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Taste of the town

Word travels fast in a small town, and Michael Matos found a way to use that to his advantage to benefit restaurants all throughout the region.

When Matos moved back to Dunkirk roughly a decade ago, he noticed plenty of new restaurants in town. He initially thought it would be great to try the restaurants for himself, but not much came of it at first.

Then, earlier this year, Matos wanted to test out a new pair of video recording glasses he bought at a yard sale. He decided to use them to record his experiences at local restaurants to post food reviews on Facebook. The response has turned into something he never could have imagined.

Matos has turned his love for food and the community into a social media following. His Facebook page, Mikey Badabing Eats, has more than 6,000 followers and roughly 60 videos with at least 10,000 views. Those numbers are even more impressive considering he has only been at this since March.

Matos began with three local pizza places -- Mary's Deli, P*Dubs, and Pizza Village. From there, Matos saw a demand for more reviews, so he kept trying new restaurants. More and more restaurants began reaching out to Matos, offering to welcome him for a review. The requests are still pouring in months later.

Matos says his goal in filming the food reviews is to give local restaurants recognition, especially those that people may not already know about.

"Eateries and businesses are the backbone of our community," Matos said. "Without the people knowing about them, it was something that I felt like I needed to do."

Matos said with several of the restaurants he spotlighted, the owners said things were slow in recent months. Many of the restaurants in town do not have an active social media following, and especially since the pandemic, the restaurant industry has changed dramatically from what it once was. Technology plays a bigger role now than ever, and social media marketing is pivotal to a restaurant's success.

The most successful video Matos has filmed on Mikey Badabing Eats is a trip to the South Dayton Supermarket to try out its donuts. The video has more than 116,000 views, and as a result of the video's success, Matos was invited to participate in a parade in South Dayton. While that video was the most popular, several others reached more than 50,000 views, including Mary's Deli, Dupers, and The Bratz Kitchen at Vibe on Five.

"It's mind blowing, honestly," Matos said of the response he's gotten from his videos. "Starting with 50 followers to now over 6,000, I still get that rush, whether it be a 5,000 view review or 100,000 viewers. At the end of the day, that's the payoff of the whole thing. It's getting around, and that makes me happy."

Matos says the most common response he hears from others in the community is that they "had no idea" about the places he reviews. Some people have lived in the area for decades and never even heard of some of the restaurants he reviews. He has heard back from many in the community that have tried restaurants because of his reviews.

"It helped out quite a bit. Owners were saying they are making thousands of dollars more because someone saw the review," Matos said. "... The response has been incredible."

On the rare occasion where he doesn't have a visit scheduled with a restaurant that reached out to him, Matos will choose a spot in town to ask permission to visit and film his experience. He does not pop in unannounced.

"I always ask first. I don't ever want to have an owner feel uncomfortable in their own business," Matos said. "I'm just a person that likes food. I'm not anyone special. I'm just trying to help."

Sometimes Matos will do the review in the restaurant itself. Other times, he will bring the food to go and review it at home, in his Harry Potter themed review room. In the case of Mary's Deli, his first viral success, Matos devoured a slice seated in his vehicle.

One unique aspect to the reviews on Mikey Badabing Eats is he does not post negative reviews. It is Matos' goal to uplift the businesses in the area, so if he visits an establishment and has a negative experience, he compensates them for their time and elects not to post the review.

"I never want to drag a business down," Matos said. "Someone's mom and pop shop, this is their bread and butter. This is how they feed their family. I never want to drag them down."

Matos acknowledged that on a few occasions, his experience the first time through was less than stellar, but when given a second chance, the restaurants delivered "an absolute home run."

Of all the restaurants reviewed on Mikey Badabing Eats, Matos has a few favorites. For breakfast food, there's no doubt about it, Jenna's 4th St. Cafe in downtown Dunkirk is the place to go. "Jenna's is my home away from home," he said, singling out their chicken and waffles. "I love that place."

Matos added that his second favorite breakfast stop is The Nook at 2 Main, located in Forestville.

For lunch restaurants, Matos highlighted Angry Squirrel in Fredonia for its hand-breaded chicken strips, as well as Coughlan's Pub and Dupers for their smash burgers. During his review of Dupers, he spoke highly of their macaroni and cheese, calling it, "love at first bite."

Matos also visited the Sherman Hotel to take on its special four-pound burger, comprised of eight half-pound patties, a unique experience he recommended favorably.

For a traditional dinner meal, Matos said the best place in the region is The Railroad House in Westfield. He said that the location -- tucked away in Westfield -- makes it one of the lesser known spots in the region, but certainly worth checking out. Similarly, The Tap Room is traditionally not thought of as a restaurant, but its smash burger and chicken sandwich are "amazing."

Matos is not profiting off his reviews. He sells merchandise, but the profits are distributed back to the community through giveaways. He is doing the reviews with the goal of seeing the community flourish. Getting a good meal out of it is enough of a reward for him.

"It's been a blast. I've made friends, I've had places I never thought I'd go to, and I've done things I never thought I'd do. It's all because of this local area," Matos said. "This area delivers. Sometimes, people just need to know about it."

To check out the reviews Matos has done and keep up to date with his upcoming reviews, follow Mikey Badabing Eats on Facebook, as well as MikeyBadabingEats on Instagram and mikey.badabing.ea on TikTok.