The world's most followed TikToker just made a surprise visit to a Toronto restaurant
Khaby Lame, the most-followed TikToker in the world, just stopped by a Toronto burger joint unannounced, and it made the staff’s day.
It’s not every day that you clock in to your Monday evening restaurant shift and have a huge star stumble in; let alone the most-followed TikToker in the entire world. For staff at Little Italy’s Authentic Shawarma and Burger, though, that’s exactly what happened.
On the evening of Monday, June 23, Halil Ibrahim Uzunparmak, the founder of Authentic Shawarma and Burger, which only just opened in early May of this year, was shocked to see a familiar ā albeit wholly unexpected ā face walk through the doors of his doors: none other than the most popular TikToker in the world, Khaby Lame.
“It wasn’t planned at all,” the Authentic Shawarma Burger team tells Dished Toronto,” He just walked into our store casually!”
The Sengalese-Italian superstar has gained a massive audience on the short-form video sharing app since 2020 thanks to his comedic skits that poke fun at the bizarre and often useless “life hack” videos on the app, but lately, he’s been in the news for another reason.
On June 11, the Associated Press reported that Khaby, who boasts an unparalleled 162 million followers on TikTok, had been detained by ICE and forced to leave the United States after allegedly overstaying his visa, making international headlines, particularly as tensions over the U.S. Government’s immigration crackdown come to a head south of the border.
Just one month earlier, he was walking the red carpet at the Met Gala.
The drama doesn’t seem to have done much to dampen the social media star’s spirits, though, as the Authentic Shawarma and Burger team tells Dished Toronto that he was nothing but lovely to the entire team.
“Khaby’s kindness and positive energy made the experience even more memorable,” they tell us.
During his visit, Khaby and his team ordered the Turkish restaurant’sĀ chicken wrap and chicken salad, with a generous helping of baklava for dessert and, according to the Authentic Shawarma and Burger team, they loved it all.
“They even told us they’re definitely coming back again,” they tell Dished Toronto.
After the meal, Khaby stopped to snap a photo with restaurant owner and executive chef Halil, which was promptly posted to the restaurant’s Instagram account to mark the moment.
“Honestly, it’s an incredible honour and a very special moment for us,” the Authentic Shawarma and Burger team tells Dished Toronto. “Having one of the world’s biggest TikTok stars visit our place and enjoy our food means a lot,” they say, adding that the visit was “a big motivation for our whole team.”
Authentic Shawarma and Burger
Address:Ā 601 College St., Toronto
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