Sushi restaurant closes indefinitely after food safety concerns from TikToker Keith Lee

SEATTLE — A popular sushi restaurant with an "excellent" health record closed its locations in Seattle's Belltown area and downtown Bellevue "until further notice" after a viral TikTok video from famous food reviewer Keith Lee raised safety concerns.

Lee visited FOB Sushi Bar recently as part of his food review journey in Seattle, giving positive marks to the restaurant. Lee has over 16.7 million TikTok followers and 2.3 million more on Instagram. He is a popular food critic known for giving huge popularity boosts to the restaurants he reviews.

In a TikTok video Lee posted on Nov. 9, which had nearly 20 million views as of Tuesday, something appears to move on the piece of sushi he eats. Commenters pointed out that at the one-minute and 51-second mark, what appears like a "worm" moves before Lee places the sushi in his mouth.

"Somebody slowed the video down and it did appear that something moved," Lee said in a follow-up video posted Sunday. "1,000% transparency, I didn't see anything until somebody pointed out. I can't confirm or deny what it was, but I can confirm I am OK."

Public Health – Seattle & King County, the local department responsible for fielding unsafe food handling practice complaints and issuing safety inspections, told KOMO News a health inspector attempted a visit Monday but the restaurant was closed.

"We will follow up with the restaurant regarding their adherence to the relevant food safety measures," the department told KOMO News in an email.

The health department issued FOB Sushi Bar a score of zero—a perfect score—on Jan. 30. A score of zero represents no violations; scores over 35 could result in another inspection and scores above 90 may result in the board shutting down a restaurant until the issues are solved.

In FOB Sushi Bar's original response to Lee's video and comments from the community, the restaurant defended itself and claimed the accusations of worms found in the restaurant's sashimi were "entirely false."

"Regarding the video, the movement observed in the fish may result from natural elasticity or the pressure of chopsticks when applied to its structure," the restaurant wrote in an Instagram post Friday. "We want to assure our customers that this is not indicative of worms or any health concerns."

"We have never had any issues regarding food safety and remain committed to serving you the highest quality seafood," FOB Sushi added.

The restaurant also included the measures it takes to eliminate parasites, which includes storing fish at frigid temperatures according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

"I don't think a lot of people think FOB handled it the best," said local business owner Tanner Clemons. "Hey guys, we see it, we saw it. That's one thing they probably shouldn't have done. Absolutely."

Just after midnight early Monday morning, the restaurant posted on Instagram that it would be shutting down for the foreseeable future.

"Your health and safety are our highest priorities," FOB Sushi Bar wrote in the Instagram post. "We are conducting a thorough investigation to address the situation and will take all necessary measures to prevent it from happening again."

"To our community, we are deeply grateful for your years of support and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused," the restaurant added. "We remain dedicated to providing you with the highest quality sushi."

Lee cautioned his followers to be careful when criticizing restaurants he visits, but added that he still believes it's the business's responsibility to be safe.

"And I've already said a thousand times, I don't believe in tearing down any business," Lee said in the TikTok video. "But at the same time, peoples' health are on the line."

KOMO News has reached out to FOB Sushi and visited the business, but has not heard a response.

While in Seattle, Lee also visited Senait Restaurant Ethiopian Cuisine in Lake City, Tiny’s Apple Cider at Pike Place Market, and five teriyaki spots around the city.

His highest reviews went to King's Barbeque House in the Chinatown-International District, where he gave a 9.5 grade out of 10—one of his highest marks "in a long time."