Keith Lee is the gift that keeps on giving to the world of small restaurants.
The popular food critic recently helped score an economic boon to a family-owned restaurant in Las Vegas in honor of the eatery’s owner, who recently died from cancer.
The renowned TikToker doesn’t usually ask his 15.6 million followers to visit the businesses he reviews. But he made an exception on Friday, December 29, when he asked his followers in Las Vegas to visit the Dynamite Korean St Food & Sushi for a tasting event.
Lee shared how he visited the sushi spot in January 2023 and was touched by the owner’s story of having secured his dream restaurant at the same time he was diagnosed with stage three tongue cancer. Despite the health battle, Jong Park cooked in the kitchen every day.
Lee’s video showed highlights of Park cooking and eating the food he prepared. Lee also recalled how “delicious” the food was and the $40,000 his followers helped raise for Park’s chemotherapy.
However, Lee was struck when he received a text from Park’s son the day prior to inform him that his father had died.
@keith_lee125 Dynamite Korean St Food & Sushi taste test Event 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
Afterward, Lee celebrated the eatery once more by promoting its tasting event and paying for the first 300 people who showed up. The turn out led to a 5-hour wait and a line that wrapped around the building.
The TikTok food critic followed up with a video Sunday showing how many people came out to support the small family-owned restaurant.
“A 5-hour wait time. Line around the corner,”
Lee shared in his video. “So I went, I said hi to everybody. I thanked every single person for being there. We took pictures, we had fun, we smiled, we laughed. Everybody was patient, everybody was understanding. I couldn’t say thank you enough.”
@keith_lee125 Dynamite Korean St Food & Sushi taste test Event 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound – Keith Lee
The video is more proof of Keith Lee’s power in the restaurant industry.
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