BBQ brings foodies online and out of town

Buster Rhino’s Southern BBQ is far, far away from the neighbourhoods Ontario’s resto hot spots usually reside in. The restaurant’s address is 2001 Thickson Road, south of the 401 in Whitby. But a location off eaten path hasn’t stopped Buster Rhino’s from becoming one of the most buzzed about restaurants outside of city limits, or a trending topic amongst Toronto’s tweeting foodies.

In May 2009 Buster Rhino’s owner Darryl Koster signed up for twitter. The former owner of Status Technology, a business that built databases and the back end of websites, Koster knows a lot about the web. When he started tweeting, the messages were mostly about business, but he soon got to know prominent foodies like Joel Solish and Suresh Doss, and the dialogue then turned into a conversation between friends.

This is the most effective way to use the service, Koster says. “If you don’t converse with people on twitter, it won’t work for you,” he says. “You have to interact.”

Koster found the followers he interacted with both online and in his restaurant became friends and vocal advocates, urging others to get out to Whitby and try the BBQ. “Your friends are always the best advocates for you,” he says. “Referrals are always more sincere than advertisements.”

After a few months of interaction, if you are successful, you begin to build up trust with your followers. They know what you post about and are willing to try your suggestions, if you have pleased them in the past. This connection can be much more powerful than the traditional bond between advertiser and consumer. The belief is that unlike advertisers, friends never lie.

To demonstrate how a viral message can directly affect business, Koster refers to a recent tweet he posted stating that the Queen St. restaurant Cowbell has the best burgers he’s ever tasted. Ten people tweeted back asking, Really?! The best?? By the time he tweeted a re-affirmation, thousands of people had seen the conversation and received the message: Cowbell’s burgers are really, really good.

Koster says at least one customer tells him they learned about his business on twitter every single day. Buster Rhino's has also held a series of tastings Koster promotes on twitter, and so far each has sold out. He says he’s fortunate—the local internet has been good to him. He knows other restaurants haven’t been so lucky. Koster refuses to name names, but says he’s seen many restaurants hurt by foodies ranting about them on the web. “I’ve seen several instances on Chow Hound when someone was torn down,” he says.

The only way to influence crowd sourced sites like Chow Hound, or to gain positive chatter on twitter, Koster says, is to treat the crowds right, every time. “Make sure you serve the best food you can and treat all of your customers with respect. That’s just the way to operate a good business,” he says.

Buster's smoked pulled pork, photo snagged from lipsofcrimson on Flickr

@whetmyappetite catches z's on the car ride, also grabbed from Flickr

*Note: Buster Rhino's has a second location, also off the eaten path, at 30 Taunton Rd. E in Oshawa, which opened in February. Please excuse the pun.