This Miami food truck got a visit from Keith Lee. ‘One of the best places we’ve had’
Torris Cooper had never heard of Keith Lee.
So when the renowned social media food blogger hopped out of his sprinter van surrounded by armed security and an entourage to order from Cooper’s food truck on Memorial Day, he was a bit shocked. Cooper’s confusion continued when Lee returned asking him to charge $3,000.
“I had no clue who Keith Lee was,” said Cooper, 49, who co-owns Coop’s Pit BBQ with his brothers and father, the blistering sun beating on his face as he stands by his truck the Wednesday after Lee’s visit. As far as the tip went, he quipped: “I’m thinking fraud or something.”
As a group of people slowly gathered around Coop’s Pit BBQ, it was obvious that the food truck had experienced the phenomenon known as the “Keith Lee Effect.” A mixed martial arts fighter turned cuisine connoisseur with more than 16.3 million TikTok followers, Lee has helped boost sales at restaurants across the country with his impromptu taste tests.
Lee’s arrival in South Florida has been met with much enthusiasm. From the very moment he announced his plans to come to Miami, followers from across the county began to spam his comment section with restaurant recommendations. Though he has has hit House of Mac and Braised by Kevin Lee (a pop up his brother runs in Hollywood’s Yellowgreen Market), the food truck appears to be one of his favorites.
The subsequent flood of customers – in part due to Lee’s stellar rating of the chicken, ribs and collared greens – was a welcome sight for a family-owned and operated food truck that has been in business since the late 1990s.
“We were just doing what I always do,” Rhaudal Cooper Jr., 50, said, calling Lee’s review “genuine.”
Rhaudal and Torris co-own the food truck with their younger brother, 48-year-old Kelvin, and father, 73-year-old Rhaudal Sr. The three brothers are Miami Central graduates and have had many iterations of what’s now known as Coop’s Pit BBQ. There was Coop’s Catch. There was Coop’s Kitchen. There was Wing Zone. In 2014, however, Coop’s Pit BBQ came to life and they have been stationed at the corner of Northwest 103rd Street and 7th Avenue ever since. At any point, there may be two to six family members working the food truck.
“This is our passion,” Torris said. “This is what we do and we love it.”
That much was apparent to Lee who visited the food truck Monday while Torris was behind the smoker. In his video review, which he posted Tuesday and has already amassed more than 4 million views on TikTok, Lee noted that the customer service was exceptional.
“For us to just drive past this place and this be one of the best places we’ve had since we been here – even though we only tried two or three places so far – God don’t make no mistakes,” Lee said, later adding, “In my opinion, it was just the customer service. He was extremely kindhearted and just seem like he was a wonderful person.”
The brothers, however, did want to correct one part about Lee’s video.
“They thought because he left the tip, we were shutting down,” Rhaudal said, noting that they truck had opened to primarily to serve veterans on Memorial Day. “[Torris] was shutting down because he had already been here!”
With the supermarket prices up more than 20-percent since January 2021, Torris couldn’t help but be grateful for Lee’s shout out considering what they do “to keep a fair market price for the people to afford.” The family already has plans to switch out the food truck as they do every 10 years or so but their ultimate goal is a lot bigger: a brick-and-mortar space. Although it might take a bit more than the “Keith Lee Effect” for that to happen, the customer service – on top of prime barbecue – is a great start.
“We treat everyone the same and we take care of everybody,” Torris said. “That’s our rule. We take care of the people and, in turn, they kind of take care of us. It helps you build your brand and let folks know that you’re a part of the fabric of the community.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 4:30 AM.
