TIKTOK FOOD CRITIC KEITH LEE IS BACK IN HIS HOMETOWN OF DETROIT AND READY TO EAT

Guess who’s back in Detroit? Keith Lee, one of the most viral names in online food reviewing and a native son of the Motor City, raised in the Joy Road and Evergreen area on the westside, has arrived in the city and is ready to eat. The TikTok personality returned with his family for a visit this week and is asking for recommendations of local restaurants that want to be reviewed.

It’s a busy time to go check out restaurants in Detroit, as Lee pointed out in a post published Thursday, April 25. There’s the NFL Draft taking place downtown (which is already breaking attendance records with a whopping 275,000 visitors who descended upon the central business district on Day One of the Draft). Helping to kick off the football festivities, another Detroit native, Big Sean, delighted fans Thursday with a quick performance on the Draft stage.

In light of the chaos overtaking much of the city’s hospitality industry during the Draft, Lee says he’s not treating this trip as a “full food tour,” but is rather taking this time to revisit some of his beloved childhood favorites, like coneys, corned beef egg rolls, and Better Made chips.

Lee wasted no time with the taste-testing, first stopping by Hart Plaza — the NFL Draft Experience area site, where dozens of local restaurants, food trucks, and cafes are set up for the festivities. He appreciated the fact that many of the food vendors were Black-owned. He offered a sneak peek of what he’s getting into food-wise during this current visit by checking out a tray of wings from Good Vibes Lounge. He reported that the East English Village establishment had just gotten hit (presumably by a car) and that the ownership was feeling “defeated.”

“God willingly, she got a space here at the NFL Draft,” Lee says, before he displays a screenshot of Good Vibe Lounge’s Instagram account to let viewers know how to find the neighborhood bar and restaurant.

“God don’t make no mistakes,” added Lee, who is known for his spiritual take on his so-called “Keith Lee effect.” Eater has reached out to Lee via email about his visit and will report any updates when they become available.

Lee has become a household fixture among the food-obsessed for his food tours in cities across the United States, including San Francisco, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta — a destination that went viral for its many dramatic instances of bad experiences. A native Detroiter, who now lives in Las Vegas, Lee has more than 16 million followers and makes it a point to visit smaller mom-and-pop establishments — often that are BIPOC-owned — that may have impressive menus, but that might be lacking in online presence. His visits are unannounced and are primarily takeout. He often sends in a family member to fetch the food when it’s ready so as not to attract attention. He rates each place 1 to 10 for customer service and the quality of the food, and makes sure to note his personal preferences whenever he scores. When he first started, he focused on Vegas-area restaurants and did his reviews while sitting in a tiny children’s-sized Paw Patrol chair, and now he most often films his reviews in his car.

The “Keith Lee effect” that his reviews have on small businesses is profound. Janel Prator, owner of the Puddery, a Houston-area dessert business featuring Prator’s creamy banana pudding, told Eater in a December 2023 report that her shop was struggling to take off before a review Lee did his did of her place in November. His influence was immediate business took off, with customers lined up from the front door eager to try her desserts.

The last time Lee paid a visit to his hometown was in September when he reviewed several beloved local food businesses, including the Spot food truck, which, according to Lee’s review, had contacted him on social media to invite him to check out its food. He ordered a steak crunchwrap supreme with Hot Cheetos (on the side) and gave the truck a rave review for its service, house-made “Turbo” sauce, and commented that the meat was seasoned to perfection. Similar to Prator’s experience, the Spot also reported traffic snaked around its truck in the days after Lee’s review went live.

2024-04-26T17:27:32Z dg43tfdfdgfd