Leah Groth
Leah Groth covers food through the lens of everyday shopping and dining, focusing on chain restaurants, major retailers, and how real customers and experts judge what is worth ordering or buying.
Restaurant chains and “according to diners” coverage
At Eat This, Not That!, Groth’s restaurant work centers on chain dining and signature menu items, framed as ranked, service-driven lists. She writes pieces such as “5 Pizza Chains With the Best Breadsticks, According to Diners” and “6 Restaurant Chains With the Best Quesadilla Platters, According to Diners,” which highlight specific dishes at national brands through the experiences of customers. Her story “5 BBQ Chains With the Best Rib Dinners, According to Diners” follows the same pattern, breaking down where to find standout ribs at barbecue-focused chains.
Across these articles, she consistently uses the “according to diners” device to anchor her judgments in customer feedback rather than critic opinion, helping readers navigate familiar chains with more confidence.
Costco, Aldi, Dollar Tree and value-focused shopping
Groth’s food beat is closely tied to shopping behavior, especially at large retailers and discount chains.
Eat This, Not That! describes her as an experienced shopping-focused journalist covering “everything from Costco and Aldi to Dollar Tree,” underscoring her emphasis on value-driven places where many people buy groceries and prepared foods. In this role, she tracks trends, products, and deals at these chains, connecting what is on the shelf to how and what people eat at home.
Similar language appears in her work for a health and shopping outlet and other lifestyle publications, reinforcing that retail chains and consumer choices are a core through-line in her reporting.
Health, nutrition and weight-loss foods
Beyond restaurant chains and retailers, Groth also covers food as part of health and wellness routines.
For a health-focused magazine she has written guides like “25 fat-burning foods to jumpstart your weight loss,” positioning specific foods as tools for weight management and better health. On a nutrition brand’s editorial site, she describes herself as a writer and editor specializing in health, wellness, and lifestyle coverage, which includes nutrition-oriented service journalism.
This health angle complements her chain-restaurant lists, giving her a dual perspective on indulgent dining and more functional, goal-oriented eating.
Freelance presence across lifestyle and wellness outlets
Groth works as a writer and editor for a wide range of internationally recognized print and online publications, and also creates content for brands. On her professional site she notes bylines across lifestyle, health, and parenting outlets including InStyle, Glamour, Shape, Prevention, USA Today, Parade, Bustle, mindbodygreen, Business Insider, Reader’s Digest, Apartment Therapy, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s World, Livestrong, Parents, Everyday Health, Women’s Day, Eat This, Not That!, and others. A contributor page at a women’s health title likewise places her within international lifestyle and wellness coverage. Her social profiles highlight ongoing work with Eat This, Not That!, Best Life, Everyday Health, InStyle, and Reader’s Digest, reflecting a steady presence in consumer-facing lifestyle and health media.
Groth also maintains a Substack where she posts calls for Eat This, Not That! food-related pitches and expert sources.
In one newsletter entry she seeks contributions from chefs, nutritionists, and people who have lost weight, indicating that many of her stories are built around both professional expertise and lived experience. Taken together, her chain-restaurant lists, retail-shopping coverage, and nutrition pieces show a consistent focus on helping readers make practical decisions about what to eat and where to spend their food dollars, grounded in the perspectives of diners and subject-matter experts.
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.