Keith Lee recently visited California’s Bay Area as part of his food tour, but he announced Thursday night that he had to cut his visit short due to public safety concerns, dissatisfaction with the food and an allergic reaction.
The 27-year-old has positively affected small businesses and mom-and-pop shops by touring multiple American cities to review suggested food spots. However, according to KRON 4, Lee made only three videos reviewing eateries called Double Decker (San Francisco), Chef Green (Oakland) and Mama T’s (Oakland) before listing the reasons why he left the area earlier than expected.
“I truly don’t believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now… the people of the Bay are just focused on surviving,” Lee said in the nearly three-minute clip. “The amount of tents, living structures and burned cars that we saw people living in were shocking, to say the least.”
@keith_lee125 Bay Area taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic
“As an outsider, I wish the city would step in,” he continued. “I don’t know if they have, I don’t know if they’ve been trying, but just from the outside looking in, it don’t seem like it was much city interference.”
The second reason was about the food he tried during his trip. Lee said he went to six restaurants in the Bay Area but chose not to make videos about his experience since he had nothing positive to say about them. He also discussed the money and resources needed to plan a trip since everything is out-of-pocket.
“I’ve always been big on honesty, I’ve always been big on transparency, but I’ve never been big on completely tearing down anybody, and I feel like those six videos were only doing that,” he explained.
The third reason had to do with Lee requiring hospitalization after having an allergic reaction to something he ate. Lee is allergic to shellfish, and he said one of the restaurants cooked their meats on the same grill as they do the seafood, and he “blew up like a balloon” after eating it.
Lee opted to mention the restaurant’s name that caused the allergic reaction. However, he did say the Bay Area is not a city for “their target audience” since several of the businesses he went to were doing well.
Despite ending his trip early, Lee was thankful for the experience and the hospitality he received from everyone he met.
“The people from the Bay were absolutely amazing, and I’ll never forget the hospitality and the love that y’all showed me,” he said.
