Chowhound

For the World War II Allied operation, see Operations Manna and Chowhound.

Chowhound

Type of business	Privately owned
Type of site	Online food community
Founded	1997 (1997)
Dissolved	March 28, 2022 (2022-03-28)
Country of origin	United States
Owner	Jim Leff and Bob Okumura (1997-2006) CNET Networks (2006-2020) Red Ventures (2020-2023, suspended Chowhound operations 2022) Static Media (October 2023–present, revived Chowhound website in November 2023)
Founder(s)	Jim Leff and Bob Okumura
Industry	Food and drink
URL	www.chowhound.com

Chowhound (or chowhound.com) is an American based food website launched in 1997. It changed ownership in 2006 and 2020, with its third owner suspending the website in March 2022. In October 2023, Static Media purchased the operation, reactivating the website in November 2023.

History

Chowhound was a popular online food community founded by jazz trombonist^[1] and food writer^[2] Jim Leff and Bob Okumura in 1997, known for its user base of food fanatics. Chowhound was formed in a very different cultural era, before Americans had a mainstream interest in seeking out regional delicacies and local favorites. As such, Chowhound served a very particular user base that was seeking delicious, regional and hard to find foods outside of the mainstream culture. It had an early influence in steering America's influence towards regional delicacies, as the future trailblazing food critics Jonathan Gold and Robert Sietsema were early contributors. In 2006, Leff and Okumura sold the site to CNET Networks,^[3] which redesigned it and merged it with CHOW magazine, keeping its forums, grouped by locale, and dropping chowhound.com in favour of the magazine's chow.com domain. After CNET was merged into CBS Interactive in 2008, the original chowhound.com domain was restored and CHOW was eliminated. The website was bought by Red Ventures, in 2020.^[4][5]

In March, 2022, Red Ventures announced the site would close after 25 years online.^[6] Its closure was covered by the New York Times,^[7] among other media.

In October 2023, the Chowhound website was put back online, with it now being under the ownership of Static Media. The chowhound.com website was revived; as of November 2024^[update], the chow.com domain – still held onto by Red Ventures and passed along to Static Media in the sale – was redirected to Static Media's foodie.com website.

Book series

Penguin USA published two Chowhound restaurant guides, The Chowhound's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area, and The Chowhound's Guide to the New York Tristate Area.^[8]

See also

• List of websites about food and drink

References

1. "Jim Leff". Discogs. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
2. "Jim Leff's Writing Resume". jimleff.info. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
3. Hochman, David (22 November 2006). "An Owner No More, Alpha Dog Prowls". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
4. Hudson, Caroline. "Red Ventures adding jobs as it integrates ViacomCBS' CNET Media Group". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
5. Spangler, Todd (14 September 2020). "ViacomCBS Reaches Deal to Sell CNET for $500 Million to Marketing Firm Red Ventures". Variety. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
6. "A Final Goodbye for Chowhound" (Press release). Chowhound. 2022-03-07. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
7. Asimov, Eric (2022-03-10). "Chowhound Closes After 25 Years of Food Obsession, Wisdom, and Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
8. "The Chowhound's Guide to the New York Tristate Area by Chowhound: 9781101221457 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2021-01-09.

External links

• Official website
• Newsweek article on Chowhound