INDIANAPOLIS — Popular social media food reviewer Keith Lee came to Indy for All-Star weekend and made a surprise stop at Chicken Scratch, a local carry-out restaurant that specializes in wings and fries.
“We make everything from scratch, our sauces, seasonings, batters, hand cut fresh fries, everything we do it all,” said Chef Tia Wilson, the owner of Chicken Scratch. "About 80% of our business comes through door dash and door dash was so crazy, we literally had to turn it off for like hours on end."
Wilson says they saw a 50% increase in sales on the Friday and Saturday after Lee visited especially for one of their most popular items.
“If I look at the numbers, we probably go through and sell maybe about 300 honey hot Mac and cheese fries a day,” explained Wilson.
Lee's review also helped bring in brand new customers like Tisara Hardy and her daughter London.
“We’re a small city in a way and he came out to support our black community and so why not just try what he tries,” said Hardy.
Chef Wilson hopes that support continues in the community.
“We got a good review, I don’t think it was the greatest, but we got a good review,” said Wilson. “We do really really well so I think things like that are just temporary boosts for us. We just try and maintain consistency and maintain staying busy throughout the entire year.”
The restaurant says things are starting to calm down and they have since they turned Door Dash back on.
A local digital director weighed in saying this is a prime example of the impact social media can have in just a matter of hours.
“When you get into this market of selling food, for instance Keith Lee's mindset, you have great chefs, great cooks, but not necessarily great marketers getting into business and Keith's been able to go in and showcase what they truly love doing and use his social media expertise to bring them to light,” said Evan Krauss, the Assistant Director of Digital Content at Butler University.
Lee's Tik Tok of chicken scratch now has close to 500,000 reviews. View it below.
@keith_lee125 Chicken Scratch taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic ♬ original sound - Keith Lee
