A struggling Houston, Tex. business is now seeing major success, after the viral social media food critic Keith Lee gave them five stars.
As Lee — a TikTok food critic boasting over 15.2 million followers and over 648.6 million likes on the platform — began the Houston stretch of his nationwide food tour in late November, one restaurant saw his visit as an opportunity. Janel Prator, owner of dessert shop The Puddery, first posted a video on Instagram on Nov. 26 to talk about the struggles she has been facing with her business.
“[Lee] just announced on TikTok that HE IS COMING TO HOUSTON!” Prator wrote on the shop’s Instagram page Nov. 18, calling on her followers to tag the foodie in her comments. “We need your help in a major way!!! He said he’s coming after Thanksgiving so we need your help all week to get his attention. …We need his HELP!!!”
After a series of at least 10 more posts from the Pearland, Tex., shop owner campaigning for Lee to pay them a visit, Prator’s invitation was accepted, and Lee stopped by on Nov. 29.
Trying items including The Puddery’s frozen Biscoff cheesecake, an Oreo croissant-waffle confection and the spot’s iconic banana pudding, Lee gave the dessert shop a glowing review.
In his TikTok review, which has received over 14 million views to date, Lee rated the treats nine out of 10. “…This food was absolutely insane,” he said.
In addition to his glowing review, Lee also left the shop a generous donation: a $2,000 tip. This wasn’t the end of The Puddery’s boom in business, though — just hours after the TikToker shared his review, lines began to form at the shop, wrapping around the block. On Thursday, Prator shared video footage of the line of folks inspired by Lee’s review waiting in the rain for their banana pudding.
“There are times where I only have two customers, there are times where I can’t pay my bills,” Prator said fighting tears in another Instagram video after Lee’s review. “I left my job to pursue this business twice…I walked away from my career, I walked away from my benefits. And it’s all my choice. I made the decision because I had a dream.”
“The first time I shut my business down back in 2010, I was dang near homeless because I had left my job to pursue my business. And I was couch surfing; I was homeless basically, I couldn’t even put gas in my car,” she continued. “So, for the person that said that I’m low-key begging for this man to come to my store: No, I’m persistently asking. I deserve it. I worked my butt off to the point where my fingers are numb. So yes, can you please come to my store that I’ve been working hard to keep open?”