When Julian Olalde and Jason Collard, co-creators of the Garland Foodies Facebook page, heard someone say that there aren’t many good restaurants in Garland, they began to talk about how to change that perception. That led to the creation of a Facebook page that has accomplished great things for the restaurant owners and diners.
“My parents always taught me that we should spend our hard-earned money in the city where we live,” Olalde said. “I grew up on Garland…and didn’t know about a lot of the great restaurants. I didn’t even know about this one, Main Street Café, until Jason [Collard] told me that I needed to come here.”
He added that people get into a rut and go to the same places all the time. Often, they only go to the large chain restaurants and don’t know what they are missing by not going to the independent places.
“I’m not saying don’t go to those places. Just know what else is available,” Olalde said. “Sometimes the independent restaurants have better steak than at a chain steakhouse or better Mexican food than a chain Mexican food restaurant.”
Collard said that it took a while to get the page going, but there are currently more than 7,500 members
“It’s amazing,” he said. “It has just blown up. The original reason was just to let people know about places in Garland, encourage members to go to restaurants and post their experience on the site. Now I’m not afraid to step outside the box and try something different.”
Most of the emphasis is on mom and pop restaurants. As Collard explained, the small chain establishments have corporate backing and are better able to withstand things like the current COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The mom and pops, if they close down for two weeks or a month, they might not recover,” he said.
All reviews are welcome, whether good or bad, but the administrators do their best to minimize the intensity of the negativity,
“We’d rather they keep it simple – something like ‘we went to XYZ Restaurant and it really wasn’t for me. Maybe it’s for someone else’ and leave it at that. We don’t like it when they get really specific or rude,” Collard said.
Olalde added that he always tries to remember that the people at a restaurant can be having an off night or that even if he doesn’t care for the food, other people might. Maybe it’s just that the food wasn’t for his palate.
He and Collard agreed that intensely negative reviews are contradictory to the purpose of the Facebook page as they want to support local businesses, not bash them.
There are three things that are not allowed.
“We don’t discuss politics, religion and masks,” Olalde said. “The mask issue has caused enough problems…We want to stick to food.”
The page has helped restaurants stay in business through the pandemic. It puts the restaurant owners’ faces with the businesses. And that helps people want to support them. They feel more of a personal connection when they know the owners’ stories and their families.
“I am constantly told by people that they’d have never found this place or that place if it weren’t for the FB page. So, if we can help a mom and pop stay in business by spotlighting them, I’m all for that.”
Additionally, the page serves as a source of information for the owners. If they get a negative review or complaint, they can address it right away and try to make the situation right.
The members of the page have enjoyed the opportunity to do things for people in the community, individuals, the Garland Police Department and Garland Fire Department, to name a few, and they are grateful for that chance.
“Jason and Julian have helped us keep our doors open through COVID,” said Tammy Norvell, owner of Main Street Cafe. “We wouldn’t have made it without them pushing it. They have been a free commercial for us. And my mother just passed away and what they’ve done for us while we’re going through this hard time is awesome. What they do shows a lot of heart.”
Collard and Olalde go to the same church and have become great friends. They describe themselves as ‘brothers from different mothers.’