Prominent TikTok food critic Keith Lee recently went on a food tour in San Fransisco, California, that he cut short because the city is “not a place for tourists right now,” citing the homelessness epidemic.
TikTok food critic Keith Lee abruptly cuts short California Bay Area tour, says it’s not for ‘tourists right now’ https://t.co/oKj582CLse pic.twitter.com/ld1g96UOzz
— New York Post (@nypost) January 13, 2024
Lee, who has more than 15 million followers on TikTok, is known for posting reviews of restaurants across the U.S. and making suggestions for businesses to improve.
The famed social media personality stopped at a small restaurant in San Francisco as part of his California food tour on Jan. 9, 2024, and another restaurant in Oakland, California, where he left a whopping $2,500 tip before abruptly ending his tour.
“Unfortunately the Bay Area stop on the Keith family food tour is officially over, prematurely,” Lee said in a TikTok video that has garnered more than 2 million views.
Lee’s reason for leaving the city was not because of the food. He criticized the issues taking San Francisco by storm.
“I truly don’t believe the Bay is truly for tourists right now, and that’s what I was, a tourist,” he said. “They are just focused on surviving, that business owners, the locals.”
Lee cited the number of tents housing homeless individuals in San Francisco and the “burnt-out cars” some are living in as conditions that are unfriendly toward tourists.
“The amount of tents and living structures and burnt-out cars that we saw people living in was shocking to say the least. Just from the outside looking in, it don’t seem like it was much city interference,” Lee said.
“As an outsider, I wish the city would step in, I don’t know if they have. I don’t know if they’ve been trying, but just from an outsider looking in, it don’t look like there was much city interference,” he added.
Shortly before embarking on his California food tour, Lee was warned of rampant crime and homelessness that is taking The Golden State by storm, specifically in cities like San Francisco. The issue in California has become so severe that some are comparing the state to the fictional Gotham City.
Lee also noted that he wasn’t too pleased with the food he had, saying it was not up to par, given the long wait times he endured.
