CHICAGO — Keith Lee is back in the Windy City.
The hugely popular food TikToker, who has an online following of more than 16 million, is chomping his way through Chicago. He’s been in the city since last week, visiting his first restaurant July 24 and posting his latest review Monday.
The Las Vegas-based food critic has vowed to try out more places than when he visited in the fall as part of a nationwide tour.
Here’s everywhere Lee has been in Chicago during this trip:
Amici
3933 N. Broadway St. in Buena Park
First up, Lee visited Amici Chicago — a North Side restaurant that specializes in homemade arancini, or fried risotto balls — and posted his review July 24.
The family-owned spot immediately felt the “Keith Lee effect.” The restaurant had been struggling since it opened in September, but after Lee’s visit, business has more than doubled, and there was a line of customers out the door Thursday.
“This is delicious, and I love the ingenuity of it,” Lee said after his first bite. “And don’t nobody know about this?”
The restaurant had posted on its TikTok page asking Lee to visit.
After his taste test, Lee met with the owner, Alfio Sciacca, and paid $3,000 for future customer tabs and a $1,000 tip. Read more about Lee’s Amici visit here.
For $54, Lee said he ordered six arancini:
Italian arancini: 9 out of 10
Jerk chicken arancini: 7.9 out of 10
Indian masala arancini: 6.5 out of 10
Birria arancini: 8.7 out of 10
African Dorowattino arancini: 4 out of 10 (though Lee said he doesn’t usually like Ethiopian flavors)
Tacotlán
4312 W. Fullerton Ave. in Hermosa
Next up, Lee visited Tacotlán, which also tagged the TikTok influencer on social media to get his attention. Lee paid the beloved Mexican restaurant a visit, posting his review July 24.
Before being tagged, Lee initially planned on eating there without posting a review, he said.
“I heard on here that they had the best quesabirria tacos in Chicago,” he said.
For $22.25, Lee ordered:
Three quesabirria tacos with beef, cheese, cilantro, onion and no beans; extra rice; and a styrofoam coffee cup with consomme: 9 out of 10
Watta Potato
5202 W. Washington Blvd. in Austin
After Watta Potato sent Lee a message on social media, he decided to stop by the South Austin eatery, which serves up loaded baked potatoes, he said in a review posted July 26.
It’s a reliable, he said.
“It’s just a really good, seasoned potato that’s loaded,” Lee said. “And when I say loaded, they don’t skimp on no ingredients. … This is a lot of food.”
For $56, Lee ordered:
A Chicken Philly loaded baked potato: 8 out of 10
A Chicago Italian beef loaded baked potato: 7.5 out of 10 for the potato itself (Lee gave a 4 out of 10 to the chops alone, saying he’s not a big fan of jerk seasoning and he found them overpowering.)
A Caribbean jerk lambchop loaded baked potato: 6 out of 10
Output Lounge & Bar
1758 W. Grand Ave. in West Town
West Town’s Output Lounge is a Latino-owned restaurant known for its chicken wings, so Lee decided put it to the test. Lee ordered everything the establishment recommended in an email to him inviting him to stop by.
“They say they got some of the best wings in the city. I’m not mad at that claim so far,” Lee said in his July 27 review.
For $48.50, Lee ordered:
Beer-battered onion rings: 7.7 out of 10 (A surprise to Lee, who said he’s usually not a fan of onion rings.)
One salmon burger with parmesan fries: 5.6 out of 10 (Without lettuce, which was dripping with water and diluted the burger’s flavor, Lee said it would have been an 8 out of 10.)
A 10-piece order of sweet ‘n spicy wings: 9.2 out of 10 (with ranch)
Portillo’s vs. Al’s Italian Beef
Portillo’s, 100 W. Ontario St. in River North
Al’s Italian Beef, 1070 W. Taylor St. in Little Italy
If you know Chicago, you know the city’s love of Italian beef is a longtime affair. Lee knows that too, and he rated two popular Chicago beef spots while visiting the city over the weekend.
First up was Portillo’s, a fast casual restaurant chain that got its start in Illinois.
For $8.20 at Portillo’s, Lee ordered:
One Italian beef sandwich with peppers, double-dipped in jus and with a side of cheese: 5 out of 10
Next up was Al’s Italian Beef, which Lee said is a “win in my opinion. It’s not even close.”
For $13.13, Lee ordered:
One Italian beef sandwich with peppers: 8.5 out of 10
“It’s spicy, it’s flavorful, it’s saucy,” he said. “I don’t even need to try the cheese sauce. This by itself is an 8.5 out of 10, and, in my opinion, wins the Al’s versus Portillo’s war. In my opinion, the meat is way better, the bread is better, the sauce that it’s dipped in is better, the peppers are spicier.”
Mario’s Italian Stand
1068 W. Taylor St. in Little Italy
Lee’s review of a local favorite, Mario’s Italian Stand, is less formal than the rest: the TikToker doesn’t assign his order a numerical rating out of 10 to his order of watermelon ice with fruit chunks. He also doesn’t report the price, though his order appears to be a small cup, which goes for $4.
Within five minutes of ordering, Lee’s cup of watermelon ice was gone, he said in the video.
“It’s real pieces of watermelon; it’s not super sweet,” he said.
Lee also left $500 to the stand to pay for other customers’ orders.
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