FAIRBURN, Ga. — A Fairburn brunch restaurant is experiencing a boom in business after viral, TikTok food critic Keith Lee gave it a positive review.
The Dining Experience has been open since March but opened a new location less than a month ago. It's one of the few businesses in the metro Atlanta area that received Lee's stamp of approval.
Owner Kenya Kyeshia Johnson Simpkins said she's still recovering after a long weekend when the influx of customers came in after the review.
When you're competing with a long list of popular Atlanta brunch spots, you've got to put the work in to win.
"We reopened and rebranded ourselves to meet the market of the brunch era," Simpkins said.
Before Lee, Simpkins said business was steady.
"Our Fridays (were) normally kind of slow," Simpkins said. "We're probably about 25 to 30 people. Our Saturdays and Sundays were a little more busy, where we may see a hundred people a day."
However, when Lee came by, his over 14 million TikTok followers took notice. Simpkins said they had more visitors than she's ever seen.
"Now, after Keith Lee, Friday and Saturday was amazing," Simpkins said. "It was the goal forever to have a line wrapped around the door, having an hour wait, and still getting good reviews."
When Lee came, he described the parking lot as empty. The next day, the love came pouring in.
Server Joshua Smith said it was overwhelming.
"We were not prepared at all," Smith said. "It was so crazy, the line going through the building and then around the building. It was an experience, truly."
Smith said he's only been serving in this capacity for about a month.
"I've never been formally trained as a server," Smith.
However, he happened to be the server on duty when Smith stopped by. He said he was about to wrap for the day when Lee's family walked in.
"I had just finished a party of one," Smith said. "So, I was thinking that was going to be my last table of the day."
The last-minute meal earned Smith a one thousand-dollar tip from Lee.
Smith works a total of three jobs. He said was saving for a car and had just met his goal. So, the extra money was a blessing.
"He handed it to me, he's like, 'You deserve every bit of this. You have a great rest of your day.' And I'm like, 'Oh, you guys too.' Not even looking at it." Smith said.
Smith was in disbelief when he saw the tip.
"I had to do another double take," Smith said. "Like, 'that's a comma on there.'"
Fairburn residents commented on Facebook, saying they didn't know the restaurant existed until Lee posted about it. And for that, Simpkins said she's grateful.
"It feels amazing to know what you actually stand for and what you're doing at this point--you're actually getting recognized for giving excellent customer service and great food," Simpkins said.
Simpkins said the restaurant is just trying to keep up with the new surge of customers.
"We have to make sure that we have enough people on staff to accommodate," Simpkins said. "So, right now, we are hiring."