For viewers of Keith Lee’s TikToks, the order of operations almost never waivers. His short videos typically start with a 26-year-old Lee sitting in his car or in his daughter’s fold-out Paw Patrol chair holding a bag or box of food, hot and often perspiring. There’s no music, no superfluous production value or filters, just Lee and a packaged dish, ready to be consumed. Lee then quickly names the business the food is from and why he’s taste-testing it before launching into his trademark phrase: “Let’s try it and rate it one through 10,” he says, straight-faced into the camera. From there, the food elicits either an ecstatic response or a so-so assessment, and Lee gives it a rating to match.
With over 4,000 videos as of this writing, Lee has become one of social media’s most popular food content creators. His straightforward style has attracted some 13.6 million followers and 556 million likes on TikTok alone (and climbing).
He has turned taste-testing dishes on camera into a full-time job, with brand partnerships, travel opportunities, and media appearances. By definition, he is a professional food critic, changing our definition of what food criticism can be in the process.
“I think of it like I’m Anton Ego,” jokes Keith Lee, referencing the acerbic food critic in Pixar’s famed “Ratatouille.” Ego is what many people likely imagine when they think of the profession: an overly serious and shadowy figure, tasked with picking the best and worst restaurants, able to make or break an establishment in just a few words.
Historically, food critics have operated semi-anonymously, trying their best not to be spotted as they try a restaurant for a potential review. They may make reservations under a fake name, or even wear a disguise to avoid being identified by restaurant workers and chefs who will give them a meal that a normal patron wouldn’t experience, creating a biased review.
But while Lee may take his reviews as seriously as Anton Ego or other professional food critics, it’s the personal flair that he brings to his on-camera reviews and the range of restaurants that he covers, from local mom n’ pop spots to billion-dollar franchises, that keep his audience coming back for more. The magic of Lee’s reviews are exactly what you see: a man eating and telling you what he thinks.
Born and raised in Detroit, Lee is a former MMA fighter who started his career in 2017 at the age of 20 and soon moved to Las Vegas with his wife and two children to have better access to the professional fighting world. In 2020, seeking a way to get comfortable on camera and build a following for his MMA career, Lee started filming himself tasting take-out dishes from nearby restaurants. Nervous, he tried to be still and talk in short sentences so he could quickly get to the point. “I talked into the camera stoic at first because it helped me relax,” he says. “It was a coping mechanism.”
“I think of it like I’m Anton Ego,” jokes Keith Lee, referencing the acerbic food critic in Pixar’s famed “Ratatouille.” Ego is what many people likely imagine when they think of the profession: an overly serious and shadowy figure, tasked with picking the best and worst restaurants, able to make or break an establishment in just a few words.
The style has become his signature; the straightforwardness is no longer a byproduct, but the entire point of his videos. “I like authenticity,” he says. “I’m me and you see me just eating.”
The results of a good review from Lee can be life-changing for small business owners. Gary Shanks, owner of Southern Taste Seafood in Las Vegas, knows this firsthand. On January 18th, 2023, Lee posted a video to his TikTok about Shanks’ business, noting that Gary had told him that although people loved his food, business was slow. Then he gave Southern Taste Seafood’s burger and fries a 9.5 out of 10 review (Lee is allergic to seafood, so that’s all he could order from the menu). The following day, Shanks’ Instagram followers grew from a little over 20 to 9,000.
“We just blew up immediately after he posted the review,” Shanks says. “He attracts business to small businesses like mine that wouldn’t normally get that attention.” Today, Southern Taste Seafood has over 20,000 followers and has remained busy with an uptick in customers.
But Lee doesn’t see his success in the numbers. “I don’t consider myself an influencer,” he says. “I’ve been a student of food and the process of food, and that’s what I’m doing now too.”
Lee attributes his culinary expertise back to his MMA fighter days, when he used to cook four times a day to maintain weight, learning the best techniques and how to achieve certain flavors along the way. Now, he’s using that same expertise to taste different cuisines in a format that a lot of diners can watch and relate to.
“I like authenticity,” he says. “I’m me and you see me just eating.”
And therein lies the beauty of Keith Lee’s food reviews: We see a veritable, self-made culinary expert eating food in the same contexts that we find ourselves eating, especially over the last few years. The scenes we’re watching of him remind us of our time in our cars, trying not to spill anything between the seats, or in our homes at a table or in a kid’s chair, wherever we can grab a bit of stability between work and home life to enjoy a meal.
While relatability may be Lee’s biggest selling point, when I ask if he’s ever worried there’ll be another critic like him, he doesn’t hesitate to answer: “There’s only one Keith.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Keith Lee
