Worth It

Worth It was an American entertainment web series by BuzzFeed. Starring Steven Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj, it ran from September 18, 2016 to April 8, 2023. Posted to Hulu and YouTube, each episode of the series compares three different food dishes from three locations that are sold at low, medium, and high price points. Background Steven Lim came up with the idea for Worth It when he debated whether it was worth bringing a date to an expensive sushi restaurant or if it would be better to get a takeout California roll. The premise connected with YouTube viewers, and so he created another video and published it a week later. By the fourth episode, the show and premise demonstrated that they had staying power. Lim was also motivated by how the premise allowed him to weave Asian-American themes into his work. According to Lim, Buzzfeed's original plan was to feature two white hosts while Lim wrote the show's scripts. Worth It was one of several food shows Buzzfeed launched around this time, and Worth Its cast and crew came together as part of those efforts. One of Buzzfeed's goals for Worth It and other shows launched around the same time was to compete for advertising dollars that would traditionally go towards network television shows. Premise Each episode sees presenters Steven Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj, along with cameraman Adam Bianchi, visiting three different restaurants to try similar foods at three "drastically different price points"—affordable, mid, and luxury. The three are invariably positive about the food that they eat, a differentiating factor from BuzzFeed's other video content.