Chester's Unofficial Internet: Three Local Accounts Worth Knowing.

Chester has official accounts. They are useful, polished, and unlikely to say anything that has not been through a meeting, a brand check, and a sentence beginning “we are delighted”.

But the more interesting Chester internet usually happens somewhere else.

It started with the sarcastic Twitter/X era: people pointing at odd signs, empty units, civic nonsense, and the bits of the city that did not make the visitor brochure. Then came the Instagram and TikTok discovery era, where restaurants, bars, events and days out started spreading through reels, saves and group chats.

Now local creators are not just posting about venues. They are part of how venues get seen, booked and talked about.

Three unofficial Chester accounts tell that story better than most: Shit Chester, Life in Chester, and Josh Eats Lots.

They are not doing the same job. That is why they are worth knowing.

Shit Chester / The Chester Blog

Best for: Chester’s unofficial memory, mood, civic grumbling, local oddities, and the stuff that would not survive a tourism-board edit.

Shit Chester is the old guard of unofficial Chester internet, which sounds ridiculous, but is also true.

The account began in 2013 as a joke. At first, it was the sort of thing early local Twitter did well: derelict buildings, odd signs, graffiti, strange street details, and the bits of Chester that looked better in real life than they did in a council press release.¹

The name did exactly what the name was always going to do. Some people got the joke. Some people did not. Some people in official positions appeared to get quite warm about it.

That tension probably helped. Shit Chester became more than a joke account because it captured something recognisable about the city. Chester is beautiful, historic, and frequently excellent. It is also capable of being neglected, badly planned, strangely managed, and unintentionally funny. The account sat in that gap.

It was never really about saying Chester was rubbish. It was about saying Chester was not perfect, which is somehow far more offensive to certain types of people.

The Chester Blog followed in 2014 and gave the voice a more permanent home. Over time, it became less about simply pointing at the city’s rough edges and more about local memory, civic commentary, nostalgia, events, culture, politics, and the ongoing question of whether Chester is getting better, worse, or merely rearranging the deckchairs outside a new mixed-use development.

That is the interesting thing about Shit Chester. It has gone from a slightly awkward local joke to part of the city’s unofficial civic memory. It has been a nuisance, a forum, a mood board, a blog, a running commentary, and occasionally a useful reminder that affection for a place does not mean pretending everything is fine.

There is also a pleasing full-circle bit of Chester internet history here. Years after being accused of damaging the city’s image, the account’s creator wrote that they had been asked to appear in a Chester BID promotion reel championing investment in the city. Chester BID’s own write-up also listed Richard, owner of Shit Chester and The Chester Blog, among the local voices in its This Is Chester campaign.²

The useful thing about Shit Chester is that it has never felt like a tourism account. It is not trying to sell Chester to you. It is trying to understand it, complain about it, remember it, and occasionally stick up for it.

The name is blunt. The tone is more affectionate than it looks.

Follow Shit Chester if: you want Chester’s sideways glance: odd observations, civic grumbles, local history, blog posts, nostalgia, and the occasional thing everyone has noticed but nobody official wants to say out loud.

Life in Chester

Best for: quick ideas, Instagram-friendly places, TikTok discovery, events, food, drink, deals, and deciding what to do without opening twelve tabs.

Life in Chester belongs to a different internet.

Where Shit Chester came from the Twitter/X age of jokes, arguments, local commentary and civic side-eye, Life in Chester is built for Instagram and TikTok discovery. It is Chester through reels, food posts, day-out ideas, event clips, deals, “trying every…” series, and things that get sent into the group chat with “this?” underneath.

The account is built around Georgia, Emily and Matilda, described by Chester Students’ Union as recent University of Chester graduates who turned local exploring into a sizeable Instagram and TikTok following.³ That matters because Life in Chester does not feel like an outside visitor guide. It feels like people living in the city, going out in the city, and showing other people what is actually being booked, eaten, filmed and tried.

It also sits neatly in the post-lockdown local discovery wave. People stopped relying only on websites and started making decisions from short videos: a busy restaurant, a decent-looking cocktail, a date-night idea, a cheap deal, a new opening, a market stall, a brunch, a class, an event.

The account is broader than food. Food and drink are a big part of it, but the real appeal is lifestyle: what to do, where to go, what is new, what is busy, what looks fun, and what might rescue a Saturday from becoming “shall we just go to the same place again?”

It has also moved beyond simply posting ideas. Life in Chester has run social events with Chester Students’ Union, including a plant-pot decorating and mocktail mixer. That is where local creator accounts become interesting. They start as “we went here”. Then they become “people are following us for ideas”. Then venues, unions and businesses start treating them as part of the city’s going-out ecosystem.

There are collaborations and promotional posts in the mix, so it is not the same thing as independent criticism. But that is not really the point. Life in Chester is useful because it shows the Chester people are actively sharing, saving and talking about.

Not everything needs to be a long review. Sometimes you just want to know where people are actually going, what looks lively, and whether there is somewhere new you have missed because you have been doing the same three places since 2019.

Follow Life in Chester if: you want quick visual ideas, food and drink finds, events, local deals, student-friendly bits, social plans, and the modern art of making decisions by forwarding a reel.

Josh Eats Lots

Best for: Chester food and drink, independents, new openings, first-look restaurant content, and becoming hungry at an inconvenient time.

Josh Eats Lots does exactly what the name says, which is oddly refreshing.

This is the food lane. Since 2023, Josh has been building a Chester-based food and drink account around short-form restaurant content, first visits, independents, new openings, and places people might actually want to book.⁴

It is not a traditional restaurant review format. It is faster, more visual, and more direct: here is where I went, here is what I ate, here is what looked good, and here is whether it might be worth your time.

That is how a lot of food discovery works now. People are not always sitting down to read a full review before choosing where to eat. They see a pizza pull, a roast, a Thai curry, a vegan plate, a dessert, a cocktail, or a very serious-looking sandwich, and the decision is half made before anyone has checked the menu.

Josh fits into the Chester creator scene because he is specific enough to be useful. This is not a national food influencer parachuting in for one viral plate and leaving. It is a local food account that repeatedly covers Chester and the nearby eating-out orbit, including North Wales.

That matters because restaurants and bars are not just chasing newspaper reviews or Tripadvisor stars any more. They want creators who can put a place in front of people quickly, visually, and in a way that might actually turn into bookings.

That does not mean every post should be treated as the final word. It means the account is useful for first looks, new openings, and getting a quick feel for what is moving in the local food scene. Watch the video, check the comments, look at the menu, then decide whether you are prepared to leave the house.

Follow Josh Eats Lots if: you want Chester food and drink ideas, independent venues, new openings, quick visual recommendations, and the dangerous moment when you were not hungry five minutes ago but now apparently need pizza.

How they fit together

These three accounts do different jobs.

Shit Chester gives you the city’s memory and mood.

Life in Chester shows you what people are doing now.

Josh Eats Lots shows you what people are eating next.

Together, they give a much more realistic picture of Chester than any one official account could.

The city is not just Roman walls, race days, black-and-white buildings, and approved photography angles. It is also civic grumbles, graduates building media brands, food creators filling restaurants, market openings, awkward pavements, new menus, old arguments, and someone somewhere filming a plate of gnocchi from six angles.

That is Chester online now: slightly chaotic, surprisingly useful, and usually within touching distance of a small plate.

The unofficial Chester starter pack

If you are new to Chester, visiting for a weekend, moving here for university, or just trying to stop going to the same places every time, these three accounts are a useful starting point.

Follow Shit Chester for the sideways glance.

Follow Life in Chester for what is being saved and shared.

Follow Josh Eats Lots for where people are eating.

Then use TTDC when you actually need to decide whether to go.

Also worth knowing

There are other unofficial Chester food and lifestyle accounts worth a look, including Food of Chester, Instascrann Chester, and Chester on a Plate.⁵

They are useful supporting follows, especially if you want more food ideas. But if you want the three accounts that best explain Chester’s current unofficial social media landscape, start with Shit Chester, Life in Chester, and Josh Eats Lots.

One gives you the city’s running commentary.

One gives you the plans people are making.

One gives you the food people are booking.

Between them, you get a decent picture of Chester: affectionate, restless, occasionally irritated, and rarely more than ten minutes away from someone recommending a small plate.

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