Trying to decide where to eat, or looking for something new or different? Tim Joyce is happy to help. The Vincennes, Indiana, resident created Meals in a Snap on a whim. Spurred by his children, he had already done some TikTok cooking videos. “I cook for the family all the time,” he says. A September 2025 video at Monical’s Pizza in Vincennes reached 9,000 views. Another one, at Arby’s, soared to 38,000.
Posting as Meals in a Snap, Joyce has visited dozens of regional restaurants, leaving crumbs on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. The name evolved from Ginger Snap — he’s a redhead. “I pay for allmy meals,” he says. “I’m not a food critic and want to make sure everyone knows that. I just go highlight local restaurants.”
A typical week might take Joyce to historic Nisbet Inn in Haubstadt for rib gumbo and mac and cheese, cozy Dee’s Diner in Owensboro, Kentucky, for a “pancake the size of a basketball,” and R’z Cafe & Catering in Fort Branch for brunch — he suggests trying the Creole Chicken Benny.
During a recent family vacation at Walt Disney World, Joyce sampled a hot honey chicken sandwich that he opined “wasn’t so hot,” and he advised the restaurant’s owner to consult Vincennes’ Linneweber’s Sauce Company on how to spice things up. Another Knox County spot, Procopio’s Pizza & Pasta, is among his favorites.
Most of Joyce’s social media feedback is upbeat, but he got some pushback after ordering his steak medium well at House of Como — a reminder of the passionate viewpoints many have about food. “I took a lot of heat,” he says. “A lot of people thought I should eat it rare or medium rare. But that’s not me.”
The son of parents who loved to cook, Joyce, who works full-time in manufacturing, doesn’t just go out to eat. At home, he often fires up his Big Green Egg grill courtesy of Bassemiers Grill Supply Co. Perhaps he’s fulfilling his destiny: “I took four years of food classes at Lincoln High School (in Vincennes), and in second grade, I wrote a book with a friend that said we would open a restaurant when we got older,” he says.
Restaurateurs send Joyce branded T-shirts to wear in videos and gift cards for him to give away to followers (36,000 on Facebook, 17,700 on TikTok, and counting). He’s seeking more traction on YouTube in the form of longer-form videos.
“Restaurants have messaged me days after a review telling me they were packed or sold out and the people came in saying they saw the review,” he says. “I have restaurants reaching out to me everyday to come and give them a try.”
Find Meals in a Snap on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
