Social media superstar a week away from opening Mississippi Coast restaurant

By dawn, Matthew Bounds arrives at the brick building that will soon become his new restaurant. Nearing opening day, his schedule keeps getting busier.

“We are in serious crunch time,” the social media star said in between texting a contractor and coordinating a dishwasher installation. “I’m having the time of my life right now. It’s pure chaos.”

For three years, the southern Mississippi native has grown his reach, video by video, post by post, until he earned more than 7 million followers across social media platforms — more than double the population of the state.

His fame is the result of quick cooking tutorials, tailored for fans on the go. But Bounds, 43, says he cares more about building community than gaining likes and views. He tries to make viewers feel welcome however he can: by cooking meals with cheap ingredients, by mixing southern charm with occasional curse words, by wearing a T-shirt that says “y’all” in rainbow letters.

Now his career — and his audience — is expanding beyond the internet. Bounds released his third cookbook last month, which has sold about 17,000 copies so far and recently made The New York Times bestseller list. He and his husband, CJ Bryant, will open the restaurant, called Neighbors Tap & Table, in Gulfport, this month.

These days, Bounds is too busy to film several videos a day like he used to — he is mostly reposting old recipes and hopes to share new ones soon. The to-do list is packed at the restaurant, where stacks of boxes are still filled with glasses and plates. Bounds is excited and nervous.

“It looks like a mess right now,” Bounds said Thursday. But “it’s very, very close.”

‘Your Barefoot Neighbor’

His social media career began with a humble request: Would Bounds create a TikTok account to like videos of his friend’s dog?

It was 2022, and Bounds was working as an insurance adjuster. Consumed with politics, he had deleted all social media. But he obliged and even posted a few videos of yard work and home projects under the username “yourbarefootneighbor.”

Then he decided to start cooking.

His easy meal tutorials — featuring dishes like chili cheese tortellini and one pan Salisbury steak — took off. Bounds soon quit his insurance job, landed brand deals and sponsorships and became a full-time social media personality.

His audience — mostly women in their 30s and 40s nicknamed the “barefoot neighborhood” — expanded. They also started enthusiastically contributing to fundraisers and charities Bounds began to spotlight.

For his birthday last year, Bounds raised over $370,000 by livestreaming on social media for 26 hours. The money went to food pantries and nonprofits across the region.

“The best part about him is he doesn’t want the credit,” said Christen Duhé, president and executive director of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which helped Bounds distribute donations. “He’s not really in it for him. He’s in it to do what’s best for other people.”

‘We all feel like we belong’

Bounds should be on the road.

If not for long days preparing to open the restaurant, he would be meeting readers, signing books and appearing on the talk show circuit to promote his newest cookbook, called “Keep It Simple Y’all: Every Day.”

“I’m doing none of that because it is 6:42 a.m. and I am here in the restaurant in a construction zone,” Bounds said in one recent video. “These are my days right now. This is where I live, and I love it.”

His latest endeavor began late last year, when a friend screenshotted a Facebook post with news that a restaurant in downtown Gulfport was for sale. By January, Bounds and Bryant had signed a lease on the space.

“We keep throwing around the phrase ‘soft landing place’ whenever we talk about this place,” Bounds said. “That’s what we want it to be for people. We want it to be a really beautiful, comfortable space that anyone can walk into.”

They plan to open May 16, serving small plates and shareables at evening happy hours. And “of course,” Bounds said, “we’re going to do a bangin’ lunch.”

Bounds says the restaurant will share the mission he cultivates on social media: to create a space where guests can “sit down a minute, put your feet up, hang out for a little while.”

But viewers say Bounds’ appeal comes as much from his welcoming attitude as it does from his firm stands against hate. Bounds, the son of a Baptist preacher, has credited that stance to a viral video in which he mentioned his husband and received some of “the most vile, hateful remarks I’ve ever seen.”

He didn’t let it fly. And last year, after a Mississippi Coast restaurant promoted a special for straight couples only, Bounds helped organize a tour called “Love the Coast” to patronize inclusive restaurants across the region.

“He doesn’t accept bullying, and he doesn’t accept negative talk,” said Martha Allen Price, the executive director of Extra Table, a nonprofit food bank in Mississippi that Bounds has supported. “Matthew has created a neighborhood, and we all feel like we belong.”

On Thursday, Bounds was at the restaurant by 6:30 a.m. Soon, electricians and contractors started arriving. There were boxes to unpack, paint to touch-up, tables and chairs to assemble.

“I can’t wait to throw the doors open,” Bounds said this week, pausing for a moment in the chaos. “I’ve always wanted to have my own spot.”