A restaurant in Las Vegas had been struggling since it opened four months ago, with little to no customers.
Suddenly, customers kept calling and coming in; thanks to a food critic who posted a review of the restaurant on TikTok.
Frank Steele, the owner of Frankenson’s Pizzeria was not happy about the way things turned out for his small business.
He opened the restaurant four months ago and he didn’t get the outcome he wanted, which was to get a lot of customers. “It has been a struggle. I was lucky if I did $400 a day,” Steele said.
However, everything changed when a young man came to his restaurant. “I had this guy come in and didn’t know who he was, and I started talking to him because I like talking to all my customers. I asked him where he was from and what he did for work and that’s when he said he was a food critic,” said Steele.
Steele didn’t give their conversation much thought but he soon realized that he might be able to help his small business. He asked the man to give their food a shot and mentioned that he messaged another creator before to review their food but charged them $2,600.
Keith Lee, the food critic, did not charge Steele any cent and even paid for all the food he wanted to try. Lee is known on TikTok for taste-testing food from small, struggling restaurants and sharing his honest reviews.
Just a few hours later, Steele got a lot of phone calls from people who wanted to order their food. Since then, his phone never stopped ringing and he could not believe the miracle that just happened.
“I’ve sold more lemon pepper wings in the last two days than I have in the past four months. I made more garlic knots yesterday and the day before than I’ve ever made,” Steele shared. He also said that there were people coming from different places such as Iowa, California, and Utah.
In Lee’s TikTok video, he shared his conversation with the owner and mentioned that they could hardly afford the rent.
He said he wanted to give his honest opinion on the food and would say if he didn’t like the food. He filmed his reactions to all the food he bought from the pizzeria including pizza, chicken wings, a hamburger, and garlic knots.
Apparently, he loved all the food he tried and recommended the restaurant to the viewers. With Lee’s 6.6 million followers on TikTok, it is not surprising that the video garnered a lot of attention and gave the restaurant the publicity it deserves. From 2,000 followers, the restaurant gained 70,000 followers overnight.
One of the employees shared a video clip with Lee asking customers why they were there and they said it was because of Lee’s video.
When Lee came back to the restaurant, there was a line outside the whole day. This is how much traction a single video from a known influencer can gain.
On the one hand, Lee can still believe his luck. “It’s just been overwhelming. It’s been a blessing. This restaurant has been a dream of mine for 30 years,” Steele said. He is very thankful for Lee’s help and all the people coming to the restaurant to support his small business.
Steele also wants to apologize to those who they haven’t been able to serve. “The response has been so overwhelming. I’m working to get stocked up on supplies and food. I am bringing everyone in to help. All I can say is thank you. This has been life-changing.”
Watch Keith Lee’s food review on TikTok. Meanwhile more news on this story below: