A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Tune into Visit Bentonville’s podcast series for a weekly update on all things Bentonville, Arkansas. Hosted by Beth Bobbitt, you’ll hear captivating stories and updates from our city—connecting you with the locals that make this town worth visiting.
A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Ride Through Bentonville's Food Scene with Hangry Pedaler NWA
Meet Joseph Nguyen, a manicurist by day and influencer by night. Discover how he channels his passion for food and cycling into the Instagram sensation, the Hangry Pedaler NWA. Listen as he shares the story behind the catchy name, and how it perfectly reflects his dual loves—cycling + food.
Joseph gives us a behind-the-scenes look, sharing how he manages to keep his content fresh and engaging. And he opens up about the thrill of trying new dining spots in Bentonville. Whether you're an aspiring content creator or just love a good food or cycling story, Joseph offers inspiration for a night out and more.
Follow the Hangry Peddler’s journey at www.instagram.com/hangrypedalernwa
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Welcome to A New American Town presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, Beth Bobbitt, broadcasting from Haxton Road Studio, and today we're talking to Joseph Nguyen with the Hangry Peddler is that?
Joseph Nguyen:right, yes, Hangry Peddler NWA.
Beth Bobbitt:I love it. So talk to us a little bit about how that came about. Tell us about your background, Joseph.
Joseph Nguyen:Like how it came about. My page, yes, well, I used to always post food pictures on my Facebook page, pictures on my Facebook page and then my friends were saying I needed to find that dedicated space for it. So I picked Instagram, because it's all pictures, you know. So I did that and my client and I came up with the name Hangry Peddler, nwa, and then, yeah, the rest is history.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, and why Hangry Peddler? The rest is history, yeah, and why Hangry Peddler? I mean, obviously there's the culinary and the cyclist component. So, how did that come to be?
Joseph Nguyen:Well, yeah, at first it was supposed to be only food, but then I was really into cycling at the time. So I was like, let's combine my love for food and cycling. So we were like, okay, let's try to come up with a clever name. And then my client came up with it. She's like hangry. I was like, you know, I get, you know, kind of angry when I'm hungry and like peddler, a hangry peddler, and we're like, oh my gosh. So it just kind of stuck.
Beth Bobbitt:It does have a nice ring to it. It's very clever, Thank you. So, yeah, talk to us a little bit about what a day in the life looks like for you as kind of an influencer, a content creator and also, you know, whatever just a little side gig that I do, start off for fun and then kind of snowball into a little moneymaker.
Joseph Nguyen:I'm not getting rich off of it at all, but my main job? I'm a manicurist. I work at a nail salon. I've been doing nails for 22 years now, so I work Tuesday through Friday pretty much 12 hours a day. Um, so I get my content creation in. After work I stay up until like 1 am sometimes um um, like eating out.
Joseph Nguyen:Uh, we try to do that on the weekends. People think I eat out all the time. You know, eating out, taking pictures every day. No, I'm not. Uh, I mainly eat out on the weekends, right? So yeah, tuesday through Friday, working 12-hour days on the weekends, eating out, checking out the new spots in town.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah.
Joseph Nguyen:Yeah, a lot of work.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, it is amazing. If you look at your feed, I mean, there's a lot of content, it's really fun and busy, busy and like a good way, but I would never guess that you're squeezing this in, you know oh yeah, definitely squeezing it in. I love it, though I mean it's it's easy work, you know yeah eating out and just showing the world yeah, and that's your goal is really to try new things, right.
Joseph Nguyen:Yes, yeah, I always try to find the newest and like people always message me telling me hey, you got to check out this spot. They haven't announced it yet, but they're going to open, you know, next week or having a soft opening. Many times restaurants will message me, invite me to their soft opening. So I'm always, like ahead of the game, you get a little preview. Yes, I love it, yeah cool.
Beth Bobbitt:Well, how many followers do you have now? Do you know?
Joseph Nguyen:uh, I think like 23 000 wow, I think yeah, but that's been over five years. It's a slow process, but I mean it's getting up there.
Beth Bobbitt:What does your family think about this? As you know, kind of a side hobby, a passion, I mean they get to reap the benefits too, right, yeah, for sure.
Joseph Nguyen:They think it's pretty cool. Now they my like my sisters, they need, I need to ask them to help me, like, grow my my page because they got a lot of clients and all that. And now, like they're asking me to grow their pages because they're like trying to be influencers too. Yeah, but no, they're very supportive of me. They're always telling everybody to follow me because I work with them at the nail salon.
Joseph Nguyen:So they're always bringing it up. Oh, you need to follow my brother. He has this cool Instagram page. So, yeah, everybody's really supportive.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah. Yeah, that's amazing and I know that you have some fun new projects and collaborations coming up, um, including a partnership with Visit Bentonville. Do you want to talk a little bit about what you're doing in terms of the content creation?
Joseph Nguyen:Oh yeah Well, so I'm highlighting all the places that are cyclist-friendly because you know, I think Bentonville the cycling scene is top-notch and there's so many good opportunities for people to go out and eat good food and sometimes people don't know about it and that's where I'm, that's why I'm there, to highlight all these easy bike to places and you could just roll up on your bicycle park it, grab a bike to eat or grab a beer after a bike ride.
Beth Bobbitt:What are some of those places?
Joseph Nguyen:See the Peddler's Pub. They have a new location. It's across from their old location, actually, but it's really big and nice Pizza's really good.
Beth Bobbitt:They have a new golf simulation thing inside.
Joseph Nguyen:Yeah, I guess I missed that then, yeah, the Meteor Cafe. I start bike rides there often Really good pizzas and coffee. Where else? The Hub? Yeah, the Hub is awesome. I love their brunch. They throw parties after hours. A lot of people start their bike rides there and end there, so those are some of my top spots right now thank you, and I understand you're still a cyclist.
Beth Bobbitt:What are some of your favorite events, or are there any that you're looking forward to?
Joseph Nguyen:um see. One that I did uh this past summer was the um .
Joseph Nguyen:Excellent event. That was probably my favorite event I've ever done, well organized. It started at Thaiden School in Bentonville. I do want to do Rule of Three. And then the Big Sugar. It's like a gravel race yes. But I'm not racing, I'm riding to finish, not riding right, yeah, right, yeah.
Beth Bobbitt:Still, those are some mileage miles and a lot of big hills.
Joseph Nguyen:Yeah, yeah, but so that's on my bucket list to do um next year. I'm going to try to get into it very impressive.
Beth Bobbitt:Well, great, well. What do you want to see more of? You know, is there something in terms of the restaurant scene or the cycling scene that you think we have opportunity to grow in Bentonville?
Joseph Nguyen:Honestly, the cycling scene is top notch. We have so many resources. Bike companies are moving here, cyclist-friendly restaurants are opening. I think we're good in that department. With the cycling, it's only getting better too. But as far as restaurants, I think we need more Chinese restaurants. A place that has traditional dim sum you know those carts where they push around with dumplings and all that.
Joseph Nguyen:Yeah, a place with soup dumplings. I would love to see more East African cuisines, more Korean cuisine and Peruvian A lot more like, because you know, there's a lot of Thai restaurants here, like one on every corner but definitely more good Chinese food.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, yeah, yeah, are there Vietnamese restaurants?
Joseph Nguyen:Yeah, there are there's. Let's see there's a Pretty good amount. Now there's one place in Bentonville called I think it's called like Pho 85 or something like that yes, yeah, yeah, so that's very popular. We can use more you know Vietnamese food for sure.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah it's, we've come a long way, I mean, oh yeah, for sure 10 years, a lot can happen. I'm telling you. So we're going to wrap with a question. We ask all our guests and you know, in your case this can be very food-centric but I'd love to hear about just a dream day in Bentonville. What would you see and eat and do?
Joseph Nguyen:Dream day cycling and eating. I would you know, get my family to rent bicycles and we would start at Crystal Bridges and ride our bikes there, walk around the trails, maybe have lunch at 11. I love their burger there Lunch with a view. It's beautiful there. And just explore the trails. Our Greenway system is amazing. And just you know, explore the trails, Our Greenway system is amazing. Maybe even go through the new Walmart campus because they're going to have a bunch of coffee shops and restaurants there. Hit up all the bars Peddler's Pub, the Meteor.
Beth Bobbitt:Yes.
Joseph Nguyen:Any place that has food, alcohol and bike racks, yeah you're there?
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, I'm there.
Joseph Nguyen:Like you could. And bike racks yeah, you're there, yeah, I'm there. You could ride your bike anywhere. That's why I'm all about cycling and eating. So that would be my dream day.
Beth Bobbitt:Perfect, I love it Well, where can we find you? So you're on Instagram.
Joseph Nguyen:Yeah, instagram hangrypedalernwa.
Beth Bobbitt:And then do you have a website as well.
Joseph Nguyen:No, not yet. I've been thinking about it, but extra work.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, maybe coming soon. Maybe coming soon, yeah, Well, thanks, joseph, appreciate you being here, yeah thanks for having me. Of course, and don't forget, visit Bentonville is here to help you navigate things to do, where to eat and stay and what's going on in our new American town. Give us a follow on social media, sign up for the newsletter and check out the website at visitbittenvillecom. Thanks for listening.