Carter Galloway
Carter Galloway covers local food businesses with a focus on how small operators turn simple concepts into places people gather. He writes about new ice cream shops, bakeries and restaurants as they open, paying close attention to the experience they offer as much as what is on the menu.
Coverage of new dessert and snack shops
Galloway’s recent work highlights openings like Palmer’s Ice Cream and Desserts, where he reports on the shop’s mix of scoops and specialty treats designed to give people a way to cool off and socialize in warmer months. His coverage explains what makes each business distinct, such as combining popular draws like dogs and ice cream, and how owners hope those details will build a loyal customer base.
He focuses on accessible, family-friendly spots, emphasizing straightforward offerings and atmosphere over fine-dining trends.
Emphasis on customer experience and community appeal
Across his food pieces, Galloway looks at how new venues fit into the existing dining landscape and what kind of experience they promise regular visitors. He quotes owners on their goals for creating welcoming spaces and notes features that make them easy gathering points, like simple menus and casual service. His reporting often ties openings to shared interests - such as the appeal of sweets in summer or the draw of pet-friendly concepts - showing how these businesses position themselves as part of everyday routines rather than occasional destinations.
Local business storytelling
Galloway writes in a direct, descriptive style that gives readers a clear sense of a business’s character in a short space. He highlights origin details and owner motivations where they explain why a concept exists, but keeps the focus on how those choices translate into the food and atmosphere on offer.
His work reads as grounded in on-the-ground visits, with concrete observations about products, layout and customer response rather than abstract commentary.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.