Go Cry About It! with The VIP LIST

Hi.

Okay, so hello, how are you guys at Where are you both?

We're both in the city right now.

You're in the city in your respective apartments.

Yeah, we're both at home.

Okay.

So this is the vip list who I found on social media, on TikTok in particular, but they have a smaller presence on Instagram as many TikTokers do, which we can get into.

And they are. Do you mind my asking how old you girls are?

We're both twenty six.

You're both twenty six, and you knew each other since you're how old?

Since we goverth three. We met each other in preschool.

In what in like around Philly where Yeah, suburbs of Philadelphia were from there?

Okay?

And did you stay friends the entire time? Did you go to school together, did you go to college together? Or you just stayed in touch?

We went to middle school and high school together. We went different ways in college. In elementary school, I went to like a different elementary school. I went to Catholic school.

And you stayed in touch your whole life.

Yeah somehow? Okay.

Halfway through Meg moved to Boca and I was in school in Miami, so like we were connected again there, and then I ended up moving to New York.

Yeah, I went to Penn State, but I hated the farm life, so I dropped out and then started working instead.

Oh you did? What did you start working as?

So?

After I dropped out of Penn State, I moved to Florida did real estate for a little bit.

Then I came up to New York and worked in wealth management.

And that's why I live in Fidya because I would commute to work from here. And during the pandemic, when we were working from home, I was just posting content and like me and Audrey joined forces and started posting content from New York and Miami and here we are.

Somehow we turned it into a full time gig.

What made you join forces? And what made you get into the food review space? So the vip list these are two girls, their friends, lifelong friends. I found them from doing irreverent, unapologetic, sometimes savage food reviews with a humorous twist and lingo and like tag phrases like go cry about it and you're you know?

So how did this get started?

So basically, Meg posted a video on TikTok.

We would FaceTime every day because we were both just so bored during the pandemic, and Meg posted a video of a review of Marquee and that video got ten k views, and she calls me. She's like, oh my god, going viral, Like we need to do something with this.

So I had a bunch of.

Contents and we're like, oh my god, this is huge, like we're gonna be famous, like this is everything. So we both had a bunch of content from before everything shut down. So I had a bunch of content from Miami. She had a bunch from New York. And we had both always loved like going out to eat, and a lot of it was partying to at first, like we were doing club reviews. So we just started posting that content, and then once we ran out of that, we did take out reviews.

Oh wait, wait, wait, why did you have content? Like what were you thinking you were doing? Like where was the content? Just living?

We were just posting on Snapchat all the time before the world of lockdown, Like we had so many videos that we would take at the club or at restaurant. I through with interning for Dave Grutman at the time before everything shut down, so she had.

You guys, Dave Grutman owned all the major like hip spots in Miami. He's like a nightclub impressario in Miami. So she was working for Dave Grutman. Okay, so you had access to the cool places.

Yeah, so I was part of my internship was taking content at the restaurants and clubs, so I had so much saved just in my camera roll. The we just were posting, and we also both just loved going out to eat and were always documenting everything anyways, So I think.

The takeout were usually blew and stuff though, because at the time, no one was going out to the restaurants that everyone was ordering in and they didn't know where to order from, so we would just really we took it upon ourselves to order it out every single day and just.

Tell people where to eat, where to get their foods.

Up and is it Are you writing it all off now when you're ordering, when you're posting about it.

Oh?

Absolutely? Oh yeah, yeah, we have an LLC, so yeah, everything goes through that.

Okay, So what popped it off? I think our art to Choke. We we roasted artichoke pizza during the pandemic. It got like six million views and me gained like one hundred thousand followers from that one video.

You're saying you roasted it was bad Arto choke, but you say, yeah, you said it was bad.

I made it sober unfortunately, and uh, we were like, I don't know how I ever enjoyed this.

And it got because it was growing because it was like slop like cheesus.

Oh my god, it was just straight yeah exactly.

Oh and so you roasted that and then you were like okay, and then you led with the irreverent yeah.

And then people started like parodying us, like the way we spoke, and they were getting a lot of views, and we're like, okay, like, if they're parroting us and getting more views, why don't we just start saying the most unhinged stuff possible and get the views ourselves.

So we just started doing that and here we are.

So who's the saying, go cry about it? Which one of you?

We switch off?

We switch off every video, so like we'll take turns doing the voiceover and writing the scripts pretty much just like every other restaurant.

Wow.

Okay, so when did you Who's who bankrolled all this to begin with? Do you come from money? It sounds like you come from the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Oh, no, we did not come from money at all.

Really, yeah, it's giving, it's giving a little bit of money on the main line of a Philadelphia I'm excited to hear that it's not really you don't come.

To money, not at all, like we honestly, like we started making more of our parents.

We first started like no, yeah, like yo.

Like you had a beat up car in high school.

I didn't even have a car.

Oh okay, Well, first of all, people should know that story. I think I don't feel like I feel like I should. Somehow in your videos have known that story. I think that's very uh, you know, because when I see the videos, you guys seem like two rich girls out like with a credit card getting meals.

Oh I know, we really try to make it look that way.

But no, we come from nothing, like honestly, we still like our hustling and making it like to make ends meet, like we because we pay for all of our reviews. So it is a struggle. Like for the first year I was working two jobs to try to finance the food. And literally everything we make is put back into the business and put back into the content.

Like right now, like, we're definitely not rich.

Yeah wow wow, okay, so you so when did you start? So how were you financing this?

The whole way?

We literally any money.

I was working as a hostess in little Italy, but literally every dollar we made we put back into the business, like literally into content, into reviews. And then we started working with brands like pretty early on because we were like.

We need to figure out a way to make this work.

So we started social media management too, like we were like finding any way to make money.

Smart.

Yeah, we managed like three different restaurants social media to make it work.

Once I left my job, we did restaurant consulting.

Whatever the I don't know if it allowed us to do that, To think that we happened in that.

Way, you could, you could. Wait, I think you could. You know your shit. Wait, but you don't do the social media management anymore.

You can't.

You don't have enough time.

No, it's so time consuming, especially when you're trying to run your own page as well. It's like we just did not have the time for it. So we that ship sailed.

Okay, So now you're supporting yourselves. Each of you can support yourselves in a good way, in a fine, way do you still feel like you're broke?

Like what is it?

I mean it has its ties and lows for sure, Like certain seasons like summer is a pretty slow season, and like the dead of winter is slow too.

But then you'll get like a huge deal that.

You kind of just like have to save up and just account for the times where you don't have like everything coming in at once because it's very inconsistent.

Well first of all your advice to other people. But we can get there through what we're talking about. So you're unapologetic. So you, for example, you started to get adding more and more bitchy and like go cry about it, and you're a peasant. If you're a peasant. If you can't afford truffle carbonara, then you are a peasant and don't deserve to be in my I mean you really all the way and you must have when you were bridging that like that arc gotten a lot of hate.

Oh we still get a lot of hate. Yeah, we get a lot.

We get a lot of hate because we have had a lot of people, like people started making videos with Viatine talking Mary Antoinette, like because we're using the word peasant, Like people get really mad, But honestly, it's a joke and we now like play into it and try to make people as mad as possible because it upset our engagement.

Yeah, so let's talk about the apps because for me the first time in the beginning, you guys, would you say that you have your primary residence and TikTok and you have a secondary residence on Instagram like you you live in TikTok.

You like what I would say, we make more money off of Instagram, which is so.

Weird from viewser from brand deals, from brand deals. Okay, well that is interesting and it's a different person. We can tell people who the different people are because I have my opinion and you of yours. I have a I have a residence that I've had in Instagram for years.

That's a solid residence.

But I have like a big, new money, flashy Cashi house and TikTok and understand that neighborhood really well, Like I vibe with that neighborhood very well.

And it's my opinion.

You guys can correct me or confirm my opinion is that TikTok is like really like it's a universe, it's a planet, and you have to really live in there to understand what the people are like, and you'll be friends with different types of aliens like in the Star Wars bar that like when people wouldn't think you're friends with and you genuinely respect them and vice versa.

And it literally is a community.

Instagram is more of like a department store that has different departments and different windows, and like you can really piss people off, and the moms live very deeply in Instagram and they will come for you for things that you would get away with on TikTok, having a sense of humor, Like Instagram is more like network television, and TikTok is like some you know, cable network that lets you get away with so much more.

What do you think?

I totally agree. I think TikTok's for oversharing.

People put all their mental illness, all their unhinged over sharing stories on there. Where are Instagram It's all like, oh, I was on this boat the other day, I'm at this restaurant now, Like you don't really get a lot of personality from Instagram. With reels, it's getting there, but still TikTok is.

Definitely it's a loony It's a looney bit.

Yeah, we get hate on both though, Like we get hate in our Instagram dms, we get hate comments every day on TikTok.

I think we get more hate on TikTok honestly.

Yeah, Like I feel like for our Instagram following, it's a little bit like our demographics are a little bit older, so they understand our humor a little bit more, yeah, versus like TikTok. Like when we call someone a peasant or say someone's poor, they get so offended they actually get really mad.

Okay, Well, two questions.

One don't answer right away, but one is do brands fully get it? Or do you turn off some brands because they're scaredy cats? And two, I would say it takes a lot.

It took me.

I'm much older than you, and I realized when I did the Rachel Levis interview and the views were blowing up everywhere. I was being trashed on five hundred accounts and I didn't know I was in the upside down because I thought it was bad. But the trolls are good. There are entire pages about hating me. To your point, and like, it was a little rocky in my mind

Exactly. The haters make you famous. That's a fact.

Okay, so so true. We have a lot of those.

I feel like we have a lot of people who hate watch our content and who don't even follow us. Like a lot of people will literally just like see our videos in common het and like they're commenting on multiple videos, but a lot of them don't follow us.

And people even meet us in person and they're like, I hate you, but I still want to say hi. We're like, okay, well I agree.

On Housewives.

The thing was if you love, if you love to love and you love to hate, it's good. If you hate to hate, it's bad because it's like toxic for you. If you hate to hate something, it's bad. It's like when when a Housewives show goes like dirty and bad and it's like you feel gross watching. But when you love to hate, it's like a good villain. It's like a good you know, Dynasty villain or some show. So I think that you guys have captured that, but you double down. And this is where I really saw it.

Even known, Like they don't need to make a.

Comment about you two TikTok girls respectfully, they don't need to make a comment, you know what I mean, Like even.

You were with you the next day, Like we went to Mavericks night before. Remember we told you we had a really expensive dinner at the DSW.

Yeah.

Then so they took the bait, which is the dumbest thing, because I'll tell you that this is a lesson in media. So I have a friend who's very famous and was on and is a very successful person, you know, made like millions and millions of dollars a year on TV. And he called me the other day and he goes, I need your advice, and he said, I'm being killed for this thing that I said, and it got a million views on TikTok. I'm like, first of it's not

Trust me.

It's like poison in the ocean, Like it's gonna get I go, I've been five things by eight o'clock this morning, I have.

Literally my day.

When I ate my I'm canceled five things by not literally by eight o'clock this morning, I could read five articles about myself. And he goes, well, that's why I called you. I go, yeah, it didn't happen. I'll watch it. It's a set of waves. If it turns into a tsunami, i'll let you know. But like, it didn't happen, And he calls me the next day he's like, holy shit, it didn't I'm like, yeah, it didn't happen. But that guy from Mavericks, they made a quote comment about it.

You said go cry about it?

Yes, who said that?

Who said that? Who said go cry about it?

We wrote an official statement because all these tabloids were reaching out and they were making up lives saying we blackmailed them. Like, first of all, we went with our very rich friend who was paying for all of us.

We didn't need free food. We didn't ask for ReFood, We didn't tell them we were there. They said, we poured a seafood tower on it ourselves, which why would we why would we do that? Do that right?

And we just thought that was the best response.

Yeah, we were like, this is a perfect moment to use our tagline. And also like once they did that and went to the press about it, the video went even more viral, Like we were getting so many comments of people crying from all the different articles.

So they were accountability on their ends, Like, not once did they take accountability for our bad experience. They just tried to lie and make up like kind of discredit our experience.

That's why you leaned further in.

Had they said, you know what, we're new, We're sorry they had an unfortunate experience. We'd like to invite there's a couple of lessons here. Had they said we're sorry for this unfortunate experience, we'd like to invite them back in Yes, and you know we're so, you would have doubled, You would have backed down. You had said this is amazing, thank you, it's a beautiful restaurant. You would have done

Yeah, and they just lied, they blatantly lied.

So we're like, okay, like pull up their seats, show us the video footage of us pushing the tower and blackmailing the waiter. And they never did because it didn't act.

It's giving Chanel where I It wasn't about the crime in the town. Of course, I understand if you want to give me what you want to say, you need an appointment. It was the way I was spoken to at the front door, which made me feel like a peasant, and I did go cry about it in humor, and Chanelle tripled down double. You know, now I'm synonymous with

Who gives a fuck?

Now?

Now you can't leave now Now Now I'm cutting out seas and putting them on all dough heels. Now I'm in Steve Madden. Everyone can fuck right off. I can afford any bag I want. Now I'm using crayons on my arms bags like now, it's a fucking free period period. Yeah, game over the game, the my it's my opinion. The luxury game is going to take a crash.

No, it's crazy and the quality has gone down.

Like I got anel bag two years ago and it's rusted just from wearing it in the rain a few times.

Like listen, it gets taken by crazy on Canal Street, Like on Canal Street.

Through you like these things, swarm, find out what it's worth.

If it's worth a couple of hundred dollars, cut those seas at gloom on something else color and make it into something go cry about it.

Yeah, yeah, I love it. If the announced series come in, I'm here.

And now can go so worry about it.

Do you have someone who advises you or is it the two of you advising each other when these things happen.

So we had our managers, Emily and Elena.

They helped so much stright now, like they helped us write a whole press release and stuff, because like, honestly, us clapping back, we were gonna say like way more like unhinged things.

Like we didn't really we want to come for them. Yeah, no, no, no, that wasn't the way.

Yeah.

They they really helped us.

That's what we call overplaying our hand.

Yeah, so it was good to have someone in our corner being like, no, this is what you have to say. You have some professional and do it right. And I feel like, honestly the clapback was perfect.

But did it make you realize that there are always gonna be wolves at the end of the bed. You can't drink your own kool aid, can't believe your own bullshit. You got to like take the temperature. You have to hold the wheel not too tight, but not let go of the wheel when things go sideways, because in any situation like that, it can go sideways.

Yeah.

Absolutely, And I feel like they really helped us just come up with the perfect like response that made us sound just like respectable and like not not too unhinged.

But also just like yeah, and people, are you are you not going to.

Roast restaurants anymore? Like are you canceled now? But I feel like we're always gonna be honest, Like if we had a bad experience, we had a bad experience, and I'm not afraid to say that at any restaurant, Like it's like you're allowed to speak your mind. And I feel like like nowadays, people are really scared to say what they think.

So if we have to do it, we will.

And yes, to answer your first question, it does affect brands, like a lot of brands like are scared to work with us because how unhinged we are. But we'd also drive traffic, Like when we post a restaurant, a lot of people are going to those restaurants for a recommendation.

People even went to Mavericks to see.

If yeah we hate watching hate yeah.

So you know, like we definitely do have an ROI of some sorts. Just frends need to start like peeping that.

So what about.

Top five worst meals, top five best or top three if it's easy.

Oh worst, okay, and Mavericks is number one, And just because the whole yeah, the whole experience was horrible, Bad Roman, Bad Roman. I wouldn't put Mad Roman number two.

I put like the Smith at number two, just because the food was actually inedible, like.

Smith like s M Y t HG the hotel, or the Smith like in West Village.

Like the Smith in Nomad, like s M I T h by the Sackler family.

The yeah, what was and what was soboud?

The lotto role came straight out of the Hudson River. It literally tasted like that.

The burger was soggy, horrible service, just nothing tasted good, just overall a bad experience.

And again it's channel, So shouldn't they reached out and been like, let's like take the take the note. Let's take the note. I went last week to a restaurant and you know what, I lost the footage, which is annoying because the food was crap in the Hampton's and I was going to just do it, but I didn't have the footage, and I it was so savage that I was I don't want to say I was nervous.

Exactly, that's why we do it. But people are like, don't you feel bad? Yeah, like, don't you feel bad roasting a restaurant? But it's like, I feel bad for our followers. We're plulling up to a meal and paying two thousand dollars not getting what they want.

I feel bad for fifty dollars. I feel offended when I have a bad meal. Offended, Like I get angry. I'm like, I wasted a meal. It's like wasting an outfit with a bad date exactly.

Yeah, And especially for our followers who are like using our recommendations for that one day a year, like that's worth say, when they're going out for a celebration and it's like no, that's why we do it, like for those.

People, That's what I'm saying.

Okay, So so Smith didn't reach out dumb on them.

So you got two, what's three bad?

I hate to say.

I don't want to hate from the Lady Gaga fan base, but her family's restaurant was was your bands.

I went there once and I love Gaga, but the restaurant wasn't good either. It was we went there in the Housewives. Yeah, well, because it's not her restaurant's and that doesn't mean her restaurant be good either. I mean it's not her makeup line, she's not invested in. It's somebody in her family. Yeah, so that you can't hang in New York City. If you can't hang like, it's serious there.

And that's why we also don't feel bad because it's like, if you're going to be prding, these prices come correct, Like if you're opening a restaurant in New York City, it has to be good or else you're not gonna last.

Like it's not simple, it's the most hard, it's the most difficult business. And the fact that this Greek place here in the Hamptons didn't have anybody there that was a grown up like managing the place.

Yeah.

When Yeah, because hospitality can also like make a break and any experience as well, like if it's like a horrible time, but they're actually like taking accountability and being nice, maybe offering like a free dessert or something for your trouble, like that always helps.

I feel like, right, okay, so what about I'll tell you it was annoying that happened to me. I went to a restaurant out here that I literally raved about. So the owner sends me some stuff, but they wanted to promote some stuff. They had like a product line right to my house. Okay, so now I've got like which I get stuff you could imagine all the time. So I went back in there and they were kind of like over being at my table and talking and

Knew I was filming.

Like I didn't like the feeling because it was like I want to come in here as Jen Pop and just pay for my bill and not have anybody up my ass. Yeah, or I want you to pay for my bill and then you're up my ass, Like I don't want to do a mixture of both that make any sense.

Yeah, totally.

Yeah.

So they were on your dick and getting a compet.

Right, if you're gonna be on my dick, you're gonna pay. You're gonna pay me to be on my dick.

Yeah.

No, I totally agree with that because it changes the entire experience. I know, they're like watching you the whole time.

One hundred and it was like Kai and how is it is?

Three people? And it was like, leave me the fuck alone, or pay for my bill. If I'm working, I'm working. It's like I'm a hooker, I'm a hooker. If I'm a civilian, I'm a civilian. I really don't need to like blow you and also pay for my meal.

Yeah.

That's what I don't like, because they'll come around with these things they film this film and I'm like, no, like are like, it's like, even.

If you're giving it for a free, you should be paying me to do this. No.

Ken Restaurants know, a free dessert does not count. We don't care.

Yeah, a free dessert or someone sent over a drink, I mean out of water that that doesn't count.

You don't.

It's not a Maya kopa. You sent me a drink and you gave me a free dessert. You want to sleep together, I'd like the whole airmes bag and the trip and the carts and from I really don't need. Yeah, I don't need a half fudge Sunday and I'm gonna like, you're gonna have all my you know, all my attention.

Literally, that's so true.

Right, So that was worse three? What were best three? And this is New York City? We could do the Hamptons if you want.

What were Yeah?

Poor Child is probably my favorite. Poor Chile's probably my favorite restaurant to go to. It's like impossible to get in, so maybe that affects how how did it taste?

But it's still the best burger I've ever had.

Like I need to go, and I have to go buy it on that reservation site because I always decided last minute, and I'm gonna I'll go at five o'clock, but I heard it's open at lunch too.

No, I don't know if it's open at lunch, but I do know that you can get the burger for takeout.

Yea take on that. It was seventy dollars and it honestly was worth it.

Wow, all right, I'm doing that next time with Brin. So that's your number one. What's your number two?

I would say Terese or Jean George.

I was gonna say just for the overall experience too, Like the food is amazing, the hospitality is amazing, and you can just tell that everyone who works the genuinely loves their job and like wants to be there, which makes such a difference because if the staff is miserable, it just changes the whole vibe you're talking about.

I saw you post about there was like foam and interesting things, and it was on the Upper East Side.

You're talking about like sixties that right outside.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the flagship Jean George.

Okay, So I have news for you.

This is a good business piece of advice and just information for people. So you're saying that gen George was good. So the Jean George restaurant, you guys posted nicely about Topping Rows, but I think they saw you coming and topping Roase is good. I'm not going to say it's amazing. I'll say it's a solid seven. It's a New York.

City Hampton's, though, I feel like, but it's definitely one of the top ones.

I'll tell you the top ones. And it's a Hampton's. Maybe it's a seven to seventy five for the Hampton's and New York City be a seven. But John George's restaurant and Pound Ridge is inedible. It's like bad gay. Yeah, but what's the restaurant. It's called the Inn a pound Ridge because it's just got his name stamped on, and people need to be mindful of name stamped doesn't mean

Yeah, like the original.

Yeah, like his brother runs the whole like his brother, his brother like the whole runs the whole ship there, like, and he's there a lot too, and every dishes are like they have the most gorgeous caviar salad it's like a lettuce flower and like there's caviar eggs in each crevice, Like it's crazy.

Have you done Petrosian yet?

Well, we've had Petrosian, but I haven't gone. I didn't know they have a plot.

No, you too have to go to the experience and tell them.

I saying you, no, they do like the tr they do the truffle scrambled egg and they do this amazing, Like my, they just go there, just go there, go cry about it. It's really and it's the experience, and it's the most beautiful restaurant, like if your moms are in town or if you're doing something girly, like, it's a beautiful and it's an experience.

So it's like what you're describing me.

To go that's incredible.

And speaking of horrible place, is the caviar casts me at the Mark.

Is one of the worst meals we've had as well.

That's a good one to say because.

It's so bad.

It was like twelve hundred dollars a person and they served it with wonderbread toast and I.

Was paying the twelve hundred dollars. When you guys are going there.

That brand that week, like we like when when we like we get a really big brand deal, like we'll splurt just because like that place had so much type when it opened, and we're like, Okay, this is worth.

The investment because like it's gonna get this many views because this many people are talking.

About and did it yeah yeah, yeah, it got like.

A million views.

Yeah okay