AUSTIN, Texas — Content creator Keith Lee is known all over for his viral food reviews, and last week, he brought his positive attitude and business acumen to South by Southwest.
Lee was a featured speaker on the first day of SXSW, and he talked about how he made a food critic business on TikTok.
Lee was interviewed by Jennifer Quigley-Jones, the founder and CEO of Digital Voices–an influencer marketing agency, for a session titled “Mastering the Art of Influencer Entrepreneurship.”
Quigley-Jones pointed out some accolades Lee has received since he started his TikTok in 2020, such as gaining over 17 million followers, reviewing over 250 restaurants and being tapped for Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.
But he didn’t officially start doing food reviews until December 2022, and from there, his channel took off at warp speed.
Lee’s impact on the restaurants he reviews has been staggering. He makes the conscious decision to review family-owned, lesser-known places, with the hopes of bringing them business through what has been dubbed the “Keith Lee Effect.”
Lee has remained humble through it all. He remarked that he found it “crazy” that people would want to listen to him talk for an hour at SXSW.
Lee said he doesn’t consider himself a “food creator” because he doesn’t review the “best” restaurants in each city or the most popular spots.
“I specifically find places that are under-privileged, under-marketed. Places that are in food deserts, where there is not a lot of attention in those places. And we go to those places for absolutely free and we provide marketing, and again, I’m just blessed to be here,” Lee said.
During the interview, Lee was asked to give advice to aspiring content creators wanting to make it big, and he said, “there’s no such thing as an overnight success.”
Lee went on to say that it may seem like people become household names in the blink of an eye, but beneath the surface, there are normally years of “being in the trenches.”
Lee said he has been working in the content creator space for over a decade, and it’s only in the past few years that he’s made it big.
During the panel, Quigley-Jones presented Lee with a creator of the year award from Digital Voices.
“Your impact isn’t just views, it transforms people’s businesses. It transforms families’ lives,” Quigley-Jones said.
Lee immediately handed the award to his family saying, “it’s yours.”
Not only did Lee speak at SXSW, he also made sure to review at least one restaurant during his short 12-hour stop in the city.
“I got it. Let’s try it. And rate it one through 10,” Lee says, kicking off all of his reviews, including his review of the woman-owned la Barbecue, a Michelin star barbecue joint that has seen a whole host of celebrities visiting during SXSW.
Lee said the customer service “was amazing” despite the fact they were mostly sold out of food by the time his family got there.
“People in Austin and people in Texas in general don’t play about their barbecue, so you better be here at the crack of dawn,” said Lee.
And Lee was not disappointed by the food.
“Oh my god,” Lee said about the chopped cheese sausage. “In my opinion, sausage is the incorrect word for this. This should be a meat pocket.”
He gave the sausage an 8.5 out of 10, and he said he doesn’t even like sausage normally.
The praise continued into the next dish, the mac and cheese, which he called “fantastic” and gave an 8.6 out of 10.
“I wonder how you got a Michelin star at a barbecue spot. I’m getting my answer,” said Lee.
Next up was the pork ribs, which he said he was most excited to try.
“It’s so much sweeter than I thought it was going to be. It’s super sweet, peppery, smoky. This is meat butter,” Lee said.
He gave the ribs a high mark of 9.5 out of 10.
Lee also tried the brisket, and he said it was the only thing he ordered that he felt needed more seasoning. But he was quick to mention that he could tell it was well cooked.
Without barbecue sauce, Lee gave the brisket a 7.5 out of 10, but once he dipped it in the sauce, it shot up to a 8.2 out of 10.
“Overall, again, I genuinely don’t know if this is because it’s a Michelin star spot or because it’s in Austin, Texas, but this is one of the best barbecue I’ve ever had in my life, and it’s not even close,” Lee said.