Influencer marketing has gained popularity in the recent years, little is known about how effective it is in the restaurant industry, especially when it comes to the different kinds of influencers and the relationship between authenticity, trust, and long-term effects. The paper investigates how well influencer marketing works in the restaurant sector by looking at consumer sentiment and behavioral intentions of macro, micro, and nano influencers. This paper will discuss the importance of trust, authenticity and disclosure transparency in influencing consumer attitudes using a mixed-methods approach, which involves the use of AI-assisted sentiment analysis of influencer posts (n = 1,200) and a quantitative survey (n = 315). Important conclusions point to micro and nano influencers producing much more positive sentiment (72% 74%) than macro (58%), with clear sponsorships also having a positive effect on trust. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) also recognizes attitude as a better predictor of the purchase intent (beta = 0.44) than the subjective norms (beta = 0.21). The research includes the theoretical contribution in the sphere of influencer typology and the recommendations about the practical approach the F&B marketers can use to achieve the data-supported digital strategy.