The Keith Lee Effect takes over Baton Rouge restaurant, customers say Fork ‘N Spoon deserves it

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — After Keith Lee, a well-known TikTok food critic, stops by at the Fork N’ Spoon in Baton Rouge, hundreds of people showed up to see what the business is all about.

“Oh, he came to the best place, yes,” said Keneth Knox, a loyal customer of Fork N’ Spoon.

Lee is a TikToker with more than 16 million followers. He gives food reviews, often from inside his car, rating dishes and restaurants on taste, customer service and price.

This week, he is visiting Baton Rouge, his first stop was Fork N’ Spoon, a breakfast spot on Brightside Drive near the LSU campus.

After his video was uploaded at midnight on Wednesday, a new rush of customers came flooding in. And already-loyal customers are grateful for the spotlight for the business.

“God this food is so good, it’s so affordable. The portions are like insane, like, I know if I get food, I’m having some for lunch too,” said Brianna Wesselhoff, a customer at Fork ‘N Spoon.

Owner Kristen Abshire said Lee ordered the food 10 minutes before closing time yesterday. She said he placed an order with items such as grits and French toast. He came back with a huge surprise.

“They talked to us. They told us the customer service was great and that they wanted to leave a $3,000 tip , which was insane,” she said.

Now, fast-forward to Thursday. Abshire considers “the Keith Lee effect” a real thing. Places he’s praised often get a massive surge in traffic.

“We are sold out of grits right now, which is, like, the main thing that he ate in this video. So that makes sense. We’re starting to run low on a couple of other things,” she said. “Like in the first hour and a half of the day, we made like triple what we would usually make one on Thursday, you know, And it’s continued to be that way all day so it’s pretty insane.”

As Keith continues his food tour, Abshire is grateful for what he’s already done here.

“He’s a very humble guy, very sweet, and we love what he does for small business, for communities. And yeah, we appreciate it so much,” she said.

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