TikTok food critic Keith Lee breaks silence on negative reviews and ‘not constructive’ videos after backlash

A FOOD critic has broken his silence after coming under fire for slamming the food scene near Washington DC.

TikTok star Keith Lee recently went on a food tour around the DC area as he travels across the country to review eateries for a popular series on the platform – but the stops didn’t go as planned.

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Lee, who has over 16 million followers on TikTok and two million on Instagram, has grown popular since 2020 when he began highlighting small businesses and restaurants.

The 27-year-old revealed in his most recent post on Tuesday that he and his team visited about a dozen restaurants in the DC, Maryland , and Virginia area, but he only posted three reviews.

He said because his experiences were so negative, he wouldn’t post all of the remaining videos.

“We made a decision as a family and as a team,” Lee said.

“Out of those 12, I probably only have one or two more that I’m going to post.

“And, there’s a reason for that. A lot of those videos, in my opinion, aren’t constructive at all.”

Lee already posted several DMV-area restaurant reviews of Okonomi Asian Grill, Flavor Hive food truck, Dukem Ethiopian restaurant, Cane, and Hong Kong Delite.

While Lee didn’t name the restaurants he was disappointed in, he posted a compilation video of his negative experiences.

In the first video, he said that he wouldn’t be trying any of his mac and cheese plates because the smell was “insane.”

“This [permeated] the whole car immediately,” Lee said, adding that his family went in to ask if they fried it in the same grease as shellfish.

The restaurant said they did – meaning Lee couldn’t partake in the meal because he’s allergic to shellfish.

“It smells almost unedible, in my opinion,” Lee said.

In another clip, Lee said the experienced customer service was “completely unprofessional” after the food truck opened over an hour late.

He also said that at the same spot, his team saw a worker preparing food with no gloves and without washing her hands.

In a previous video, Lee said that the area’s restaurants seemed to be “geared toward alcohol,” but he doesn’t drink.

“If you don’t drink, it seems like it’s slim pickings,” he noted.

In the week since his DMV tour, Lee received backlash for not going to the area’s more popular establishments.

Keith Lee's DMV food tour

The restaurants that Keith Lee has reviewed so far as he visits the Washington DC area are:

• Smize & Dream
• Hong Kong Carryout
• Dukem Ethiopian
• Cane
• Rooted
• Flavor Hive
• Okonomi Asian Grill

RESPONSE TO BACKLASH

Lee emphasized in the new video that the group visited places that were recommended and did a lot of research.

However, the video wasn’t all negative as Lee revealed the team has given out over $30,000 to restaurants around the DMV out of their own pockets.

“So I don’t appreciate it and I don’t think it’s fair that we’re getting criticized for not doing research or not going to a lot of restaurants in DC or the DMV area,” he said.

Lee also said he’s keeping most of the videos to “protect the restaurant owners.”

“Because it’s not gonna be constructive and it’s just gonna be them getting torn down and I don’t want that.”

BAD RECOMMENDATIONS

Restaurants in the DC area have shared their apologies for the bad experiences in response to the videos, while other TikTok users in the comments blame the recommendations.

“WHERE ARE YALL SENDING HIM?!” one user wrote.

“We sent a man with a shellfish allergy to the capital of crab,” another joked.

“I’m convinced ppl just don’t want him to publicize their fav places and are gatekeeping bc WHAT are these recs?? I’ve had so many good meals in DC,” a third added.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Lee for comment.