want you to do that here.’”
Since Aloi had done a number of videos for the law firm’s Instagram, the collaborations between the two just made sense. “We instantly hit it off,” says Johnson. “It was never awkward. We just have a lot of fun. Two big personalities coming together, and the rest was history.”
When Johnson and Aloi team up for collaborations, they always look to the same place for their next visit: the comments. Because as we all know, South Jersey (the tri-state area, if we’re being honest) is passionate about their food. And they aren’t shy about voicing their opinions.
“If we post a video, we’ll go to the most liked comment next,” Johnson says. “For instance, we did videos on apple cider donuts in the fall and everyone was like, ‘Oh, you got to go to Mood’s.’ So we did.”
But entertaining – and mouth-watering – food review videos aren’t the only thing Johnson offers to his dedicated followers. He also launched merch that isn’t your typical “t-shirt-with-a-logo,” although he does sell those. Johnson partnered with some of his favorite restaurants to create a specialty shirt: when you wear it to one of the restaurants, you receive a special discount.
“Everyone was always like, ‘Where can I get a Traveling Tastebuds t-shirt?’” he says. “I wanted it to be something more.”
It’s no surprise that the community Johnson has built is one of the reasons he continues to grow the Traveling Tastebuds brand. He even hopes to one day expand to have designated pages for different areas, like New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia, and plans to host events in the future.
But it always comes back to the people who are putting in the hours behind the counter, in the kitchen and at the door of our favorite restaurants. “If there’s any struggling small business, if it’s a good spot, this community will show up for it,” Johnson says. “I’m happy to be a part of something like that.”
