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TikTok Food Reviewer Keith Lee in Houston
FOX 26 Business Reporter Tom Zizka has more on the visit of TikTok Food Reviewer Keith Lee.
HOUSTON - A popular TikTok food-review has set his sights on Houston, and millions of followers will get a look at what Keith Lee thinks of the Bayou City.
He's got more than 15 million followers on TikTok. After he started documenting his wife's pregnancy cravings, the posts were so popular that he now visits local restaurants around the country and reviews what he finds. Over the weekend, he arrived in Houston.
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Lee dropped his first two Houston food-reviews on Sunday night, including the Butter Funk Kitchen, in the Sunnyside neighborhood. He buys the food anonymously, samples it off-site, and rates it on a scale of 1 to 10.
At Butter Funk, he really liked the catfish.
"I wish it was fried a little harder, but that's personal preference. It could be a little crispier, but the flavor: on point," he says on his latest post, "This high, for me; 8.9 out of 10. Absolutely,"
Butter Funk has been open about a year and a half. Owner Aaron Johnson, and his wife, came from Baton Rouge wanting to start their own place. They heard Keith Lee was coming to Houston, and 'invited' him.
"When she found out he has been here, I don't think she slept a wink, at all, last night," says Aaron about his wife.
It took awhile for the soul and Cajun comfort food to catch on in the neighborhood, but business has been growing in the last year. Now, with the so-called "Keith Lee Effect," the endorsement could be huge.
"I think it really gets the name out, now," says Johnson. "I think we was mid-level popular, (but now) I think that'll really, really blow the top off."
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It could be a similar story in other places, as Lee signs off his first Houston videos, "This is the first official stop in Houston. I can't wait for the rest of this trip."
Lee did not respond to an inquiry about his visit to Houston, and what he expects to find here. He does have a history of trying to uplift black-owned or struggling restaurants, with pretty good effect, as he eats the food and shares what he thinks.
For those who've been around Houston for awhile, there's a lot, from which, to choose.