MIAMI — Keith Lee, a TikTok influencer and food critic with more than 16 million followers, showed up unannounced at Coop’s Pit BBQ food truck on Monday and now customers are lining up.
For the Cooper family, the art of barbecue is in the blood.
“This is basically what we grew up with. It started in the church and has continued to this day. We made it into a business model and started doing backdoor picnics for family and extended family reunions,” said Torris Cooper, co-owner of Coop’s Pit BBQ truck.
The Cooper family started Coop’s Pit BBQ 30 years ago.
They’ve been operating a food truck out of the Sunflex gas station on Northwest 7th Street for about eight years.
But it only took one day for everything to change.
“My family and I were driving through Miami, Florida, and we saw a barbecue food truck parked in a gas station parking lot, and by parked, I mean the truck was filling the area with smoke,” Lee said.
Coop’s is typically closed on Mondays, but was open for the Memorial Day holiday.
Tris was at work when Lee and his team showed up.
“This entourage arrived in a big party van and we got out and I was by myself so I was kind of surprised. I went into defensive mode and was like wow and freaked out and asked them what was going on,” Cooper said.
Here’s the story: Lee and his family were sampling a variety of foods from Coop’s.
The Lee family sampled a variety of dishes, including ribs, chicken, vegetables and baked beans, and Lee shared his honest thoughts.
“Oh my God, 8.7 out of 10,” Lee said of the ribs.
“They’re too sweet for me, so I think people are really going to love these,” Lee said of the baked beans.
Cooper said he was shocked when Lee introduced himself.
“He said the food was delicious without even knowing who the man was.”
And he was even more surprised when Lee and his team gave him $3,000 as a token of appreciation.
“This couldn’t come at a better time as we head into the summer and the economy eases. Any injection of cash will help get business back on track quickly,” Cooper said.
Now, customers who have seen Lee’s video are lining up to get their hands on the dish.
“I’m going to try it. We’ll see how good it is, but he said it’s great so I’ll believe him,” said Q. James, a customer who stopped by to sample the Corpse.
And James and several others we spoke to say the hype is real.
“It’s amazing, everything is really tender and full of flavour. It’s seasoned perfectly and I ordered it spicy so I loved it,” James said.
The Coopers are expecting large crowds throughout the weekend and say there will be a lot of prep work to be done over the next few days, but they are ready and grateful for the Keith Lee effect.
Anna McAllister
