MADISON, Wis. — Sterlyn Woods III has called Madison home, ever since moving from Chicago at age 7, and he has made it his mission to make sure the city’s local restaurants get the attention they deserve.
Woods, better known as SoloEatss on social media, has spent the past six months to a year building a food review platform focused exclusively on independent eateries in Madison and beyond. As communities across the country mark Juneteenth and reflect on Black freedom and economic progress, Woods said his content is about more than just food — it’s about community investment.
“I feel like Madison just don’t get enough publicity on the local restaurants,” Woods said. “We have a bunch of chain restaurants that everybody knows, but the ones that are in town that spent their money on the food and on their people — they don’t have enough spotlight. So I feel like that’s my job to step in and give them that platform.”
Woods started his content creation journey making vlogs before narrowing his focus to food reviews. He said the pivot brought together two things he loves most: eating and connecting with people.
“I love food, I love to eat, but I also love to communicate with people,” he said. “So it gave me the chance to bring two worlds together.”
His reviews are known for their unfiltered honesty. Woods tells his audience upfront that his opinion is his own and that the only way to truly know if a restaurant is worth visiting is to go yourself.
“At the beginning of my videos, I always say, I’m soloeatss and I’m gonna give you my honest opinion,” he said. “Something that I like, you might not like. So you can go ahead and say soloeatss said it was good and then you go try it. You have to go out and do it yourself before you can give an opinion on it.”
That authenticity has resonated. Woods said the Madison community has embraced his platform, and the restaurants he features have largely responded with appreciation — even when a review wasn’t entirely glowing.
“Sometimes the restaurant really appreciates it, and sometimes if it wasn’t what they were looking for, we have a conversation about it,” he said. “But every restaurant I have worked with has given me great feedback, and they definitely want to work again.”
With nearly 5,000 followers on TikTok and growing, Woods said what sets local restaurants apart is something no chain can replicate.
“That local restaurant — you’re only going to get that food at that spot,” he said. “So that’s why I love local restaurants, because you’re only going to get that food there.”
For Woods, the work also carries deeper meaning during Juneteenth. As a Black content creator in Madison, he said supporting Black-owned and local businesses is an act of solidarity.
“We’re in Madison, Wisconsin. It’s not a lot of us that’s doing what we’re doing,” he said. “To have people who look like us supporting us — that’s the biggest thing we can do. We got to stick together. If we don’t support ourselves, nobody will support us.”
Looking ahead, Woods plans to launch a food tour in downtown Madison — a restaurant crawl that will take participants to multiple local spots in a single outing. He also plans to incorporate the youth he works with into his content, using his platform to show young people that they can define their own paths.
“I want my kids to know they can be whatever they want,” he said. “I feel like people want to be what they’re told they have to be. I want to start doing more stuff in the community.”
For anyone hesitant to start their own creative journey, Woods had a direct message.
“Go out and do it. Don’t let nobody tell you what you can’t do,” he said. “If you think you can do it, you can do it. Because what God gave you the message to do, he only gave you that message to do it. So go do it. Go get it.”
You can find Woods on social media @_soloeatss.
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