Restaurant mistakenly receives backlash after Keith Lee's North Texas visit
DALLAS - A local food truck is getting backlash after drama surrounding a visit from viral food critic Keith Lee. But the wrong catering company is at the center of the controversy. Now the owners are trying to clear up the confusion and gain back North Texas' support.
"I got calls from Minneapolis, Nashville, etc.," says restaurant owner Johnathan Evola.
Johnathan Evola says he and his wife Aimee Evola own several restaurants and food concepts in town, including their new mobile catering company, Seasoned Street Food.
The Evolas tell CBS News Texas, that they have been getting 300-350 angry calls a day, not including emails and angry reviews online.
"It went viral in a negative way for us," Johnathan Evola admits.
It all started when food critic Keith Lee came to town last week and posted his review of a Dallas food truck called "Sweetly Seasoned."
Lee posted his review and encounter on TikTok, and left a $4,000 tip.
According to his post on social media, he told the owner of the food truck he wanted half of the money to go towards the food truck itself, and the other half to a barber and a hair braiding business that was servicing customers near the food truck. However, according to witnesses and posts on social media, the food truck owner kept the entire tip for herself and did not disperse the money.
"At what point of it do you feel like you can play God and step in the way and block this blessing from a young Black man who's trying," witness Sherell S. Hodge shares in a post on TikTok.
Keith Lee fans started attacking Sweetly Seasoned by leaving one-star reviews, angry voicemails and emails. However, many of those people were attacking Evola's company, Seasoned Street Food, instead. Johnathan Evola admits that some of the calls have been scary for him and his family.
"Literally a caller said, I hope your truck blows up and you die. I am getting nasty threats, and it's not stopping, and we need it to stop," Johnathan Evola said.
Johnathan Evola says he believes the initial confusion came from his business sharing a similar name and the Google algorithm brings his business to the top of any search for those Googling "Sweetly Seasoned."
"When we went to bed on Thursday we had five stars and on Friday it went down to three stars. And this is our catering company, we have invested all our money into this," Johnathan Evola says.
The couple has tried to clear up the confusion by hosting pop-up events, updating their website, and even making shirts that say, "We are not Sweetly Seasoned."
"We are in a state of crisis. We are doing everything we can to try and keep our company afloat," says Aimee Evola.
The couple is hoping the social media chaos can eventually turn into support from the DFW community.
"With all the phone calls that I am picking up, I am getting people encouraging us," Johnathan Evola said.
"We have had voicemail with prayers over our business and family, so that's encouraging --- you try to hang in to hope in humanity through all this," Aimee Evola adds.
CBS News Texas did reach out to the Sweetly Seasoned food truck company for comment and did not hear back.
The Evolas are hosting another Dallas pop-up event this Friday.
