What's Your Deal?: Winnie Fan

Winnie Fan ’19 is a Bio-Chem concentrator, Connect for Health Campus Coordinator, Bonner Fellow, Kappa Alpha Theta member, and Yelp check-in aficionado. Blog met with Winnie to discuss finding the humor in social media, cooking full meals in toaster ovens, and the secret world of Yelp Elite.  Blog: You’re known around campus as a person who checks in on Yelp—through Facebook—all the time. Why did you start? Winnie: It started because—I think this is going to be a super big, like, “woah” thing—if you check in on Yelp at The Creperie you get 25% off. What?! How did you find that out?See, no one knows about it! I found out because I was at The Creperie and someone was checking in in front of me. So it started with that, but now most of my Yelp check-ins don’t have discounts. So what’s the point? Why do you do it?I mainly do it to just take social media less seriously. I post a lot of weird stuff on Facebook. My sophomore year I had this very successful post that said, “Like for your veg.” So I posted on people’s Facebook walls really random stuff like, “You’re a peppercorn because you’re a peppery man!" How many likes did it get?Like, 200. Did you give everyone a vegetable?Most of them! Another reason I check in on Yelp is because I thought I might be able to work my way up to Yelp Elite. That usually requires a lot of reviews, but Yelp said I could appeal if I write that I’m using the check-in function more than the review function. And what is Yelp Elite?Supposedly I’ll write an email to them and if I’m accepted I’ll be invited to Yelp Elite events, like food parties and restaurant openings. Usually people get it through writing a lot of reviews, but I think posting pictures with one-line captions are much easier. Do you know anyone who is in Yelp Elite?No, but I do stalk some of the Providence mothers.* How often do you eat out?I eat out almost once a day. I’m off meal plan, and New Dorm doesn’t have a kitchen so it’s kind of hard to cook. I try to cook everything in a toaster oven and microwave. I’m the queen of the toaster oven. The food I make is pretty good-looking, but the thing is, it tastes bad. So I eat out a lot. 

Winnie's toaster-prepared meal of tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and carnitas.

  Do people ever talk to you about your Yelp reviews? Any funny reactions?So I didn’t know it had become such a thing until I went to a pregame and this random guy was like, “I see you check in on Yelp all the time.” I was like, “Wow, my life is exposed!” I never scroll through newsfeeds so I didn't know that people did that, but I guess they do.Another time I went to Sakura for sushi with friends and it was my second day going in a row—one day I posted on Yelp but the other day I didn’t. I saw a friend when I was in line for the bathroom and he was like, “Weren’t you at Sakura yesterday?” Another time I was at Benefit Juice Bar and someone called in because they saw I had just checked in. After she picked up the phone, the Benefit Juice Bar lady was like, “Is your name Winnie Fan?” I said yes, and she was like, “This person wanted to tell you what to get here.” I was, like, shook! My friend was like, “This is freaky!” and everyone in Benefit Juice Bar was laughing. So I do feel like people know where I am at all times. What are the top three places around here that you’d recommend?I love BYOB and I think Bee’s Thai has the best BYOB environment. For family dinner, Red Stripe has the best deals. It’s a nice restaurant, but Monday through Thursday they have a $10 burger-beer combo and a $10 chicken parm and beer combo, and they do Mussel Mondays. For ice cream, Froyo World has my heart. It cures the SciLi late nights. What’s the worst place?Salted Slate. Their steak is too chewy! It’s also too expensive. And whatever hurts my wallet hurts my feelings. Do you think you’re going to keep doing this indefinitely?I feel like I’ll keep doing it until I find like something else to do…but I do enjoy it. I think on campus, the best thing is just grabbing a meal with people and talking. So I’m always like, “Do you want to grab a meal with me? I’ll Yelp check you in, wink,” (laughs). Nothing else I can offer but a Yelp check-in. Would you ever consider working for Yelp?Honestly, yeah. I would. I went to their luncheon for free Kabob and Curry—I was a little disappointed that they served Kabob and Curry—but I think it would be fun. I think they should at least sponsor me with some Yelp swag. If you want to, you know, “at” Yelp for me… We’ll tag them on Twitter. *On Yelp only. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Images via Winnie Fan '19.