Bistro Huddy has never served a single customer, yet the fictional restaurant created by Drew Talbert has garnered 4.5 million followers and 252.9 million likes on TikTok.
Mr Talbert, a former server, conceived Bistro Huddy in 2020, and since then, he and his wife have left their jobs to focus full-time on building their online brand. In addition to producing POV skits about life in the restaurant industry, Talbert generates income through Bistro Huddy merchandise, Patreon subscriptions, and brand-sponsored content, NBC reported.
"We've achieved a financial situation we could only have dreamed of five years ago," Talbert shared. "We went from barely scraping by month to month to now being able to save for retirement."
Mr Talbert says that his nine streams of income related to Bistro Huddy bring in an "upper six-figure" annual income, enabling him and his wife to buy a home.
In today's fragmented media landscape, social media influencers like Talbert can bypass traditional Hollywood and media gatekeepers, reaching followers directly. With his large fan base, Talbert has turned a series of skits into multiple business ventures.
Mr Talbert, who worked in restaurants for 22 years, also pursued an acting career and taught at a local improv and sketch comedy school. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, his wife introduced him to sketch comedy videos on TikTok, inspiring him to create his own.
One of his early viral videos was a skit based on an encounter he had as a server, where he played multiple characters, including the waiter, a female customer (using his wife's clothes and wigs from his sketch comedy classes), and the customer's child.
"Everyone's looking for their niche," Talbert said. "I was able to use my sketch comedy background that I've been working on for years. The writing, the acting, the characters - all these things came together."
He named his fictional restaurant Bistro Huddy after his son Hudson.
Mr Talbert never returned to serving after securing his first brand partnership, which replaced his server income. Since then, Bistro Huddy has grown steadily.
Mr Talbert and his wife collaborate on the writing and editing process, which takes about five or six hours-a quick turnaround that Talbert attributes to their experience in acting and social media. Despite this, Talbert ensures that his videos remain simple.
"There's an excitement about seeing just regular people that look like us," Talbert said.
Initially, Talbert's videos focused on the challenges of working as a server, dealing with rude customers, or managing an overbearing boss. With growing discussions around tipping culture, Talbert has also produced educational videos about how restaurant workers are paid and the low minimum wages servers earn.
Today, his followers tune in to Bistro Huddy for the familiar storylines and drama involving a core cast of characters, including Terry the manager, Pickles the line cook, Amber the hostess, and Clint the bartender.
The fan favourite is Nicole, a sarcastic blonde server who usually gets her way. The @nicoleserves TikTok account, which Talbert created for Nicole, has 693,400 followers. Talbert says Nicole is inspired by his wife, whom he met while they were both working at a barbecue restaurant.
"People see Nicole and imagine this gorgeous blonde - they don't even see me anymore," Talbert said. "People have projected their own ideas of what these characters would look like in real life over me. I'm just the conduit."
Fans have been so inspired by Talbert's series that they've created their own edits, imagined new storylines for the Bistro Huddy staff, and even turned the videos into cartoon animations. There's also a Bistro Huddy Fandom wiki page with detailed character bios.
In addition to his TikTok presence, Talbert has 1.55 million followers on YouTube and 768,000 on Instagram.
Many fans have asked Talbert to turn Bistro Huddy into a sitcom. While Talbert says there's "potential" for that and he's had discussions with literary agents and others interested in expanding his profile, he's content with the brand he's built.
"It doesn't get much better than what's going on right now," he said. "We have full creative control. We're at home with our kids."
For now, he has one piece of advice for his followers:
"Tip your servers," Talbert said.
