I had a friend once tell me ‘They don’t call it ScamLanta for nothing‘ after getting scammed on party tickets during a weekend Atlanta trip. It seems like the scam culture Atlanta is known for is spilling over into legitimate businesses. For quite sometime TikTok has been calling out black owned restaurants in Atlanta for their subpar service and not so tasty food. I saw a video where one customer posted a receipt from a restaurant where she was charged $2 for straws.
Keith Lee has been popular and gone viral on TikTok multiple times, amassing a following of over 14 million. Social media has given him the moniker ‘The Keith Lee Effect’ after he posts positive reviews of restaurant on TikTok, businesses that are sometimes in desperate need of marketing and promotion. Once he talks about the business, the customers swarm the establishments because his reviews are seen as honest and credible. There have been a number of success stories where restaurant owners have noticed an extreme financial turn around once Keith gave his ‘stamp of approval’ to his followers. In short, you don’t want a negative review from Mr. Lee, it’s bad for business.
Atlanta has been living up to its name of scamlanta after Keith has been to multiple restaurants with no reservation system, a ‘no to-go order policy and a host of other ‘unique rules‘. According to Dictionary.com the meaning of hospitality is ‘the friendly reception and treatment of guests… treating guests in a warm, friendly and generous way.’ When entering into the business of owning a restaurant you’re entering into the hospitality business. Atlanta restaurant owners must’ve missed this memo. Keith pulled up to two of Atlanta’s most popular eateries, ‘The Real Milk & Honey‘ and Kandi Burruss’s ‘The Old Lady Gang‘ on both occasions he walked away with no food. The Real Milk and Honey’s restaurant owner responded, with a shady post and delete video claiming to not know who Keith Lee was. Basically saying his 14 million follower influence did not matter to his business. Kandi Burruss kept it cute and professional saying she would’ve loved to serve Keith and his family and apologized for the incovenience. Watch Keith’s review below and scroll further for the ‘unique‘ house rules from The Real Milk and Honey and to watch Kandi’s response video.
Cardi B, who lives in Atlanta went live to discuss her personal negative experience with dining out in Atlanta. Watch Cardi B’s response below.
The discourse didn’t end there, black twitter spoke out on their on going frustration with ATL restaurants and about Keith’s experience. Look below for some of the tweets. What do you think of the Atlanta restaurant culture?
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