10 Best Sacramento Foodies To Follow On Twitter

Twitter is a goldmine of information for local foodies looking to connect with chefs, food trucks, influential bloggers and Sacramento's best restaurants. Social media sites, like Twitter, are some of the key ways businesses communicate with their fans and followers in real time. You can follow as many or as few people as you want and find everything from your favorite food truck's daily location to which hip spots food bloggers are recommending.

If you are not Twitter-savvy, the social media platform is not that hard to use. Just set up a basic profile and do a search of your preferred key terms, i.e., Sacramento food blogger or Sacramento restaurant. Then you hit follow on the accounts you find interesting and you will receive a newsfeed stream of their 140-character tweets. You can also search by hashtags, a popular way of categorizing tweets on Twitter. Use words with the # symbol to gain tweets like #Sacramento, #Sushi, etc.

To get you started, here are 10 of the best Sacramento foodies to follow on Twitter:

Randall Selland
@randallselland

This name is certainly a familiar one in Sacramento. Randall Selland is the executive chef and owner of Selland Family restaurants (which also has its own Twitter @sellandfamily). Tweets are from Selland himself, along with his daughter-in-law, Gina Funk. Selland's tweets include a variety of restaurant deals, foodie news and even a few personal mentions.

Sac Food Trucks
@SacFoodTrucks

Sac Food Trucks is the account for the growing number of food truck fans. As the name suggests, this account tweets everything and anything related to the area's food trucks. With locations, schedules and recommendations, this is a must-follow account if you are fan of meals on wheels. For more information on some of the food trucks feeding hungry foodies in Sacramento, be sure to check out its website as the group has done a great job of creating a working database of Sacramento-area food trucks.

Squeeze Inn Truck
@squeezeinntruck

While Sac Food Trucks also tweets information on the Squeeze Inn Truck, this account deserves a special mention. In case you haven't heard the amazing news yet, the most beloved burger joint in Sacramento has gone mobile. While the new brick-and-mortar location has certainly improved some of the lines and space to enjoy your 'squeeze with cheese,' it's not always convenient for everyone.

Related: Best Burgers in Sacramento

Cowtown Eats
@Cowtown Eats

On the hunt for happy hour deals and cheap eats in Sacramento? The Twitter name might not be a dead giveaway, but this is the account you want to follow for daily specials, happy hours and some of the best eats around Sacramento. If you are looking for happy hours for a specific day of the week, the Cowtown Eats website has everything categorized for easy surfing.

Garrett McCord
@GarrettMcCord

Garrett McCord is a local Sacramento resident and professional food writer and pastry chef. His blog Vanilla Garlic is quite entertaining -- drool-worthy from a food perspective but also quite humorous. He injects humor in his posts and this often extends to his tweets. You may recognize his name from the numerous articles and recipes he's penned for local Sacramento publications as well as his contributions and mentions to publications like Gourmet Live, Saveur, Cheese Connoisseur, Simply Recipes and Epi-Log.

Elise Bauer
@simplyrecipes

Speaking of Simply Recipes, Elise Bauer is a definite "must follow" for Sacramento-area foodies. Elise is the founder of Simply Recipes and has gained a substantial following since starting her site in 2003. Simply Recipes is a great database of nearly every type of dish you can imagine cooking. Elise's tweets range from personal to promoting other food sites and bloggers. If you need assistance with the site, she is quick in responding to questions on Twitter, despite her staggering following of nearly 80,000. If you are interested in just recipes, check out her other account @recipeupdates.

Dawn Balzarano
@KitchenTravels

Although she describes herself as an aspiring photographer, Dawn's photography on Kitchen Travels is some of the most creative and mouthwatering in the food-blog world. And while her following on Twitter may not be as high as other more well-known food bloggers, she is definitely one to watch. Just be mindful of the drool on your keyboard while you peruse her blog.

Related: Blogger Wants To Eat At Every Restaurant in Roseville

Amber Stott
@AwakeAtTheWhisk

It's hard not to love a foodie with the witty name "Awake at the Whisk." Amber describes herself as "living la vida locavore!" She's from Sacramento and her long-ago switch to a health-conscious vegetarian diet is a win for foodies looking for unique recipes and recommendations. Amber is a fanatic about keeping things healthy, striving to always use organic local products and support those who share similar goals. Her recipes are creative and often made with ingredients she has grown herself. Even if you aren't a vegetarian, it's nearly impossible not to want to make everything on her blog.

Hank Shaw
@Hank_Shaw

Hank Shaw proves that you don't have to be a New York City or Los Angeles food writer to make a name for yourself. The award-winning writer and blogger has created quite a unique niche with his Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Previously a political report, Shaw now writes about his forays with hunting or fishing for nearly all his meat and the recipes he then creates. The menu ideas are surprisingly simple yet elegant, and include creative ingredients that are often overlooked. For those unsure of how to handle cleaning fresh catches or those looking to get into hunting, Shaw has those bases covered and offers some great video tips and posts on these topics.

Rick Bakas
@RickBakas

While not Sacramento based, any list of top foodies to follow on Twitter would be lacking without a mention of Rick Bakas. The social media guru is a Napa-based sommelier who has helped put northern California wines and food in the world's eye. He posts stellar recipes and wine suggestions, and often hosts educational and fun "tweet-ups" on Twitter for events like Cabernet Day, Chardonnay Day, etc. With nearly 80,000 followers, you might think Bakas is anything but personable, but he does engage in conversation with his followers. So if you have a specific question, send him a tweet.

Erin De Santiago is a freelance travel and food/wine writer and photographer from Sacramento, California. She is a regional membership coordinator for the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) and writes for a number of publications in addition to publishing her own blogs. She has traveled to over 40 countries on five continents in search of the best food and wine around the globe. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.