(Courtesy: Old Nassau/Facebook, @keith_lee124/TikTok)
Bahamian food spot Old Nassau’s owner credits the “Keith Lee effect” to the rise in popularity of her business and expresses gratitude for his visit.
On Sunday, popular food critic Keith Lee uploaded a video recapping his first international food tour in Toronto.
He visited Sumaq Iraqi Charcoal Grill in Scarborough, Biscuits to Baskets in Ajax,, Afro’s Pizza in downtown Toronto, Sisters and Co. in Toronto, Old Nassau in Toronto, No 1. Jerk in Scarborough and Sahan Restaurant in Scarborough.
Old Nassau was Lee’s highest ranking during his Toronto food tour.
Restaurant owner Kaylandra Edgecombe said she uploaded a TikTok video on April 6 with her daughter inviting Lee to visit the restaurant and on that same day it caught his attention and he paid them a visit.
“I couldn’t breathe for a minute, I couldn’t see, I was like ‘What is going on?’ I was in disbelief that he actually came,” she told The Brandon Gonez Show.
We asked her if the “Keith Lee Effect” was real and how it has impacted her business since his TikTok video.
“One thousand per cent real! The fact that we’re able to see triple or quadruple the amount of customers in a day that we’ve been seeing,” Edgecombe said.
Edgecombe also mentioned that when she came into the restaurant this morning, she already had 10 scheduled UberEats orders and said that never happens for a Monday.
She said with the influx of customers ordering online, they have to pause at times and get those orders out, while also serving customers walking into the restaurant.
Edgecombe mentioned that before Lee visited, she was actually considering closing the restaurant on Mondays because of how slow business was those days.
“We’ve moved from that to actually really experiencing abundance and it’s the Keith Lee effect and I’m grateful for that,” she said.
Edgecombe expressed her gratitude to Lee for visiting her business and the other small businesses, and left this message for him, “You have helped change our lives.”
