Keith Lee has been shaking the table since touching down in Atlanta on Thursday (Oct. 26). In less than a week’s time, the popular food critic and his family paid visits to spots like Juci Jerk and The Bodega, and his experience at some of the locations proved to be less than extraordinary. Including being unable to enjoy the food at Lil Baby’s The Seafood Menu due to his shellfish allergy, Lee ended up having to walk out of the Kandi Burress-owned Old Lady Gang due to non-equitable treatment of their guests.
“As always, I don’t want any special treatment. I want to be treated like everybody else. I pay for my food like everybody else. I’m a normal person, I’m a normal customer,” he explained after the southern eatery changed his group’s expected hour-plus wait time to five minutes upon realizing who he was. “Things like this is exactly why I do reviews the way I do. Just because I have a certain amount of followers on social media don’t make me different from nobody. My mom, my mom-in-law, [and] my sister are all paying customers just like me.”
@keith_lee125 Old Lady Gang taste test 💕 would you try it 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
Since publishing his reviews, jokes and comments have been flying on Twitter, especially from Atlanta residents who feel that their hometown’s food culture needs improvement. “Keith Lee went to Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New Orleans with no problem finding places to eat and review most being Black-owned,” said user Sauvamemte. “Some he liked, others not so much, but no issues. He had no issue until he got to Atlanta. Atlanta is the problem.” One of the restaurants visited, The Real Milk & Honey, responded in a now-deleted video claiming that they don’t know who Lee is.
Another user, BryceHTX, hilariously shared a video clip of the Michael K. Williams’ “The Wire” character Omar Litter, who was notoriously known for putting fear in the hearts of other criminals in Baltimore. “Grass wall and lamb chop restaurants when Keith Lee comes to town,” read the post’s description.
Check out Lee’s other recent TikTok reviews and some of the aforementioned responses below.
@keith_lee125 Atlanta Breakfast Club taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
@keith_lee125 The Seafood Menu Atlanta taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
@keith_lee125 Juci Jerk taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
@keith_lee125 The Real Milk & Honey taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
@keith_lee125 Jamaican Jerk Biz taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee