Kingsport native finds online success showcasing local restaurants

KINGSPORT — When he's not working as a pharmacist, Zach Carland can be found online spotlighting local eateries. Carland, 33 years old and a lifelong Kingsport resident, has garnered nearly 15,000 followers and over 141,000 likes on his TikTok profile "ZachBites" from posting food-related content. The Dobyns-Bennett High School grad said he always enjoyed watching food gurus like Guy Fieri, Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmerman growing up. Starting out Carland's TikTok profile catalogues his visits to more than 40 local restaurants around Kingsport, Johnson City and even crossing over into Scott County. Carland calls himself a "food discoverer" rather than a reviewer. His interest in content creation started back in high school when he would create vlog-like videos, which turned into reviewing fast food menu items about a year ago. "I started on YouTube," Carland said. "I was doing normal fast food things, like new things at McDonald's or new things at Little Caesars. The guys that I follow, I picked up on how they would take their eight to 10 minute video, clip it down and put it on TikTok." He said his YouTube channel saw a steep drop off in engagement around Easter last year, which left him discouraged and unsure of how to move forward with his content. "I got to the point where I was getting frustrated," Carland said. "I was like, I need a spark. I worked on my editing a little bit, because I know you have got to keep people's attention spans, but I didn't want to cut it down too much." Around mid-2025, his wife suggested making more localized content — and to start with a video about Pal's Sudden Service. His first Pal's video, posted on TikTok July 28, 2025, showed the seasonal Orange Delight shake. He posted two other Pal's videos that helped skyrocket his success. "The very next morning, I woke up super early and went and did breakfast, and that [video] did like 15,000 or 20,000 views," he said. "At that time, before I made the first Pal's video, I had 300 followers on TikTok. After that third video, I had like 2,500 followers." In the community Carland said several local businesses started to comment on his videos, reaching out to ask him to come by. Hundreds of locals continue leaving comments of places for him to try next. He said it has been special to show a bigger audience some of the best hidden gems of the area he grew up in. "When people were telling me that people were coming [to restaurants] because they saw my videos — it sounds kind of corny, but I want to use my platform, so that's what I've been doing," he said. "And it's been fun." Carland said his public-facing job as a pharmacist for the past 16 years has helped him feel more relaxed in front of the camera, but it also limits his availability to visit certain restaurants. The Hob-Nob Drive In, located in Gate City, is still on his list to visit. "Most of the time, I work until 7 [p.m.] a lot," he said. "All of these local mom and pop shops, they close pretty close to that, yeah and I'm not gonna show up somewhere 30 minutes before they close and get food." He said his channel growth comes in waves, but establishing a strong following can help attract people to the page. "When people look at your profile, they're more inclined to follow you if they see that everyone else is following you, or a lot of other people are following you," Carland said. "It's kind of like a social proof." Looking ahead In the past few days, Carland said his Facebook page has grown its following and reach, with over 2,400 followers as of Thursday afternoon. As his social media channels continue to grow, Carland said his goal is to be able to further financially support his family and spend more time at home. With an 18-month old son and another child on the way, he said being able to cut back on a few shifts at work with the content creation income would be a dream. "I'm not by any means thinking I'm going to be some like a millionaire off of this stuff," he said. "But if I could just pull in enough money to justify cutting a shift or two out per week, that'd be awesome." Carland's TikTok handle is @zachbites1. His Facebook page is ZachBites.