It started, Madison Shapiro says, with Guy Fieri. While in highschool Madison consumed all things diners, drive-ins, and dives. It motivated her to go see their local haunts for herself and roped her sisters into the obsession. With that the origin story of Sistersnacking was born.
The four sisters, who grew up in Glastonbury, had an affinity for food from a young age. Flash forward to 2015, they joined Instagram and started posting pictures of the foods they were eating in New York and Connecticut. By 2020, they had about 20,000 followers on Instagram. This was during Covid when everyone was staying home and getting takeout from their favorite restaurants, including the sisters and their Glastonbury family.
During this uncertain time, they saw some exciting growth. With the boredom of quarantine the sisters decided to join TikTok and started sharing some quickie reviews of their own takeout experiences on social media and a mix of cooking videos when they could all cook together at home.
Since then, it’s been nothing but growth for the girls. Sistersnacking is now a multi-faceted social media network that spans numerous platforms and has over 800,000 followers. It’s become a full-time business for three out of the four sisters.
“It’s been incredible, honestly, we feel really lucky that it's been this popular,” says Sara, the eldest.
Their business, they say, is in large part a mission to help others wade through the myriad of food choices in their lives to find the best eating options. “We don’t want people to waste their money on mediocre food, so we spend our own money and time finding the best food,” says Madison, who has been known to eat out daily, even visiting two restaurants on some nights. “We’ve just always loved food and we love eating out.” says Carly.
Their big breakout moment was on TikTok in December of 2021 when Madison visited a New York City steakhouse that was getting buzz for a $28 skirt steak special with all-you-can-eat french fries. Her video review went viral, garnering more than 6 million views on TikTok. The restaurant got swamped with customers and that caught the attention of the editors at several national magazines, including Forbes and Bon Appétit, which featured Sistersnacking in a story about the effect social media has on the restaurant industry. Soon, three of the sisters - Madison, Carly and Sara - were all working together on Sistersnacking full time.
The youngest sister, Julia, is still in college and will likely join her sisters in the Sistersnacking food content creation business when she graduates. She really reaps the benefits of having 3 older sisters who can show her the way after she graduates from Syracuse University where she’s currently a Junior.
Toward the end of 2022, a video featuring Carly reviewing a build-your-own charcuterie board shop called Kured in NYC's Greenwich Village got more than 10 million views on Instagram.
The sisters also have a successful series, called Iconic or Overrated, in which they review well-known and iconic restaurants to find out if the eateries still live up to their hype. Some recent restaurants featured in that series included the Bidwell Tavern in Coventry, White Horse Tavern in Newport, R.I., Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria in New Haven, and even the Shady Glen Restaurant in Manchester - a local landmark of casual dining – which Sistersnacking deemed “Iconic!”
They’ve traveled the world, reviewing restaurants and food venues along the way, and even offer up their own recipes on their social media accounts. The sisters credit their parents Suzi and Alan who share a love for all things food and eating out, with inspiring them. “We’re a big foodie family and we want to be the resource for all things food,” says Madison.
“We loved growing up in Glastonbury, and still do a ton of eating when back in town visiting our parents, so there will never be a lack of Connecticut recommendations for our local followers.” says Carly. @Sistersnacking operates across numerous social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, and Facebook. The company also has a website, Sistersnackingllc.com. While all four sisters now live out of CT, their local followers continue to be their most devout fanbase.
