With over 15 million loyal followers on TikTok, acclaimed food critic Keith Lee suddenly called off his much-hyped tour of the San Francisco Bay Area this week, citing alarming safety concerns and subpar dining options across the region.
In a bombshell video address on Thursday, Lee announced “The Bay Area food tour is officially over prematurely,” detailing three key factors behind his decision to prematurely scrap the trip. “I truly don’t believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now… the people of the Bay are just focused on surviving,” he declared.
Lee went on to condemn the vast scale of homelessness across Oakland and San Francisco, blasting local governments for failing to address the crisis. “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 there was much city interference.”
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His scathing critiques didn’t end there. The social media celebrity, known for his brutally honest reviews, found the Bay Area’s dining scene profoundly underwhelming. “I went to six restaurants but chose not to review them because I had nothing constructive to say,” he revealed. “I feel like those six videos were only doing that. 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.” Lee even threatened to demand a refund for his trip expenses if unable to post any videos, so dissatisfied was he with the area’s food offerings.
And his disastrous Bay Area visit didn’t end there. Lee subsequently disclosed that he had been hospitalized for a severe allergic reaction after a meal, adding insult to injury. “I blew up like a balloon,” he described graphically. Despite asking the restaurant to thoroughly clean cooking surfaces used for shellfish, cross-contamination apparently still occurred.
While commenters had tried warning Lee prior about the region’s decline into crime and urban blight, the stubborn critic remained adamant on visiting until this ultimate disaster. “I go where I feel like I’m supposed to go, I go by faith and not by sight,” he said, ignoring all advice.
With businesses shuttering en masse as the Bay Area backslides into a pit of problems in 2023 however, Lee has now seen the disturbing realities firsthand. Gun violence rose 37% in Oakland alongside a 45% spike in auto thefts and 24% increase in burglaries, hitting new peaks as economic prospects plunge. San Francisco’s landscape of boarded up stores and retail closures further evidences how the region’s deep troubles have driven away entrepreneurs and destroyed commerce.
Perhaps other influencers will heed Lee’s harsh lessons, and steer clear of the Bay Area until local governments finally take meaningful action to address the interlocking crises of crime, homelessness, and now, culinary mediocrity.
What do you think?
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