TOLEDO, Ohio — A traveling food critic visited Toledo in February and his sometimes controversial reviews on Black-owned restaurants sparked conversation on social media.
Starex Smith, also known as The Hungry Black Man, travels regularly from Florida to Detroit and has gained a following for his firsthand reviews on African American dishes. And for eight years, he had been working to gain notoriety for his critiques.
"I don't want to use the word random, but it was random," Smith said when describing his choice to come to Toledo.
African American food has had a major influence on cultures across the world. And within many Black communities, generational recipes and restaurants have become staples, and their patrons protect that history.
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After giving his review on Toledo, Smith said he was surprised by the amount of feedback his critiques had gotten. He said his first visit to Toledo led to an unexpected response.
"It just spiraled," Smith said. "The folks here started to have really great conversations on social. There started to be a dynamic like, 'Don't talk badly about this restaurant.' But we're not speaking badly about a restaurant, we are sharing our experience."
Some locals said Smith should have kept his experience to himself. Others believe it could benefit the city.
"I heard some good things about some restaurants, and I heard some bad things, so I think it's a good thing. I love soul food, so I've been diving into it," said Toledo resident Vince Pope.
Ray Sanders, also of Toledo, said, "He's brought a lot of awareness to a lot of Black-owned businesses. A lot of them, I've never knew of never heard of. And obviously, with him being a food critic, he's going to have an opinion. It just sort of opens up our eyes to be like we have Black-owned businesses here. Why not show our support, and why not get a taste of what they have?"
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Smith said there's an abundance of hard-working talent in the city, and he wants to be a part of its growth.
"Toledo has just an incredible black cottage economy folks that are cooking out of their homes, selling amazing food and they have a growing, developing, emerging restaurant scene that we think is right for tourism. So we are looking at working with the local population to grow that ecosystem," he said.
He has now eaten at 14 Black-owned Toledo restaurants including Turkey Up, Ruby's Kitchen, Josephine's Soul Food, Jamaican Spice and more.
Smith also awarded more than $6,000 dollars in cash to Toledo Public School students for future personal investments. He said his final goal is to start a restaurant that helps build Toledo's tourist economy around Black cuisine.
"We want to see Black-owned business, particularly in the tourist spaces, grow," he said.
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