Keith Lee is probably one of the most talked about names in food coverage on TikTok. For the past seven months, he has been on a “food tour” across the United States, most recently visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, but left early after having a bad experience with seafood. He has visited several cities, including Houston, New Orleans and Atlanta, the last of which featured dramatic revelations about bad experiences that Eater Atlanta called the “collapse” of the city's service industry. There were many.
To back that up, if you're not already aware of the Keith Lee TikTok phenomenon, he's a former mixed martial artist turned food influencer with just under 16 million followers. He sets a few rules and goes to locally owned restaurants, mostly mom-oriented restaurants, to sample their food. He always buys his own food, tries to go unnoticed (usually sending his family to take his place), and films his reviews in his car during his meals. And while his food knowledge isn't all that deep (he frequently searches for words to describe what he's eating), he's enthusiastic. He has been known to freeze-frame or slow-motion his own face during awkward moments of pure enjoyment.
Lee is making some changes to the Dallas food tour on TikTok, including adding a restaurant category. One is the “target audience” for spots that offer great food and service, but need help marketing to a wider audience. Basically, we're giving love to family-owned restaurants that are struggling. The second is “Local Favorite,” as voted on on his Instagram Story (which was not live at press time). The third is diversity, with a variety of cuisines and restaurants to choose from run by different ethnic groups.
Lee is accepting nominations of family-run restaurants to visit via comments and DMs, and announced on his TikTok that the same applies to restaurants from diverse backgrounds.
Previous comments on his Dallas post have ranged from several people not realizing that Terry Black's Barbecue is an Austin joint that came to Dallas, to Chris & John's, Mike's Chicken, and Val's. – Suggests Cheesecake, Garland's Pangea, Aunt Irene's Kitchen, and Hurtado Barbecue. Arlington, especially Hutchins because he gets to try Texas Twinkies on BBQ. He has also been asked several times to visit Carrollton's Koreatown. He can't wait to hear about driving across the Metroplex and see how Dallas and this new screening method connect.
