Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
TikTok influencer and the Black people’s food critic Keith Lee made a trip down to Atlanta this past weekend, and as one Twitter user put it, “the grass walls are shaking.”
It appears some of the more popular Black-owned restaurants were not prepared for the presence of the humble foodie who has the ability to make or break a restaurant based on whether he liked the food and service.
Whether you follow him or not, you have likely heard of Keith Lee. the MMA fighter who has turned his passion for good food into an influencer career. He started out reviewing small businesses in Las Vegas, and as his popularity and reach grew, so did the demand for him to come review restaurants in cities around the country.
He told theGrio in June that his food review videos were borne of “his passion for food, his love of small businesses, and his desire to be a vessel to help others.”
His many videos have done just that, shining a light on restaurants that may otherwise go unnoticed without amplification from his platform.
He’s become so popular that when he gets food from restaurants he wants to review, he places takeout orders and has one of his family members pick the food up so he does not receive any type of special treatment in the process. He prides himself on paying for his own meals and delivering honest reviews that don’t disparage restaurants even when the service is poor.
He simply relays his personal experiences, and all 14.2 million of his followers pay attention.
Knowing all of this, you would think Atlanta restaurants would have been on their A-game when he showed up in town, but this was not the case for two of the…
Read the full article here
