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Popular food critic Keith Lee has sparked a debate after he visited the nation’s capital and was left totally underwhelmed by its food scene.
The TikTok star – known for amplifying small businesses by sharing food reviews to his 16.5 million followers – recently visited local restaurants and take-out establishments in Washington DC. But when it came time for him to share his reviews, Lee decided against posting videos of the restaurants he dined at because he was left completely unimpressed.
“I know we only posted about three spots from Washington, but we went to about 12,” Lee explained to his followers in a video posted August 26, which has since gained nearly two million views. “We made a decision as a family and as a team, and also a personal decision, to not post most of them.”
The content creator clarified that he won’t be posting clips of reviews of the DMV [the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia] food scene because they “aren’t constructive at all,” and refrained from identifying the names of the establishments he visited.
He then cut to footage of his take-out order from an unnamed DMV restaurant, which looked somewhat unappetizing, as he shared his reasoning for cutting his review short. Lee noted that he “won’t be trying any” of the dish, which featured sweet potatoes and mac and cheese, because the smell was “insane” and wafted through “the whole car.”
Lee is also allergic to shellfish, and had to clarify multiple times with the restaurant whether they used the same oil to fry their shellfish. “It smells like shellfish, it smells like frozen fish, it smells like fish. It smells almost inedible, in my opinion,” he told the camera.
He complained about the “customer service experience” at one restaurant in the DMV area, which opened for service 45 minutes later than the hours advertised on its Instagram account. Lee then shared footage of a food service worker preparing his order without wearing gloves or washing their hands.
“A lot of food we’ve been recommended since we’ve been here looks like this,” he said, as several other images of yellow-ish food flashed on the screen. “I ain’t got no point to lie. We just out here eating food, praying, staying with our families, minding our business.”
The food critic also pointed out that it seems many restaurants throughout the city’s metropolitan area place a greater emphasis on alcohol, rather than food. “Restaurants out here, in my opinion, tend to lean towards promoting alcohol more than they promote food,” Lee said.
However, Lee’s trip to the DMV wasn’t a total loss. He did post food reviews from his favorite stops at Okonomi Asian Grill, Flavor Hive food truck, Cane Caribbean restaurant, Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant, Hong Kong Delite, and celebrity ice cream shop Smize and Dream. He even visited Rooted Rotisserie in Baltimore, where he left a $4,000 tip and also donated $2,000 to pay for diners’ meals.
“Since we’ve been here, we’ve been blessed enough to sow $30,000 to various restaurants around the DMV,” Lee added.
Since his video has gone viral, many natives have shared their mixed responses to Lee’s complaints about the DMV food scene. On TikTok, one user commented that Lee was “not lying about the alcohol thing.”
“DC restaurants spend a lot of time on their bar menu but the food is mediocre,” they claimed.
Another person exclaimed: “Just come to Baltimore, which we repeat is not the DMV!”
Meanwhile on X, formerly Twitter, several users believed that Lee was left unimpressed by the DC food scene because his orders were relegated to his signature TikTok style – aka, food that can be eaten in his car.
“Lived in DC for seven years and never had a bad meal,” one person wrote on X. “If you can’t find a good place to eat, that’s entirely a skill issue.”
“Two things can true,” said someone else. “Yes, the DC food scene isn’t all that it’s cracked out to be. However, Keith Lee’s palate is a bit limited and how he chooses to eat the food, takeout in the car, makes it challenging to fully experience some restaurants.”
This isn’t the first time that Lee has gone viral for his hot takes. Back in May, the food blogger claimed that Chipotle Mexican Grill has become stingy in its portion sizes, and shared a review of his regular burrito bowl order as proof. “The portions been crazy low,” he said in a viral TikTok video.
“I don’t taste much flavor. Everything is freezing cold. When I say freezing cold, this tastes like it was in the refrigerator,” Lee said as he dug around his burrito bowl, which he ordered with chicken al pastor. “It’s just not – I don’t know if it’s the quality, I don’t know if it’s the seasonings, the time. I don’t know what it is, but this is not – and the amount of chicken.”
In the comments section, it appeared that several Chipotle customers agreed that they too have noticed a difference in portions from the American fast casual chain.
“Keith Lee calling out Chipotle on their servings was needed,” one person commented under his video, while another user wrote: “Had to be said! They have been skimping on the meat and the quality isn’t what it used to be!”
