Ex-server makes nearly $1 million a year from his dream restaurant — he never had a single customer

TikTok creator Drew Talbert, who runs a fictional eatery, is earning way more than most people running an eatery in real life. Yes, his fictional eatery called Bistro Huddy is currently making him close to seven figures a year without serving a single customer.

He has made his way into the sector in an unusual way and is now attracting brand partnerships, Patreon subscriptions, and merch sales, which is getting him close to a million dollars annually. "We put ourselves in a financial situation we could have only dreamed of five years ago," the former server-turned-comedian told NBC News. "We went from month to month, barely scraping by, to now be[ing] able to save for retirement," he continued.

Bistro Huddy, which is named after his son Hudson, is mainly a series of sketches drawn from his 22 years of real-life restaurant experience. The series is known for some great characters, like Terry, who is the manager, and also a fictional cook named Pickles, along with a hostess called Amber and a bartender called Clint. All of them are played by Talbert. 

Some personas even have their profiles on TikTok, such as Bustro Huddy worker Nicole B, who boasts over 693,000 followers. His viewers love the series because of how relatable it is. "People see Nicole, and they picture this gorgeous blond — they don’t even see me anymore," Talbert said.

“People have now projected their own idea of what these characters would be in real life over me. I am just the conduit."

Talbert came up with this idea in 2020 after he and his wife quit their jobs to focus on growing their online brand full time. He said that everybody creating online is "looking for a niche" and he realized that he would be able to work on creating comedic skits using his background. 

In one such viral 18-part TikTok series, "Workplace Crush," Talbert joked about what it would be like meeting the staff at the new restaurant job. This series in particular took the internet by storm. Fans have become invested in his skits, so much so that some people really feel bad when the characters are treated badly.

"Why do I feel bad for Amber," reads one comment by @rererererererere31, to which the creator replies, "It’s those sad little eyes." Another comment by @lisasandia0 says, "i forget that they're ALL the same person."

Talbert is not the only creator on TikTok whose fictional eatery is making headlines. Back in June, ‘ZeroDollarTips’ gained fame by creating videos of themselves leaving upscale restaurants without tipping, which seemed to resonate with many people online who took to the platform to sympathize with the waiters who weren't getting paid for all the hard work that they do. In his viral videos, he goes on to talk about the nature of the restaurants that he dines at often showing off the better parts of them.