Food Critic Keith Lee Gave The Bay a Bad Review After Hospitalization
Editor’s note: Since this article was writing, Keith Lee has addressed this “review” of The Bay on his TikTok and IG @keith_lee125 and reiterated his views. He also confirmed that he didn’t end up in the hospital from anything he ate from Chef Green in Oakland. We wanted to reiterate this fact as well.
Keith Lee, a former MMA fighter and massive social media influencer, came to The Bay and left early giving The Bay Area a bad review overall. Kieth Lee (@keith_lee125) has over 1.7M followers on Instagram and over 15.6M on TikTok. This week followers were anticipating the reviews coming from Lee as he moved through The Bay to try out some of the mom and pop recommendations we all had for him. What happened next wasn’t what folks expected…
Lee ended up leaving early and used his platform to review The Bay overall and had candid observations about the challenges faced by the region such as homelessness and lack of safety in the area. It sparked a broader conversation on social media and has people stunned but many aren’t surprised by his assessment. He gave an honest review and basically said The Bay wasn’t what he expected and he had to leave early.
Keith Lee – photos from his Instagram @keith_lee125
The way Lee works is he’ll roll up to a recommended restaurant with his family of 4 and try out recommendations and then review it for all of his followers. He uses his own money and rates things honestly. With the power of his social media platform his influence has been called “The Keith Lee Effect” – a phenomenon where his reviews catapult small businesses to prominence, took an unexpected turn as he chose to scrutinize The Bay itself rather than its food scene.
Keith Lee Reviewed The Bay and Not Food:
“…the Bay is a place for tourists right now.”
I don’t know if I personally agree with Lee’s assessment when he says in his TikTok review of The Bay, “I truly don’t believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now. The people in the Bay are just focused on surviving.”
However I don’t think we set Lee up for success as far as knowing all of the wonderful places he could visit with his family while he was here. Before he even came here the poor guy was legit warned about crime in The Bay before he even arrived and had to school himself on what “bipping” meant. Then, when he finally came here and saw the number of unhoused folks and cities of tents he mentioned that he didn’t think the cities were doing much about it. “But from the outside looking in, it doesn’t seem like there was much city interference,” Lee says. We have some of the most amazing food in the world, we live in the most scenic places in the world and while there was excitement about Lee coming to The Bay, based on his comments, somehow he saw the worst in us instead of the best in us here.
From Lee’s Instagram @keith_lee125 when he reviewed Chef Green in West Oakland – he gave Chef Green 7.5 stars and higher for his tacos
The number of unhoused people living in tents and cars was “shocking to say the least.”
The number of unhoused people living in tents and cars was “shocking to say the least,” Lee expresses a desire for the city to actively intervene and provide assistance to the unhoused. “I don’t know if they have, I don’t know if they’ve been trying,” Lee says.
He wasn’t mean about it, he was being honest about what he experienced.
But it wasn’t just the tent cities that he talked about but the food he came across as well. He highlighted just three restaurants in the bay publicly and noted that he had 6 other videos edited that he didn’t feel comfortable posting because “nothing about my experience was constructive”. Lee knows the power of the “Keith Lee Effect” and I’m glad he has the integrity to know that his review could ruin the reputation of a small business. He seems to want to use his power for good and not evil which is nice to see.
Insult to Injury, the tour ended after he landed in the hospital. In his Tiktok, Lee shows himself in a hospital room from cross-contamination after eating food that he has been contaminated by shellfish he’s allergic to. “The second I ate it, I blew up like a balloon,” Lee said. He didn’t mention where he got sick.
@keith_lee125 Bay Area taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
What did Lee love the most about The Bay?
One thing I loved hearing was how it was the people that he loved the most about The Bay. “I can’t harp on it enough. The People are amazing,” Lee said in his TikTok review of The Bay.
Even with all of these negative things to say, Lee did praise The Bay’s hospitality and highlighted that meeting Chef Dione Green, owner of the Chef Green food cart in West Oakland, was a highlight. At Chef Green’s foot cart he tried two cheese crusted tacos that looked absolutely delicious. I’m personally looking forward to heading over to the cart once the hype from The Keith Lee Effect has died down a bit.
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