He asked an empty restaurant to host his community — one 'free food' post later, it made $2,000

Being an influencer is not just about the number of likes and followers, but also about giving back to the community. Juan Gonzalez's (@thatwasepic_tok) content focuses on a lot of feel-good videos and giving back to the community. A video from March 3 showed Juan at Alitas Parras, asking the owner if he could invite his "community" to the restaurant. Unaware of what he meant, the owner agreed. Juan then posted a story on Instagram with the caption, "First 50 people to get here get free food!" He shared it along with the address of the place. What happened in the next couple of hours had the restaurant owner in a dizzy.

People started flocking to Alitas Parras for their hot wings, and Juan humorously said, "A couple more are coming." Keeping his word, he opened a running tab so people could order their food for free. He was surprised by the number of people who turned up just within minutes of the post going live. So many people stopped by the restaurant that the owner had to go to the back to help with the cooking. While speaking to the cashier, she told Juan that it was usually slow at Alitas Parras, but after his Instagram story, she had to call other workers in because they needed more staff to help out. 

Juan did not just sit and wait to pay, but pitched in to help by passing the food to customers. Many were impressed by his generosity and decided to snap a few selfies with him while waiting. One customer even called the restaurant just to compliment the chef, saying the wings were good. Before closing the tab, Juan asked the remaining customers to guess the bill. Instead of basking in the limelight for doing a good deed, Juan gave credit to the customers. He said, "Because of all of you guys, they made over $2,000 in a single afternoon," and everyone started clapping. He jokingly tried to pay with an UNO reverse card before leaving the restaurant. Juan has always been humble and attributed his fame to his fans.

America is a developed nation, but food security remains an issue. A survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed that 5.4% of people experienced very low food security in 2024. Feeding America reports that 1 in 5 children do not have enough food to grow up strong, and 48 million Americans are facing food insecurity. It has also been reported that families who face food insecurity are usually POC families with low incomes and families with single mothers. This is due to racism and discrimination based on employment, education, housing, and opportunities. While Juan is a content creator, his gesture goes beyond entertainment. Buying strangers' food on a random afternoon may not be effective enough to close the gap, but it is one step towards it.

Juan's videos are well-loved online, and this one is no different. It has 12.5 million views, 1.2 million likes, and almost 2000 comments. People appreciate what Juan is doing with his community, and many have given him the title of a "real influencer." @andrewelsdon7 commented, "This is truly how to influence. Juan is a true hero in these places." @flumpskeletor wrote, "This is the first time I've believed there's a place for influencers. A celeb couldn't do this, they'd get mobbed & cause chaos, but the soft power of an influencer, yeah man. Good job."

You can follow Juan Gonzalez (@thatwasepic_tok) on TikTok for more feel-good videos.

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