Baltimoreans may quibble over whether we’re truly a part of the DMV — otherwise known as the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region — but when social media influencer Keith Lee announced this week that he’s coming to the area, city diners couldn’t help but promote their favorite spots.

A visit from the food critic with 16.5 million followers on TikTok can be a launching pad for the mom-and-pop restaurants he reviews, and his followers know it. When Lee posts positively about a meal, long lines and scores of new social media fans are usually around the corner. One Los Angeles restaurateur said his business doubled after Lee’s review.

That’s why Baltimore restaurant owners like Gerdyn Mojica hope he’ll stop by for a bite. Mojica, the owner of Tio G’s Empanadas stalls at Lexington Market and R. House, says he can barely scroll through his homepage on TikTok “without running into at least one of [Lee’s] videos.”

“It’s the TikTok era, right?” Mojica said. “I think a visit from him with a positive video could literally turn us around in a way that would ensure success down the line.”

Tio G’s joined a revitalized Lexington Market in January 2023 but Mojica said the stall will be departing the downtown market on Sept. 14. The business struggled with foot traffic and is “trying to get the community to try something new and a little different,” he said. Tio G’s will continue serving food at R. House, and Mojica has plans to launch a food truck or trailer in the coming months.

A review from someone like Lee could put the Dominican eatery on the radar and “validate what we as owners already know,” Mojica said. “We all have great ideas — sometimes we just need someone with their superpowers to come.”

Others are taking to their own restaurants’ social media pages to make an appeal. Chef Cia Carter, the owner of Miss Carter’s Place in Downtown Baltimore, reposted Lee’s video as well as a message asking her followers to recommend Miss Carter’s.

“I would love his personal opinion,” she wrote on Instagram. “I need that Keith Lee (effect), yall, I’ve been grinding for years.”

Restaurants who get a coveted Keith Lee visit might not know it until later. Lee is known for ordering takeout under alternate names and sending family members in to pick up the food.

He also won’t be ordering any of Maryland’s famous blue crabs: the influencer said he has a shellfish allergy. So what else should Lee eat while he’s in town?

Mojica would recommend the influencer order empanadas and, if he’s at R. House, a chopped cheese sub with a side of maduros, or sweet plantains.

Other suggestions, from commenters online, include a Baltimore chicken box, vegan soul food and a bowl or bun from Asian fusion spot Ekiben. What would you recommend? Email me with your suggestions at ayeager@baltsun.com.

Soccer star in Baltimore

AC Milan won the friendly match against FC Barcelona in Baltimore earlier this month, but a soccer star’s visit to Little Italy the same day was an even bigger win for one local restaurateur.

Luca Useli, who runs La Tavola on Albemarle Street, has been a Milan fan “since Day 1.”

“I was born in ‘94, and that was the biggest team in the world,” Useli, a native of the Italian island of Sardinia, said. “It was hard not to be their fan.”

When he heard the team would be coming to Baltimore, he immediately snagged tickets to the Aug. 6 game, held at M&T Bank Stadium. Then he got a call from the president of the Little Italy Neighborhood Association, with an intriguing request: Could he make lunches for AC Milan’s youth academy while they were in town for the expo? And could he host a cocktail reception on game day attended by none other than Milan soccer legend Franco Baresi?

Useli’s reply: “You guys don’t even need to ask.”

Soon, he was swept up in preparations for AC Milan’s visit to Baltimore. The 124-year-old soccer club established its first North American youth academy in Northern Virginia this year, and those young athletes made the trip to Charm City to attend practices and presentations in the days leading up to the Milan-Barcelona match. Useli found himself fielding planning phone calls from Will Pulisic, the academy’s marketing and events director and brother of AC Milan player (and U.S. national team captain) Christian Pulisic.

For the youth academy, La Tavola made 30 to 40 chicken parmesan and caprese sandwiches a day, as well as some sit-down pasta lunches for hungry young players.

At the reception, Useli and his staff served small bites like caprese salad and fritto misto, a batter-fried seafood dish. There was also a table of Sardinian wines, a nod to the restaurateur’s heritage.

Baresi, a defender who spent his entire career playing for AC Milan, was part of the Italian team that won the 1982 FIFA World Cup. As a player for Milan, he also helped win multiple UEFA Champions League and Series A titles, as well as two European Super Cups and two International Cups.

At La Tavola, he sipped on a glass of Sardinian wine and offered advice to the youth academy players.

“It was great to hear greatness from someone,” Useli said.