HARLINGEN — Foodies unite.
The Facebook page Explore Harlingen posted an event Monday, with limited slots, inviting “foodies” to meet up.
Within four hours, the event was booked.
Those lucky enough to have secured one of 30 spots available will enjoy a selection of appetizers from Frankie Flav’z, a restaurant located on Harrison.
The event will take place next month and cost $5.
After the tasting, patrons are invited to stay and order dinner or have a cocktail.
The idea for the meet up came from Harlingen resident Remi Gibbs.
Gibbs reached out to Lisa Campos who runs the Facebook page and said the event came together rather quickly.
Gibbs and Campos met up for lunch the next week and within that day they had already secured a location.
Gibbs has experience in event planning and had moved to Harlingen from the Las Vegas area about a year ago.
“I followed her page and thought we can do something where people like minded could come together,” Gibbs said.
Campos has run the Explore Harlingen page for the past four years, voluntarily.
Her page has garnered more than 10,000 likes and followers looking for information about what is happening in the city.
Campos said posts with good feedback usually involve posts about food or jobs.
“I’m trying to bring more awareness to locally-owned business and family-owned business,” Campos said.
She decided to create the page when she moved back down from Austin and saw the need for it.
Originally, she intended for Harlingen residents and natives but has found that the page has been popular among visitors and incomers.
“I have a lot of people new to the city that have found the page,” Campos said.
Campos and Gibbs have a goal to host at least one meet up every month.
They are currently in talks with businesses interested in providing space.
One of the biggest issues in putting on these events involves dealing with the high demand of people interested and finding locations able to accommodate them.
