How Did a Restaurant with Over 50 Years of History Go Viral on Social Media Again?

In Tsim Sha Tsui, an Italian restaurant has a story that began in 1969, when the owner’s father came from Italy to Hong Kong and opened it. More than 50 years on, its freshly made handmade pasta and traditional Italian dishes have built a loyal following. Even celebrities have sought it out.

The challenge: fewer regulars, while new diners did not know the restaurant

The owner told us that business had been declining. With spending in Hong Kong under pressure, overseas travel and restaurants across the border adding to the competition, the restaurant was seeing fewer regular customers, while younger diners had yet to discover it. Keeping the business going had become difficult.

The owner still believed in the value of the restaurant’s history and signature dishes. The question was how to give a new generation the chance to discover them. Introducing the restaurant to younger diners became the focus of this restaurant promotion.

Previous creators had sizeable followings, but the results fell short

The restaurant had previously invited influencers to try its food. As the owner put it: “We chose people with a reasonable number of followers to film and collaborate with, but the quality and reach of the promotion fell short of what we expected, and business did not noticeably improve.”

Looking back at those posts, we found that follower counts had not translated into the reach the restaurant had hoped for. Saves and shares were also limited. That prompted us to rethink how to choose creators who could help people see what makes the restaurant distinctive.

Choosing Hong Kong KOLs: look beyond followers to reach and engagement

Past reach: We considered follower counts alongside the actual reach of each creator’s previous Reels to understand how far their content travelled.

Saves, shares and audience response: Alongside reach, we looked at how often people saved or shared posts, and how audiences responded.

Filming and storytelling: We considered how clearly each creator could introduce the restaurant to someone encountering it for the first time.

Video format: This collaboration shifted from mainly image-based posts to video. We adjusted both the creator selection and content format, then reviewed the results in the reports.

How did the collaborations perform?

The four creators in the earlier collaboration had a combined following of around 117,000. Their four Reels recorded approximately 12,000 in total reach and 213 saves and shares. The three creators in this collaboration had a combined following of around 223,000. Their three Reels recorded approximately 629,000 in total reach and 17,000 saves and shares. Here, interactions mean saves and shares only.

Three creators, three ways to tell the restaurant’s story

1. @hkfoodcravers: A prominent local food creator with more than 100,000 followers, sharing the restaurant’s signature handmade pasta from a first-person dining perspective. One Reel recorded a reach of around 153,000, alongside 13,000 saves and shares.

2. @nacchan_hk: A Japanese travel creator who introduced the Tsim Sha Tsui restaurant from a visitor’s perspective, bringing its story to a different audience. One Reel recorded a reach of around 187,000, alongside 1,464 saves and shares.

3. @chubbybowtie: A local video creator whose content draws strong interaction, using voiceover to tell the restaurant’s story. One Reel recorded a reach of around 289,000, alongside 2,900 saves and shares.

Beyond reach: more people dining at the restaurant

Beyond video reach, saves and shares, the restaurant also cared about people coming in to eat. The owner shared the restaurant’s monthly diner counts. Compared with April 2026, these were 14.5% higher in May, 18.4% higher in June and 49.3% higher in July.

A mention in a Threads list of handmade pasta recommendations

The restaurant also appeared in a “Top 6 handmade pasta in Hong Kong recommended by Threads users” list. More than 50 years after opening, it was part of the online conversation about where to eat once again.

Image source: Instagram @open.holidays

A simple rating to help make better-informed choices

Try.Eat! is an influencer matching platform. Its creator ratings and performance reports give restaurants another reference point when choosing who to work with. Before a collaboration, a rating can help them assess a creator’s overall performance alongside their audience, previous work and storytelling style. Afterwards, reach and interaction reports can help them decide what to repeat or adjust next time.

A long-established restaurant’s story can reach a new generation

The restaurant founded by the owner’s father has more than 50 years of stories behind it. We started with the challenges the owner faced, then reconsidered who to work with and changed the content format. We reviewed the content reports alongside the restaurant’s dining records. For us, the lesson is how a restaurant’s real challenges can shape a more considered approach to promotion.

If you are planning your restaurant marketing and would like more people to discover your restaurant, see our plans and pricing or book a free consultation to talk through what kind of creator collaboration might suit you.