Keith Lee had to end his trip to Oakland, California, abruptly. The popular social media influencer and food critic used TikTok to announce he left the city early due to the area’s poor conditions.
“Unfortunately, the Bay Area stop on the Keith Lee family food tour is officially over, prematurely,” Lee said. “We’re going to get straight into it. Let’s talk about it. Before we get into that, I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, that I appreciate every single every single bit of love. The people of The Bay were amazing. I’ll never forget the hospitality and love y’all showed me.”
Lee said he doesn’t believe the Bay Area is a place for tourists right now.
“The people in The Bay are just focusing on surviving,” Lee said. “That’s business owners and locals. The amounts of tents [and] living structures and burnt-up cars that we saw people living in was shocking, to say the least. Before we went, people were comparing it to Gotham City. Now, I might not agree, but I understand where it’s coming from.”
He said Oakland was the first city where he had over six videos that he wasn’t able to post.
“Nothing about my experience was constructive,” Lee said. “Nothing that I said was constructive. I’ve always been big on honesty, I’ve always been big on transparency, but I’ve never been big on tearing down anybody. I feel like in those six videos, I only did that.”
The food experience was so tough for Lee, that one of the restaurants sent him to the hospital when he had an allergic reaction.
“This restaurant, in particular, cooked a plethora of meats, including shellfish,” Lee said. “My family specifically asked if they cooked it on the same grill, and they said, ‘Yes,’ but they’ll clean it. The second I ate it, I blew up like a balloon. I had to get some steroids and some allergy medicine and it cleared right up. But it was a health concern, nonetheless, and that was another reason we decided to go home.”
He said many of the popular restaurants already had long lines, and his main motive is to bring attention to good local spots that don’t have the most foot traffic. He did have one good restaurant experience where he left a $2,000 tip.
@keith_lee125 Bay Area taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic
