OWENSVILLE — At first, Kordel Gibson, known on Facebook as “ksmilesfoodpeople Gibson,” was accustomed to people recognizing him for an entirely different reason.

For approximately 15 years, Gibson has worked as a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper. He currently works with Troop C in Franklin County. But somewhere along the way, the reaction he receives when walking through a store or restaurant began to change.

“It used to be ‘that’s the trooper,’” Gibson said. “No one knows I’m a trooper anymore. They think this is my full-time job.”

That transition still catches Gibson off guard.

“The other day, a guy’s like, ‘Hey, I know you,’” Gibson recalled. “In my mind…I’ve been a trooper for 15 years, so I’m used to the, ‘Oh, you know me from being a trooper.’”

Instead, the man told him, “You’re the food guy.”

“It’s kind of like, oh man,” Gibson said.

That second identity has emerged from something Gibson originally began doing for fun roughly two and a half to three years ago. Armed largely with a cellphone, he began creating videos about the food he encountered.

His first video was far simpler than the community-focused eatery features he produces today. Gibson simply pointed his camera at the food, recorded what he was eating and talked about it. There were no interviews with business owners or elaborate plans to promote an entire community. It was simply a man, a meal and a camera.

Over time, the videos evolved. Gibson began talking with restaurant owners, learning their stories and showing viewers more than what was on the plate. What started as casual commentary about food gradually developed into a way of introducing thousands, and eventually hundreds of thousands, of viewers to the people and businesses operating in Missouri’s smaller communities.

The surprising part is that Gibson does not really consider himself a food expert.

He is not a chef. He said he does not cook much and, despite being known online for eating his way across Missouri, food itself was not the primary reason he continues doing what he does.

“I really don’t love food that much,” Gibson said. “I really like helping people.”

Gibson said he began seeing people watch his videos, visit the businesses he featured and respond to the people behind those businesses. That distinction may explain why Gibson’s videos often look different from traditional restaurant reviews.

He goes to small communities, sits down with business owners, asks about their lives and learns how their businesses came to be.

“What I like to do is interview the business owners, talk to them, learn their story, tell people about their story and their food,” Gibson said. “That’s kind of what I like to do.”

The approach has begun reaching an audience Gibson never anticipated. At first, a video receiving several thousand views felt significant.

“You look at the viewership on Facebook and TikTok, and it’s like, man, 5,000 views,” Gibson said. “And then all of a sudden, it’s like, whoa, I got a million views this week.”

The change happened quickly.

“A million people looked at this?” he said. “Like what? You’re like, wait a minute. A million people actually said watch this video or watch these this week. It’s like holy smokes.”

Gibson said much of that sudden growth traces back to a visit to Hermann. One restaurant worker invited him to come to the community. Gibson made a video, posted it and another business contacted him. Then another followed.

“I wasn’t even intending on going back to Hermann,” Gibson said. “Then another restaurant, they was like, ‘Hey, can you come do my place?’ And then another one was like, ‘Hey, can you come do my place?’”

Soon, one stop was leading directly into another.

The experience helped Gibson develop the format he now frequently uses when visiting rural communities. Rather than making a trip for a single restaurant, he tries to feature multiple businesses and turn the content into a community-wide series.

That was the approach during his Aug. 1-2 trip through Belle and Bland.

During the weekend, Gibson visited the World’s Largest Cowbell, River’s Bend Pizzeria & Grill, A Tiger’s Tastee Treat, The Chocolate Dippery, Granny’s Cafe and The Rustic Garden while meeting business owners, employees, residents and local youth.

Videos from that trip generated more than 275,000 views in less than 48 hours.

Gibson admitted he initially had doubts about whether the Belle trip would reach enough people to justify making it.

“I’m like, you know, 1,000 people are gonna look at this,” Gibson said. “Is it really worth it for me to?”

Then Gibson looked at the numbers.

“It was 1.2 million people last week looked at my videos,” he said.

Gibson has resisted suggestions that he should abandon smaller towns for larger cities where some believe he could build an even larger audience.

“People always say, ‘Hey, you go to St. Louis, you could be bigger,’” Gibson said.

But that is not necessarily what interests him.

“I like the small towns,” he said. “I live in a small town.”

Small communities also provide something Gibson considers essential to his videos, the access to the people actually running the businesses.

At a large restaurant in St. Louis, Gibson questions whether an owner would spend an hour sitting with him discussing the restaurant and its history. In rural communities, the experience is more personal.

Gibson has also discovered something else during those visits. People take pride in where they live.

If he creates a video about one restaurant, the people interested in that specific business may watch it. If he features an entire community, residents begin following the series to see which familiar place comes next.

“People have pride in their town,” Gibson said.

That community pride was evident again as Gibson traveled through Owensville Aug. 12.

At multiple stops, people recognized him before he introduced himself.

At one point, Sheradan Edler had even arranged for pumpkin oatmeal cream pies from Ginger Treats to be delivered to him at Bogey’s Sports Bar after learning he would be in the area in the hopes he would stop in.

Gibson seemed genuinely surprised that someone would make so much effort on his behalf when Bogey’s owner, Paul Ferris, delivered the treats.

“Is that not wild?” Gibson said. “They had something to do today. That’s what gets me. They had things to do and they still did that for me.”

That same attitude is reflected in how Gibson handles messages from viewers.

“I try to message everybody back because somebody took the time to communicate and say something to me, and you’re supposed to say something back,” Gibson said. “That’s courtesy. That’s just how I was raised.”

Recognition continued following him throughout the day.

When visiting Rock Island Line Tavern, Gibson overheard someone talking about him as he set up his camera. They were describing him to others at their table as the person who travels around helping restaurants by letting people know about them.

“Seems like everywhere we go, somebody at least recognized me,” Gibson said.

For Sanna and Christopher Hendrix, owners of Rock Island Line Tavern, Gibson’s arrival brought both excitement and a little anxiety.

The couple purchased the business in January 2025, and Sanna said Gibson was the first food reviewer to visit them.

“I like it but it makes me nervous,” she said. “We like to take pride in what we do, and we are our own worst enemy. We just, we like for things to be perfect.”

Christopher was already familiar with Gibson before he walked through the tavern’s doors. Hendrix said KG’s videos had previously appeared in his social media feed, making the unexpected visit somewhat surreal.

“I’ve watched his stuff,” Hendrix said. “And then it’s kind of celebrity shock, you know? I’ve seen him on the internet and on Facebook, and there he is. He’s here.”

Sanna said the attention Gibson brings is appreciated by small-business owners who often have little time to promote themselves while handling every other part of running a business.

“You never realize how much work goes into running a small business until you own one,” she said.

Social media, she acknowledged, is something she knows she needs to use more frequently. Finding time is another matter.

“You know that you need to do it, and you have it on your list,” she said.

That is one area where Gibson believes even simple efforts can make a difference.

His advice to rural business owners is not to become overly concerned with expensive cameras, elaborate production or trying to predict exactly what an audience wants when they are working on their social media.

Social media, he said, is unpredictable.

“I make this big, long, huge video,” Gibson said. “I’m like, ‘this is the greatest video I’ve ever made in my whole entire life.’ Five thousand people look at it, and then, like a picture of me and someone shaking hands, and 50,000 people see it.”

The lesson, he said, is to post.

“Don’t get so caught up in thinking like you have to have the greatest stuff,” Gibson said. “If you make food, post it. Take a picture of your food. Little stuff like that, people look at it.”

He also encourages business owners to involve younger employees.

Gibson said many of the invitations he receives from rural communities originate with teenagers and young adults who follow him online.

“A lot of the kids are the ones that work at these places,” Gibson said. “So they go tell their boss, ‘Hey, we follow this guy,’ and then their bosses reach out, or a lot of times the kids will say, ‘Hey, I work here. Can you come?’”

That was part of what placed Owensville on his radar. Younger employees of Snowensville had reached out.

For Gibson, the phenomenon is also a reminder that younger residents can have a meaningful role in promoting their communities.

“They got more experience in this technology and this stuff than me,” Gibson said. “They know way more about this stuff than I know about it.”

He calls younger social media users the “trendsetters.”

“It’s what they decide, what’s cool or not,” Gibson said.

One young follower, Allysa Onder, approached Gibson while he was in Owensville after seeing his videos on Facebook.

She said she had only become familiar with him approximately two weeks earlier after seeing videos from his other Missouri stops.

Asked what she thought about his food reviews, Onder had a simple answer.

“Accurate,” she said.

She then used the opportunity to tell Gibson about additional attractions in the area, including Winter Water Park, its pool, slide, lazy river and nearby golf course.

That type of interaction allows Gibson’s visits to expand beyond a single plate of food. Residents begin selling their town and its highlights to him and he can’t help but to explore the area more.

Gibson also offers practical advice for younger people who want to create content of their own.

First, he said, they need to be careful about who they interact with.

“You have got to be careful,” Gibson said of social media. “You don’t know if that profile picture is really them. You don’t know if they’re really affiliated with who they say they are.”

Beyond safety, his advice is not to allow fear of embarrassment or rejection to prevent someone from trying to find their audience.

“Don’t be scared,” Gibson said. “All they can do is say no.”

That advice comes from someone who admits he is not as naturally comfortable in front of strangers as his videos might suggest.

“I always go to restaurants when I don’t think there’s people in there because I’m kind of uncomfortable talking in front of people,” Gibson said.

Viewers see something different. Gibson said people frequently tell him he appears outgoing, has a good voice and seems comfortable talking with anyone. That disconnect has taught him another lesson.

“Sometimes you gotta kind of see people the way people see you,” he said. “A lot of times you don’t see yourself the way people see you.”

As his audience has grown, Gibson has also become more conscious of the influence his opinion can have. Early on, a video might attract 1,000 viewers.

“When it’s 1,000 people watching, you’re like, it’s 1,000 people watching. I could kind of do whatever,” Gibson said. “But when it’s a million people watching, you’re like, ‘Hey, wait a minute. I better get a little more serious.’”

He now makes a deliberate effort to keep his comments focused on the food and to explain what he likes about a dish without pretending to possess culinary expertise.

“I don’t have any culinary skills,” Gibson said. “I’m just basically saying what I would say. If the food tastes good, it tastes good.”

He is equally deliberate when something does not match his personal taste.

For example, Gibson dislikes chocolate. He said that does not necessarily mean a chocolate item is bad. He tries to distinguish his own preference from the quality of what was prepared.

“Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean somebody else” will not like it, Gibson said. “Obviously, it’s on the menu. Somebody else likes it. Somebody’s buying it.”

He also avoids publicly comparing one small business with another. That restraint comes in part from understanding what those businesses represent to the people who own them.

“These people aren’t getting rich,” Gibson said. “This isn’t the big city. These people are working here. They’re answering the phone. They’re cooking the food. They’re the whole workforce.”

For many owners, he said, the restaurant is not simply a business.

“This is their life,” Gibson said.

Restaurants increasingly offer to provide his food for free, something he finds surprising, and appreciates because traveling through an entire town sampling several restaurants can become expensive. However, he said he always offers to pay.

The videos themselves also require work long after the meal is finished. Gibson said he once might have had to spend three hours editing a video. As the amount of content has increased, he has had to become more efficient.

Now, he generally gives himself about an hour.

“What I get in an hour is what you get on Facebook,” Gibson said.

Despite the growing audience, Gibson’s family helps keep his emerging celebrity in perspective.

His children, ages 10 and eight, are not automatically impressed by their father’s online following.

“My kids think it’s cool when their friends think it’s cool,” Gibson said.

If one of their friends says their father is cool, then the children may agree.

“Other than that, no,” Gibson said. “You’re just dad.”

His mother, meanwhile, is not active on social media and does not completely understand how many people may be watching her son. Instead, she hears about it from other people.

“She just gets that people tell her that they see my stuff,” Gibson said. “She’s kind of just like, ‘Oh yeah, people tell me. I was at the doctor’s office, and somebody said they watch your videos. I seen your son talking about food.’”

Gibson was born in Tallahassee, Fla., attended Georgia Southern University and eventually came to Missouri after a college roommate from Kansas City returned home.

Gibson moved with him, then joined the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which eventually placed him in Union.

For someone now associated with an ever-growing catalog of meals, pizza, his personal favorite food, remains uncomplicated.

His favorite meal, however, comes from his mother’s home cooking; fried chicken, yellow rice, cornbread and either cabbage or greens.

As his online audience continues growing, Gibson said he does not know where any of this ultimately leads. Only a few months ago, he said, he would not have imagined being recognized in restaurants across rural Missouri or having people seek his opinion before deciding where to eat.

He still thinks of much of what he does as entertainment. But increasingly, viewers treat his recommendations as something more. At one stop, Gibson said a man genuinely wanted to know what he thought about a hamburger.

“That’s what’s getting new,” Gibson said. “I think about it as in, like, entertainment. This is just some entertainment for somebody to watch.”

Now he realizes some people are making decisions based on what he says.

“There are people that are watching this to hear what I have to say about the food,” Gibson said. “‘Oh, KG said this tastes good. I’m gonna go there just for that.’”

That responsibility is still something he is getting accustomed to. So is the recognition.

During his return to the region, Gibson said what stood out most was not the number of people who knew him but how they treated him.

“Everybody’s been really nice,” he said. “Everybody’s been super kind.”

When asked where he sees the videos ultimately taking him, Gibson offered no elaborate plans for becoming a national influencer or turning his social media presence into a business empire.

Instead, he returned to the same reason he says he does it in the first place.

Take things one day at a time.

“Reach as many people as I can,” Gibson said, “help as many people as I can.”

During his Owensville visit, Gibson made stops at Rich’s Famous Burgers, Bogey’s Sports Bar, Rock Island Line Tavern and Dos Primos, sampling a wide range of menu items while talking with owners, employees and customers along the way.

Rich’s Famous Burgers provided a large breakfast to kick off his trip. Gibson sampled French toast, pancakes and stuffed hash browns, with the stuffed hash browns emerging as his favorite from the meal.

At Bogey’s Sports Bar, Gibson ordered the Western burger and gave it perhaps the strongest endorsement of the day, calling it “the best burger he has ever had.” Gibson repeated his declaration when local patrons Larry and Vicki Branson asked him what he thought of the food.

“Best burger I have ever had,” Gibson said. “I don’t know what Paul’s doing back there but he’s doing it right.”

At Rock Island Line Tavern, Gibson tried the bourbon wings, chicken and waffles and the catfish sandwich. While he enjoyed the selection, the catfish was the item that drew the strongest reaction for taste, but the wings won for aroma.

At Dos Primos, Gibson sampled a mix of street tacos and singled out the chicken in particular, describing it as especially juicy and flavorful. It was a fitting final stop for a visit that showcased what has made Gibson stand out across rural Missouri; a willingness to try what local businesses put in front of him, offer viewers a straightforward reaction and, in the process, shine a much larger spotlight on the people and places that make small communities unique.