It felt like every mom-and-pop shop in the D.C. area was tagged in the comments section of Keith Lee’s TikTok videos last week, as the restaurant reviewer and MMA fighter announced that he was making his way to the DMV. Lee’s straightforward, genuine food reviews have blown up on the social media platform, reaching over 16 million followers (almost three times the population of D.C.) and landing him multiple brand deals. He’s also famous for using his “Keith Lee effect” for good, connecting hungry customers to struggling local restaurants and even leaving thousands of dollars to pay for future customers’ meals at his favorite spots. But he is also known for dropping a bad review when restaurants have awful service, are overhyped, or just aren’t his taste.
After unexceptional reviews of Flavor Hive, a Northern Virginia food truck, and Cane, an H Street restaurant, plus Lee’s complaints that the capital is more obsessed with alcohol than food, it seemed like Lee and his family may be leaving the city by Thursday of last week. Last night, he posted a video explaining that only six of the 12 D.C. restaurant reviews he recorded last week will be uploaded to his social media account. The TikTok star then showed a montage of unnamed restaurants allegedly violating various health codes and risking cross-contamination with shellfish, which Lee is allergic to. The full videos were “not constructive,” according to Lee, and would only hurt the restaurant owners featured in them, so he won’t be posting them or naming the restaurants.
An upcoming positive review for Jerk at Nite, a Jamaican restaurant with many locations in D.C., may be released soon. According to the local chain’s Instagram, the Langdon location will be doling out 200 free meals today from noon to 5 p.m. after receiving a donation from Lee’s family.
Lee visited three more D.C. establishments and a French-style Baltimore eatery over the weekend that he identified by name. Here’s what he thought of those seven stops and how they fared after his visit.
After being scammed by DoorDash orders that were picked up but never paid for, Alex Kang tells Eater that his Fairfax business, known for Asian rice and noodle bowls, was finally making a comeback this month. “Before Keith came, for this month we were having an 80 percent growth over our previous months,” says Kang.
But that big hike skyrocketed after Lee’s visit, with business reaching 300 percent over that previous spike. Kang says this “hockey stick growth” led to Okonomi Asian Grill fully selling out on Sunday, after having to restock the fridge every day after Lee’s review.
The lemongrass chicken bowl from Okonomi Asian Grill. Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Owner Alex Kang is working hard to fill orders with his small team at Okonomi Asian Grill Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Kang was running the shop alone when Lee’s family came in, but their order was made quickly and super fresh, according to Lee. His highest rating for the “Asian Chipotle” was an 8.5 out of ten for the lemongrass chicken bowl, with flavorful, “juicy” chicken, pickled vegetables, peanuts, and cucumber over white rice. The “Hawiian-ish” bowl was rated a 7.5 out of ten by Lee, and the cucumber kimchi, when combined with a bite from the bowl was ranked an 8.2 by the viral critic. Lee and his family even gave the business $1,000, plus another $2,000 to pay for future customers’ meals, after hearing stories of how the owner had been scammed.
Kang says that regulars had already made many online order donations to the fast-casual spot after the DoorDash theft. After receiving over 100 donations, he started donating the money to three nearby elementary schools, which include Eagle View Elementary and Daniels Run Elementary. He decided to donate all of the money from Lee to the schools as well. Kang is presently focused on keeping his restaurant supplies stocked and is asking customers to only order online, but he expects to sell out again soon.
This Alexandria, Virginia food truck known for filling bring-your-own bags of chips with a protein, vegetables, and sauces got a glowing review for how affordable it was ($10 for any size bag), but middling marks for the actual food from Lee. After his family waited in what he described as an extremely long line, Lee tried three large bags of chips topped with different proteins and covered with vegetables, spicy green sauce, and white sauce. His first reaction to the “walking nachos” was that they were surprisingly cold and spicy for him. The beef and Fritos bag won the highest rating, a 7.9 out of ten, and the chicken and gyro meat versions scored much lower. Lee did point out that each bag of chips could feed a whole family, with as many as eight servings.
Co-owner Shihan Chowdhury says that Flavor Hive has seen a 30-percent increase in business since the Lee review. He also says that the owners are incredibly thankful for the mostly positive review of the South Asian-Middle Eastern fusion spot, but also let down that Lee didn’t order more menu items.
“The chip deal is a promotion item to bring people in,” Chowdhury says. “We’re kinda upset he didn’t get the main items that we had, the items that we’re known for, that originally made us famous… we’re kinda taken aback by that.”
He says the most popular items are the quesadillas, dal puri (Indian flatbread) tacos, and chicken rice bowls. Chowdhury’s reaction showcases a few issues with Lee’s short TikTok reviews. Unlike establishment restaurant reviewers, who often dine at the same place multiple times and try various dishes, his review is made after one visit. Food videos that go viral online also don’t always showcase the best dishes an eatery has to offer. The truck has recently been pushing its chip bag promotion on Instagram, with videos racking up hundreds of thousands of views and inspiring debate in the comments over the serving sizes.
“Nonetheless, we’re very thankful for him coming,” Chowdhury says. “He confirmed we give a big portion size, that was one of the best things he said in the video.”
The whole fried snapper escovitch at Cane on H Street. Deb Lindsey/The Washington Post via Getty
Lee was not very impressed by the Rammy-winning and Michelin Bib Gourmand-designated Trinidadian spot, giving the highest rating, 7.9, to the famous jerk wings and a whole fried snapper that he says blandly tasted like “just fish.” Here, Lee may have faced some communication issues that come with ordering takeout from a largely sit-down restaurant. The snapper is usually topped with pickled chiles, which are packaged on the side for to-go orders to keep the fried fish crispy, but Lee just ate the fish plain.
The peas and rice and Trini-style eggplant pie did not fare as well, scoring only a 6 and 1 out of ten, respectively. Lee says he just wasn’t Cane’s “target audience,” explaining that he had never experienced the spices in the peas and rice before and was turned off by the texture of the eggplant pie.
The viral sensation lamented that he might not be the target audience of the restaurants in D.C. overall, saying “all the restaurants are geared directly towards alcohol, if you don’t drink it seems like it is slim pickings.”
A manager at Cane declined to comment on the Keith Lee review.
Hiwot Gebru (center) and her daughters, Yodit Tefera (left) and Lydia Tefera (right), own and run Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant on U Street NW. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images
This U Street Ethiopian staple recently received an outpouring of support after Lydia Tefera, a daughter of the owner, said that the family-operated restaurant might have to close due to a drop in business and her father’s recent passing. Customers from across the DMV and smaller, local food influencers rushed to support the restaurant and Lee says the corner spot was full of patrons when his family arrived.
After a quick interview with WUSA9, Lee broke his takeout-only tradition and enjoyed his meal inside the restaurant with his entire family. Watching the two sisters help out customers, Lee tried the short ribs (9 out of ten), vegetable sambusas (rated a 7), kitfo (spiced, minced raw beef that scored a 7), and berbere-spiced awaze sauce. The “earthy,” “robust” flavors won Lee over, with him announcing that it was the best food they’d had in D.C. so far. His family also left a $500 tip for each sister and $1,000 to feed future customers. In an extreme close-up, Lee warned that “it might get crazy” at the local eatery after his review.
Lee had his intended effect, with Dukem announcing after Lee’s Sunday visit that they had run out of the spongy injera that Ethiopian food is traditionally eaten with, closing down the restaurant till noon the next day.
This Southeast D.C. “curry out” spot made Lee nostalgic for meals he grew up with in Detroit, except the recognizable fried rice came with salt and pepper chicken wings smothered in the District’s iconic mumbo sauce. Lee said the Chinese restaurant’s take on mumbo sauce tasted like “a sweet and sour duck sauce” and gave the $12 takeout order an 8.6 out of ten.
His family then also made sure to pay for future meals at the carryout restaurant for the rest of the day, walking around the neighborhood to tell residents that there was free food at Hong Kong Carry Out. By the time Lee left, a small line had formed outside.
The first Baltimore stop on Lee’s tour is another family-owned operation known for a take on French rotisserie chicken. Lee gave the namesake a 9.2 out of ten, his highest score yet in the DMV, and was overcome by the “buttery,” “lemony” flavors. The truffle fries, curry-toasted fennel wings, pineapple lemonade, Brussels sprouts, and even tinned fish all scored very high, but the duck confit gumbo really blew Lee away. The greens alone rated a 9, but combined with the roux, duck, and potatoes the dish rated a 9.6 and the TikTok food critic couldn’t stop gushing over how incredibly balanced the flavors were.
Afterwards, Lee went inside to tell the owners that the food was “insane” and that “things might get crazy in here” after his review. Lee dropped his review late Sunday night and Rooted Rotisserie is closed Monday through Wednesday, so there is no immediate fanfare at the restaurant. However, co-owner Amanda Burton says there has been “a definite uptick in reservations,” with 22 reservations on the books for Thursday and the rest of the week completely booked out by Tuesday afternoon.
Burton says the restaurant’s team is feeling “honored and “completely validated” by the increase in reservations and that she’s been watching “lots of memes going back and forth between D.C. and Baltimore right now” as the restaurant’s name has been popping up on Twitter.
The “ice cream trunk” outside of Tyra Banks’ Smize & Dream Allison Robbert/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Lee paid a nighttime visit to Woodley Park’s new ice cream pop-up shop from supermodel-turned-entrepreneur Tyra Banks, noting out front that he just realized she was following him on social media. After taste-testing a few, his favorite was the “sweet, savory, salty” candy bacon scoop. The current flavor drop of the week features chocolate-covered caramelized bacon brittle in a rich, smoky maple ice cream. “I don’t see why there’s not a line out the door and around the corner,” he says, suggesting the store becomes a permanent fixture. Lee left $1,600 to pay for everyone’s ice cream in line; Smize & Dream’s team tells Eater they plan to give away 200 free scoops this weekend using his donation.
Dining and Cooking