A bewildered Keith Lee called out a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, restaurant for taking creative license on their menu.
There’s nothing wrong with wing sauce names like “Sum Nasty,” “Krucial,” and “Rebel,” but the famous TikTok critic made a point after getting confused when the to-go boxes weren’t labeled.
“The flavors are all nick-named, so for the most part, I don’t know what is what, and they didn’t label anything. … I have no idea what I’m about to eat,” Lee declared before he dove into three orders of mixed chicken wings with six mysterious house barbecue sauces, and then demolished an order of fried fish sliders.
He enjoyed the first wing he bit into but after biting into the second he said, “That tastes like a plain wing.”
While many restaurateurs would get bent out of shape over the high-profile criticism (the video has 40,000 comments thus far), the co-owner of KOK Wings & Things, Tré’Jan Vinson, took it in stride — and used the feedback to improve his business.
We can see why KOK Wings & Things has grown into a mini chicken wings empire in less than a decade, with four locations, catering, and food truck operations. Of course, any place that has “dancing on the tables,” as Lee noted, and sells beer by the bucket is bound to be a success.
In his TikTok response to Lee, Vinson announced a rollout of their new color-coded sticker system that identifies all sauce names. Thanks to the “Keith Lee effect,” every to-go box will now get a sticker. “With his review, he made a key suggestion, which is he did not know what he was eating, and every new customer or current customer should know what flavors of wings they’re trying,” declared Vinson triumphantly.
“I want to let y’all know that we’re always promising on improving our product, our business, and our brand and we will never ever stop improvement,” stated Vinson.
“I love everything about this. THIS is how you capitalize on exposure,” posted a fan on X. Another said, “I appreciate and love when businesses take constructive criticism as an opportunity to improve and not an insult. I want nothing but the best for this restaurant..”
A third said, “Congrats on the publicity, food looks bomb af. Love the sticker idea, smart af. Some people would get mad at the critiques.”
Earlier in June, another Baton Rogue restaurant, The Bayou Affect, responded to a critical review and boldly turned the tables on the famous critic, issuing him a 2 out of 10 for not knowing the right dishes to order, a move that many disagreed with.
“First professional response feedback I’ve seen in response to Keith Lee,” quipped a supporter of KOK Chicken & Things. Enthusiasm over the comeback has spread like wildfire on social media, and Vinson’s TikTok video now has over a million views.
“You’re pure class man. Lotta folks in Atlanta could take some notes on listening to customers,” commented another, who was referring to death threats that Lee received amid critiques of popular Black-owned restaurants in the city.
Lee planned to return to Atlanta earlier this year on a Redemption Tour, but not without security in tow. “When my safety and my family safety are coming into play, that’s where I draw the line at,” he said at the time. The former MMA fighter also noted that his “hands are registered, too” and was ready to throw down if necessary.
But the burning question is how was the food at KOK Chicken & Things?
For a place that’s a “full party scene, and not just a restaurant,” turns out the wings were on point.
During his review, Lee helpfully added descriptions of the nicknamed flavors. For instance, Krucial is a honey-garlic rub, and Sum Nasty is sweet and spicy. For the record, he spent $41 on a mountain of food and gave the Krucial and Double Dip wings the highest score, 8.5 out of 10. The other flavors garnered a very respectable 7.5 out of 10.
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“I really have no idea what I’m eating,” Lee quipped, but it didn’t seem to matter, as you can’t go wrong with any of the wings. The same can’t be said for what Lee believed to be “seasoned freezer fries,” which received a mere 4 out of 10, and the somewhat “greasy” fish sliders, which earned a score of 5.
“Everybody dancing, they partying. They jigging. They doing, what they call it?” Lee asked an unidentified member of his entourage. “You said they was doing the chicken? Chicken whopping, apparently.”
Honestly, it sounds like a good time to us.
