Keith Lee cut his food tour of the Bay Area short, saying it's 'not a place for tourists right now'

• Keith Lee cut his Bay Area food tour short, saying it wasn't "a place for tourists right now."
• The TikTok star said he was shocked by the amount of people living in tents and burned-up cars.

Keith Lee was not impressed with Bay Area cuisine.

Lee — who's become a TikTok sensation for the honest food reviews he shares with his 15.6 million followers — revealed on Thursday night that he was ending his food tour in Northern California early. Lee did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

"I truly don't believe the Bay is a place for tourists right now," Lee begins in the video, which has already racked up more than 1.4 million views. "And that's what I was, a tourist."

"The people in the Bay are just focused on surviving," he continued. "That's the business owners, the locals — the amount of tents and living structures and burnt-up cars that we saw people living in was shocking, to say the least."

Lee revealed that the second reason he decided to cut the food tour short was due to multiple disappointing dining experiences.

"We went to a lot of restaurants — popular restaurants, not popular restaurants, mom and pop shops — and this is the first city where I have over six videos that I don't feel comfortable posting because nothing about my experience was constructive and nothing that I said was constructive," Lee said. "I've always been big on honesty, I've always been big on transparency, I've never been big on completely tearing down anybody, and I felt those videos were only doing that."

"I'm blessed to do this, but it does take a lot of money, and it does take a lot of resources. At the moment everything comes out of pocket," he added. "So when we had that many restaurants we couldn't do anything with, that was another deciding factor."

Lee said his third "and probably the most important" reason for cutting his Bay Area trip short was an allergic reaction that sent him to the hospital. Lee said he notified the restaurant of his shellfish allergy and was assured the grill and utensils would be cleaned, but he still "blew up like a balloon" the second he tried the food.

The new TikTok comes just four days after Lee recorded a video addressing his fans' concerns over his Bay Area visit, specifically highlighting articles about crime in San Francisco and Oakland, which make up part of the Bay Area.

"I heard a lot of people call the Bay 'Gotham City,' and the way my mind works, that's even more reason to go. I'm extremely excited to see what the Bay offers," Lee said in the video posted on Monday.

However, many people in Lee's comments were disappointed that he only visited San Francisco and Oakland when the Bay Area encompasses nine counties and 101 cities. Some questioned why Lee didn't visit San Jose, one of the Bay Area's biggest cities.

"There's more spots than just Oakland and SF, mom and pops shops that needed exposure outside of our two major cities," one person wrote.

"San Mateo, San Jose, Hayward would have been great places to go to for some hidden gems," another added.

"Went to Oakland & called it a day lol. Bay didnt get the chance it needed," one disappointed user quipped.

Lee did highlight some bright spots in his video, giving a shout-out to Greens Restaurant in San Francisco and Mama T's and Luxurious Cuisine, which are both in Oakland.

"I truly wanna say, from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate every single bit of love," Lee added. "The people of the Bay were absolutely amazing, and I'll never forget the hospitality and the love that y'all showed me."