For Keith Lee, It Isn't Just About The Food
The creator's short and controversial trip to San Francisco
There are few content creators quite as influential as Keith Lee. The former MMA fighter turned amateur food critic has the power to make or break a restaurant— all with one signature rating out of ten.
His review of the restaurant Frankensons turned a struggling business, considering closure, into a must-eat spot that sells out night after night. The day after Keith Lee posted a review of the Las Vegas food truck, 303 In the Cut, 140 customers were lined up waiting for the truck to open. Lee’s influence has been dubbed the “Keith Lee Effect”.
The food and restaurant world is increasingly dependent on influencers like Keith Lee. Foodtok is critical to more than just restaurants. Advertisers and brand strategies in a range of industries are starting to pivot toward food content, according to DigiDay.
As impactful as Keith Lee’s positive reviews can be, his negative experiences with restaurants have the potential to blow up and cause backlash for restaurants. His review of the Atlanta restaurant The Real Milk and Honey set forth Twitter discourse, TikTok skits, and write-ups in The Root and The New York Times.
In Keith Lee’s short trip to San Francisco, you can see the ghost of his trip to Atlanta. Lessons were learned.
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Given Atlanta, it made sense that Keith Lee would opt not to post his more negative reviews of several Bay Area restaurants. As he explained in his initial video announcing he was cutting his Bay area trip short “I truly don’t believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now… The people of the Bay are just focused on surviving.”
Many read Keith Lee’s decision as confirmation of commonly held beliefs about the Bay area. The comment section of Lee’s original video is filled with people offering “safer” parts of the Bay, where the specter of poverty is just out of sight. The top comment even recommends San Jose. A handful of viral stitches from Bay area residents poked fun at Keith’s decision to go to areas like the Tenderloin. Perhaps missing Keith Lee’s disagreement with characterizations of San Francisco as “Gotham City” and his choice not to post content of people living in poverty on the streets of San Francisco.
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I should now disclose, that I’m extremely familiar with the Bay. I’ve lived in Northern California for almost a decade. I’ve had the crawfish beignets at Brenda’s, eaten my weight in har gao from Good Mong Kok Bakery, regularly make the trip out to Napa county for coq au vin at Bistro Jeanty, and have opinions on the best ramen in San Francisco (Marufuku’s tonkotsu, a classic is a classic). I say this because I can sympathize with the commentators trying to defend the Bay. San Francisco isn’t the crime-ridden and [insert choice dog-whistle] hellscape Fox News would have you believe. It is a city, like any other. A city that struggles with homelessness, and high rents. A city that has seen businesses flee under the guise of “organized retail theft” and disappointing inaction from officials to solve the city’s many crises.
When Keith Lee announced his decision not to post his negative reviews, it became clear that Keith Lee doesn’t see his platform as just about food. For Lee, it’s about making a difference in a community and the responsibility of influence.
In a city where businesses are shuttering, and thousands are trying to survive would unconstructive criticism help?
It seems Keith Lee’s decision to exit the Bay is less about the food or service and more about conserving his efforts to do good. To transform businesses like Frankensons is what Keith is here for. And, yes, sometimes criticizing unfair treatment in more established eateries.
If Keith Lee’s trip to the Bay Area has taught us one thing it’s that this MMA fighter doesn’t punch down.