Vlogger Victor Pham Flies High With His Chicken Wing Reviews

Victor Pham always enjoyed making reels and videos, whether he was filming his choir at Glenelg High School, his fraternity at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, or shooting food and a variety of videos while a law student at The George Washington University. But life—and adulthood—put an end to his pastime.

After becoming a lawyer, Pham gave up videography because, as he says, “I wanted to be taken more seriously.” But by age 30, after practicing law for five years, he had an epiphany.

“I was just doing a lot of life reflection at the time,” says the Howard County resident. “My grandmother had passed away and I didn’t get to spend that much time with her in her final years. I was looking back and was like, ‘I need to make more time for my friends and family and for doing what I enjoy.’”

That turned out to be making videos. So, Pham decided to quit his law job and started creating videos that focused on chicken wings, his all-time favorite food.

“It was my go-to appetizer,” says Pham, “so my palate was already trained for it. Plus, the beauty of wings is that there are so many different countries that have wings as a dish. I can go to an Indian restaurant, a Korean restaurant, a pizza spot. Everyone has wings on the menu.”

On July 18, 2023, Pham set out to eat (and review) wings at area restaurants for an entire year. (And when he ran out of local joints, he hit the road to sample wings in such far-flung places as L.A., Chicago, and, of course, Buffalo.) His first stop was First Downs Sports Bar & Grill in Arlington—and he hasn’t missed a day since, though he’s now branched out into reviewing other types of foods, while still working in wings.

His process is fairly straightforward, he says, as he asks himself: “How juicy is it? How crispy is it? What’s the size of the wing and the quality of the meat? And the ‘X’ factor is the flavor. I eat four wings to make a proper assessment, two drums and two flats.”

Pham’s wing videos (@phatvick) on TikTok and YouTube were nearly an instant hit. By day 21, he had 20,000 views on TikTok—and he was off and running. To date, he has 319,000 followers on his Instagram account (@phatvickTV), 375,000 on TikTok, and 111,000 to his YouTube channel.

In addition to trying to launch his own brand of ranch sauce, he plans on one day going back to practicing law, while also pursuing his passion.

“My goal is to have my own law firm to represent brands or content creators,” he says. “So many people have reached out and I’m hoping to build out those relationships and help people with their legal issues.”

So, with all the influencers out there, how has he made his mark?

“Specializing in wings has helped me build a brand for myself and putting my story out there is a lot more interesting than someone who just decided to go out and eat,” says Pham. “I’ve gotten so much love from everyone in the DMV—that’s what’s driving the videos right now, people giving me comments and recommendations. Everyone has an opinion on food, so that’s keeps it going—it’s been fun.”