HOUSTON — TikTok food critic Keith Lee is not done putting Houston food in the spotlight.
In a video posted Thursday night, the viral food critic ranked his top eight cities he visited in 2023 when it comes to food, and H-Town more than held its own.
The Bayou City was ranked No. 2, second only to New Orleans, when it came to the best food Lee ate this year.
“Speaking of almost every spot that we went to be in, delicious,” Lee said. “Houston was one of those places.”
Lee took the time again to highlight a spot in Pearland during his rankings.
“It was one place that carried Houston for me – The Puddery,” he said. “I've always been very picky on desserts because I'm not really a huge sweets person. I like sweets, but they got to be very good. In my opinion, for me to really like them in The Puddery. Boy! Also, I can’t think of one spot we went to in Houston that we didn't love.”
Lee said what set New Orleans apart by a small margin was the customer service.
“Everywhere we went, we felt like family. I'm talking about felt like I was going to my cousin's house,” he said. “It didn't feel like I was going to a restaurant and it didn’t feel like I was going to an establishment. It felt like I was going to Auntie, Mama, Papa, whoever, whoever house you want to go to. Absolutely felt like.”
Lee joked that he left 15 pounds heavier after NOLA and would return there immediately.
Atlanta came in at the bottom of the list at No. 8. His issues there are well-chronicled.
Surprisingly, New York came in at No. 7.
“New York for me was a spot that was recommended,” he said. “I genuinely don't think we got the New York experience, but I tried every avenue I possibly could try to get the New York experience.
Detroit came in at No. 6 despite being Lee’s hometown.
“I wanted Detroit to be No. 1 because I'm from there,” he said. “I'm born and raised here. But as a team, we had a talk and a diversity at other spots kind of outshined Detroit. At a few spots we went to were really good.”
At No. 5 was Los Angeles.
“Now, granted, we didn't do a full food tour there, but we went to L.A. like 20 times a year,” he said. “And at the beginning, it was really hard, but as if I really good, authentic food spots. But towards the end, we really find some amazing spots that make L.A. go up on his list. When I say the word diversity, L.A. and New York is the first two spots to come up in my mind. L.A. got everything you could think of.”
At No. 4, Lee liked Las Vegas.
“Did you talk about diversity? Melting pot? Vegas opened the door for me when it comes to different foods and different cultures and hearing people stories and listening,” Lee said. “When I got off the ship and I went to the neighborhoods and I went to the communities and I went to these mom and pop spots, it really opened my eyes open, my horizons, the open doors that they could not be in the top four for me.”
Chicago rounded out Lee’s Top 4 at No. 3 behind Houston and New Orleans.
“Almost every time we got food, absolutely delicious,” he said. “It's not much I got to say about Chicago. It just was an amazing place for me to be in. I love it there.”