Keith Lee has done it again. The 27-year-old food influencer known for his viral TikTok food reviews took his taste buds back on the road last week to check out New York’s local culinary scene.
Ahead of his trip to The Big Apple, the Detroit native asked for recommendations for local gems – relatively unknown spots that are strictly on some IYKYK business. In a diverse city with 8 million people and more than 25,000 restaurants, you’d think that wouldn’t be a difficult ask.
But in the end, Lee’s reviews had plenty of people talking for all the wrong reasons.
For a city that’s known for pizza and chopped cheese (a sandwich consisting of seasoned ground beef, melted cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato and condiments on a hero), Lee was less than enthusiastic.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a sandwich with, like chopped up hamburger. They ‘bout to hate me for that,” he told Speedy Mormon.
The Internet did not hold back their thoughts on the less-than-ideal recommendations Lee received. Some even claimed that folks in Atlanta were on a mission to sabotage NYC after Lee’s now-infamous trip to Atlanta put the city’s restaurants on blast for their terrible service.
His choices had New Yorkers scratching their heads. Many wondered why he went to Queens for bacon, egg and cheese and Manhattan for pizza – something only a transplant would do, as user Taylor Michelle was quick to point out.
But it was his review of a salmon chopped cheese sandwich that had everyone up in arms and wondering who in the world would send a foodie to a deli to eat, well, salmon. TikTok user @_joeboss had questions. “This should be illegal. This is a crime. New York, ya’ll need to answer for this. Ya’ll let this man eat a salmon chopped cheese out of a deli? Ya’ll let this man eat fish out of a deli?” he said. “This man came to your city to eat, and ya’ll gave him a fresh plate of bubble guts.”
But after receiving a list of diverse recommendations from local food reviewer Righteous Eats that included a roti shop, a Black-owned barbecue joint and a Peruvian chicken spot, Lee finally found some food that helped NYC live up to its reputation for good eating. Brooklyn soul food spot Taste of Heaven put him on to some turkey wings, mac and cheese, ox tail, and rice and peas that changed his life.
Hopefully, Lee learned a valuable lesson for his next trip to NYC. If you’re looking for real, authentic cuisine, make sure you verify that the person giving the recommendations is actually from here.