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Date: 4/19/2021
HOLYOKE – Friends–turned–restaurant bloggers Jaleen Lugo and Wilmarie Reyes – better known as 'Thotties in a Booth' – have been going to various local restaurants and diners in the area to have a good time, but most importantly, to help spread the word on community businesses that have been financially affected by COVID-19 and who are serving the community in a safe and sanitary way.
“We were thinking about doing blogs,” explained Lugo. “We came up with the idea of helping restaurants who reopened around the community that we live in and that’s how we started. We started with TikTok first, but we didn’t take it that serious. Now it’s becoming something really nice and we’re going around talking about the restaurants. Then we created a Facebook page, did an Instagram and right now trying to do a website.”
Lugo and Reyes are both originally from Puerto Rico. Lugo has been living in Holyoke for seven years working as a home visitor at Healthy Families in Northampton, while Reyes has been in Holyoke for six years in youth development at Girls Inc.
“Jaleen and I used to be co-workers. We worked at Girls Inc. back in 2016,” Reyes said. “We bonded over our experiences and our personalities. We just started to hang out after work during and after her transition. One of the ways we would catch up is by going to our local restaurants for breakfast.”
Lugo added, “In the beginning, it used to be only one day in a month to talk about our life. Then it would only be one Saturday a month and it became a regular thing.”
Reyes told Reminder Publishing every time they would go to a diner or restaurant, they would ask for a booth so it would be more comfortable. Little by little they started inviting other friends and colleagues for breakfast and eventually formed their own group.
“One day we said we’re just going to be thotties in a booth. I’m just going to put it like that on my Google calendar so that I remember what this is about,” expressed Reyes. “It all started as a joke and then it just stayed.”
Initially when the ladies started their Facebook page, they were apprehensive on how people would receive it especially with the name ‘Thotties in a Booth.’ Reyes said people didn't know what to expect, what they would talk about and what kind of content they would do. For her, it's redefining the word thottie. “For us, it's unconventional. Thotties is whatever we are. We are defining what that means to us and shaping the content.”
Due to COVID-19, their friends stopped coming and the restaurants were closed. However, Lugo and Reyes continued as soon as businesses began to reopen. So far, they have gone to over 30 restaurants that include: the Dam Cafe, Mrs. Mitchell’s Kitchen and Rusty’s Place in Holyoke. Al’s Diner, Jennifer’s Kitchen and Talk of the Town in Chicopee. Miss Florence Diner in Florence, Crepes Tea House in West Springfield, EAT in Springfield, Partners Restaurant & Catering in Feeding Hills, Johnny's Roadside Diner in Hadley and the Bluebonnet Diner in Northampton.
“The first thing is we realized there are so many good diners around here. Every time we‘ll be somewhere different. Somewhere we've never been, some where we are challenging ourselves to try different items in the menu,” Reyes described. “Then we do individual rates on how we both felt about each of our plates. We talk about decor, cleanliness, service, is it COVID-friendly and is it safe enough for us and everyone else around to dine. Of course, we talk about the food, the atmosphere and take pictures and videos. At the end, we do honorable mentions. Anything that stood out like special items on the menu.”
With their platform, Lugo and Reyes want to help local restaurants with advertisements; making ads for them for free. In the future, they would like to cover local heroes and restaurants doing good in the community. Hopefully, the ladies would like to go all through Western Massachusetts and Boston.
“You don’t have to go far to have a good time. You can be a person who is invested in your community not only for entertainment, but also knowing its needs. Nobody knows the need of a community more than a person that lives there,” Reyes concluded. “Our biggest legacy would be inspiring other young adults and young people to explore their cities, to try new things and know they don’t have to be in a big city like LA or New York to be a content creator. There are things in your community that are worthy of sharing with the world.”
For more Thotties in a Booth content follow them on TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeUqxrCJ/ and on facebook.com/thottiesinabooth.