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Levon Campbell III
Staff Writer
TikTok food critic Keith Lee sparked nationwide attention after showing his frustrating experiences at the restaurants in Atlanta.
Lee, a 27-year-old former MMA fighter and food critic, garnered 14.2 million followers on TikTok for his insightful restaurant reviews. He leveraged this influence to highlight lesser-known eateries, drawing in customers and helping to promote diversity and inclusivity in the culinary industry, according to a USA Today news report.
He made a name for himself by providing honest, thoughtful critiques, and his direct and down-to-earth style of reviewing food, leading many to seek out the restaurants that he went to. Lee has done his food reviews from his base in Las Vegas to cities like New Orleans and Chicago.
In most of his reviews, Lee always mentions that he is not interested in special treatment from restaurants and prefers to experience restaurants as a normal patron.
In October, Lee toured nine different restaurants in Atlanta and has reported on the customer service and ‘unique rules’ that local diners say are commonplace.
According to the report, one of the restaurants Lee visited was Old Lady Gang, owned by Xscape music group and reality TV star Kandi Burruss.
He also tried out other spots like The Atlanta Breakfast Club, The Seafood Menu, Juci Jerk, The Real Milk and Honey, The Dining Experience Atlanta, The Bodega, Jamaican Jerk Biz, and Toast on Lenox.
Lee’s tour of nine different restaurants in Atlanta resulted in positive experiences at most of the businesses. However, three stood out to viewers, not for their food but for their lack of customer service.
Lee detailed issues ranging from poor table management to apathetic servers and dirty washrooms.
Lee had a positive experience at the Atlanta Breakfast Club with the waitress, although he reported their rules as being ‘interesting.’ He was told that he and his family could only order once as a group and couldn’t add anything later and that the waitress would only serve them once everyone was at the table sitting down.
At The Real Milk and Honey, Lee had his family place orders inside the establishment while he waited in the car. However, they were notified that it was closed for deep cleaning. When they noticed others entering and ordering food, Lee went inside to investigate. The staff recognized him and offered to serve him, but he declined.
Finally, At Old Lady Gang, Lee’s family members were informed that the wait time was an hour. When Lee decided to inquire about the wait time himself, the waiter told him that he could be seated in just five minutes. He declined.
Lee stated in a video that his experience in Atlanta was unique, with certain restaurants giving him special treatment due to his status, but not treating his family and friends with the same level of service.
Two out of three restaurants responded to Lee’s reviews, with the Atlanta Breakfast Club yet to publish a response as of Nov. 6. The company that owns the restaurant, Real Milk and Honey, issued a press release apologizing for a now-deleted video in which they disputed Lee’s claims and emphasized their commitment to improving their communication with customers.
Burruss thanked Lee for visiting and elaborating on their house rules. She ended her video invitation by inviting him to try out her restaurant again in the future.
Ienry Loving, owner of E&L Hotspot Sandwich Shop in Louisville, Miss., said he liked how Lee did his job in Atlanta and how disappointed he was in these restaurants acting unprofessional just because of his reviews.
“Every customer has a different opinion, experience, and taste of the food and services provided by that restaurant. I liked how Keith Lee did his critiques and I am disappointed with how these restaurants acted in return especially doing that silly video on social media instead of just taking accountability for how their restaurant treated his family,” Loving stated.
Jackson State University students have also expressed disappointment with the treatment of Lee.
Henri Pegues, a senior journalism and media studies major from Clinton, Miss., believes the restaurants should be sued.
“Places like that should be sued and deserve nothing but a lack of business or even backlash because it was unprofessional for how they treated Keith Lee even though he showed respect to their restaurants and critiqued their food in a non-biased manner,” Pegues stated.
Emerald Bowen, a senior healthcare administration major from Columbus, Miss., stated that Lee had always been a good food critic.
“Keith Lee has been an inspiration since starting his TikTok career. He truly showed that prayer and faith change things. Unfortunately, we are living in a world where openly voicing your opinion is frowned upon. What that Atlanta restaurant did was pure nonsense and they’re only hurting themselves. I hope and pray Keith continues his tour and shines a light on business owners and companies that deserve it. In the words of Keith Lee, ‘God Bless Em’,” Bowen said.
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