TikTok food critic Keith Lee is coming to Canada and people are losing it

Those on the foodie side of TikTok are most likely familiar with the name Keith Lee.

Lee made a name for himself when he started posting food reviews in Las Vegas. His videos consist of him reviewing a restaurant and rating each food item on a scale of one to 10 from the comfort of his car. As of April 2024, he has amassed 16.1 million followers on TikTok.

In one of his more recent videos, Lee announced that he and his family will be making their way to Toronto, Canada.

@keith_lee125 FamiLee Food Tour 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee

“If you’re in Toronto, Canada, and you or somebody you know have a mom-and-pop shop that has great food, great customer service, but may need the marketing for absolutely free to them, please let me know,” said Lee. He then invited his followers to DM him or tag those restaurants in the comments of his video

Many people and companies were very excited to hear that Lee is making his way to our beautiful country, with Food Network Canada commenting, “Somebody pull out the RED CARPET for our review king!!! 🙌”

“I am SO EXCITED to see these Toronto videos. So many great food spots here 😭🔥👏🏻,” said another user.

However, some users said that Lee might be surprised when he comes to Canada, with one person even saying, “Keith, I’d like to apologize on behalf of our country for the prices you are about to experience 😭.”

Lee’s videos are so popular that multiple restaurants where he leaves a positive review have a surge of customers the next day, known by his fans as the “Keith Lee Effect.”

More recently, Lee shined a light on the problematic dining scene in Atlanta when he faced some controversy during one of his food tours there.

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To remain anonymous and not receive any special treatment, Lee sends family members to pick up food for reviews. During a visit to Atlanta restaurant The Real Milk and Honey, his family was turned away. But, when Lee went in to pick up the food, he was immediately met with special treatment, which he refused.

Later, the restaurant mocked Lee in a now-deleted video pretending to not know who he was. The restaurant was met with considerable backlash from Lee’s fans and has since apologized. This was not the only restaurant Lee had problems with during his visit to Atlanta.

This controversy gained so much attention that even rapper Cardi B joined the conversation in an Instagram live video, where she said that Atlanta has some of the most insane hoops to jump through just to order food.

“It’s almost like these businesses aren’t trying to make money,” she said, citing she would have to tell people to mention her name just to be able to pick up food.

Lee has also travelled to Houston and New York to review local restaurants, giving preference to Black-owned and family restaurants.

Even though he’s just hitting Toronto, where would you send Keith Lee in your hometown?