TikTok food critic Keith Lee boosts business at Virginia restaurants

A TikTok food critic with millions of followers demonstrated how he can make or break a restaurant with a single video when he visited the D.C. area this week. 

Las Vegas native Keith Lee stopped by Okonomi Asian Grill — also known as the “Asian Chipotle” for its custom rice bowls — in Fairfax, Virginia, and business has been booming.

“I literally opened this by myself,” owner Alex Kang said. “So, six months I was doing 130-hour workweeks.”

There were times when he only got six orders a day.

“I can’t sustain this with six orders,” he said. “That’s like 60 bucks. What can you do with 60 bucks?”

Ever since Lee posted a video about Okonomi, they’ve had to put signs on their door saying they can only serve people who order online because they’ve been so busy.

“It’s definitely wild,” Kang said. “I mean, it’s any restaurant owner’s dream to have this much exposure.”

Lee also went to the Flavor Hive food truck in Alexandria where one of the specialties is the walking nacho. Customers bring their own bag of chips – any size, same price – and they fill it up with meat and toppings.

“We had people bring in a size for a whole village,” owner Shihan Chowdhury said. “We still fill it up.”

Flavor Hive also serves quesadillas and tacos.  

“It looked really good,” customer Alexia Urieta said about Lee’s TikTok. “When you saw the picture, you could see the flavor in the picture. So. really wanted to come out and try it.”

For those who can’t afford the food, Flavor Hive will give it to them for free.

“Some people will come and say, ‘Hey I don’t get paid until this day, I don’t get paid until that day, can I pick up a meal?’ We’re always open to that,” Chowdhury said.

Lee donated $3,000 to Okonomi because they’ve been dealing with theft issues recently. Kang said he’ll use some of the money to feed local teachers and the rest to provide bonuses to his staff. 

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