"Rideshare Foodie" makes stop in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Kreskin J. Torres has traveled to all 50 states in search of the country's best food and best people. He is known as the "Rideshare Foodie" online, with thousands of followers on his social media accounts.

The Baltimore Native drives from city to city, making money by driving for rideshare apps like Lyft and Uber. He has accumulated 397,000 miles on his 2012 Honda Accord.

His travels around the United States were actually inspired by a trip to the United Kingdom

"Just seeing how different it was in another country made me want to come back and see and explore my country," said Torres. "Most Americans don't know that much about the other Americans that live around them."

Torres usually plans his trips with an end goal in mind, and fills in the route based on what cities are nearby. Right now, he plans to travel to Alaska, and Springfield is one of his stopping points.

Like many trips, the plan to come to Springfield started with a simple conversation.

"I had already thought about coming to Springfield, I joined the Facebook group 217 Foodies," said Torres. "I was in Tucson, Arizona at the airport and I started talking to this guy in the van behind me and he said 'My name is Paul and I'm from Springfield, Illinois' so then I decided to come here and was told I needed to try a horseshoe," said Torres.

The Rideshare Foodie had his first traditional horseshoe at D'arcy's Pint in Springfield. He filmed his taste test, and shared it to his Facebook page.

Before he leaves Springfield, Torres plans to visit MJ's Chicken and Fish and the Maid Rite Sandwich Shop.

His favorite part of the journey is meeting people and learning about the things that make America unique.

"It's a great way to build a bond and to actually learn about someone else's culture, through food, which is pretty much the fundamentals of America, and I wanted to find a different way as that, you know, could actually bring people together," said Torres.

Right now, Torres is working on a book, where he will feature some of the favorite people he meets in his travels. To stay up to date on Torres' travels, you can follow his Facebook page, The Rideshare Foodie. He also has a website.