TikTok food influencer Keith Lee posted a video ranking his top eight food stops of 2023, with New Orleans ranking No.1.
Lee has over 15 million followers on TikTok, where he films himself taste-testing food from around the country. He typically dines at smaller, underrated restaurants to help boost their following and often eats in his car.
This year, Lee went on a five-month food tour across the U.S. and ranked each stop he made.
New Orleans was Lee's No. 1 pick, beating cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
What made New Orleans stand out? The city narrowly beat Houston just for its customer service, Lee said.
"Everywhere we went we felt like family," Lee said in his video. "It felt like I was just going to my cousin's house. It didn't feel like I was going to a restaurant."
Lee visited New Orleans in August, where he tried several different restaurants in the area.
One of the restaurants he went to, a small, takeout only and family-run restaurant called Kajunlicious Food Therapy, went viral after Lee posted a video of him trying its lamb chops, wings, catfish and truffle mac and cheese.
The day after Lee posted his TikTok review of Kajunlicious, Lee went back to the restaurant to try the food again. There was a four-hour wait time to order at the takeout restaurant thanks to Lee.
"Everything was so rich in culture and different than anywhere I've been," Lee said about New Orleans. "I left 15 pounds heavier."
@keith_lee125 Ranking Our Food Stops Of 2023 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound - Keith Lee
