Food critic Keith Lee is saving struggling restaurants one TikTok review at a time

Over the past year, thanks to his 16 million followers on TikTok and two million on Instagram, Lee has emerged as one of the most prominent members of a rising class of food influencers who can transform a restaurant with a single video. — Unsplash

Yasser Zermeno was almost ready to shut down his family’s struggling restaurant, Aroma: Latin American Cocina, a cozy place tucked into a strip mall on the outskirts of Las Vegas. But before he turned out the lights for good, his 20-something daughter insisted they try one more thing.

In late 2022, she reached out by email to someone she’d seen reviewing nearby restaurants on TikTok. Maybe his attention would help.