Mehak Saini (left) and Jay Singh (right) taste food and drinks at TOSTADAS restaurant in Downtown San Jose for an Instagram post.
If you scroll through your Instagram explore page, it’s likely that it will be riddled with delicious-looking, mouth-watering food porn. One Bay Area couple decided to hone in on the trend and use their Instagram platform to add to the online culinary culture.
Jay Singh and Mehak Saini, creators of Bay Area Bitez, are an engaged couple who review food spots around the Bay Area and upload it on their social media.
The couple share a passion for food and often recommended local restaurants to friends and family before they created their Instagram page.
It was also their friends who initially encouraged the couple to create their food account.
“[They] would joke with us that we need to be food bloggers and I guess when COVID-19 hit we decided to share our love for food with others and help out small businesses get their name out there,” Saini said in an email. “It was all [Singh’s] idea and I was just helping him out.”
Saini was born and raised in San Jose and is a 2014 San Jose State alumna with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In 2018, she obtained a master’s degree in transportation management.
Singh is a 2014 California State University, East Bay alumnus who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in finance.
He currently works as an information technology systems quality assurance analyst, while Saini is a management analyst for Valley Transportation Authority.
The couple said they balance full-time jobs and post on Bay Area Bitez in their free time.
Their Instagram page consists of reviews of various foods from a plethora of local restaurants. From pizza and sweets to fried chicken and waffles, the couple covers it all.
Jeff Jackson, a close friend of Saini and Singh, has seen their Instagram page grow in popularity.
“It has really expanded from what it was and the content they have up is really creative,” Jackson said over the phone. “They are people who do things and don’t just think about doing things, which is a testament to them as individuals.”
Jackson said he feels inspired by what they’ve accomplished and that the three of them are thinking about starting a business in the future.
With Bay Area Bitez gaining traction, the pair has become more comfortable with their roles in upkeeping their Instagram page.
At first, Saini would taste the food while Singh would focus on taking pictures and editing for social media posts. Now, Saini said the two are working on evenly splitting up the work.
Instead of one person having to buy the food, photograph and edit, Saini said they team up to bring out the best in each other, which is what they feel makes their account unique.
“Most of all, we have really similar goals and ambitions,” Saini said. “So it’s nice to have a vision that you can share with someone.”
The couple said they also enjoy moments behind the scenes when things don’t always go as planned and they are able to have fun with photo and video outtakes.
“There are times when I procrastinate and [Singh] gets me back on track and vice versa,” Saini said. “He lives and breathes everything Bay Area Bitez [and] sometimes and I have to tell him to take a break and unwind. We balance each other and I think that’s what makes Bay Area Bitez so successful.”
The duo said their passion for the account comes from their love for food, multimedia and promoting small businesses.
“Our goal is to increase social media traffic and increase business for local food vendors and small businesses,” Saini said. “We analyze the analytics and have gotten feedback that businesses have seen an increase in orders and/or social media traffic due to our posts. Nothing makes us happier than that.”
But for now, Saini and Singh said their Instagram account is a passion project because it doesn’t pay the bills yet.
“We’re a couple who wants to share with the world the amazing food around the Bay [Area], and on top of that, helping local food vendors and small businesses,” Saini said. “When we are able to direct traffic and more business to struggling businesses during these tough COVID-19 times, it’s the most rewarding thing that keeps us motivated to keep creating content.”