Seattle sushi restaurant reopening after viral TikTok video forced review of food safety standards
FOB Sushi Bar is reopening its restaurant locations in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash., on Tuesday morning, two weeks after closing to review food safety standards after a popular food critic’s TikTok video sparked concerns that a worm was visible in raw fish he was eating.
“After a brief, voluntary closure, we have thoroughly reviewed our restaurant’s supply chain, food suppliers, food storage, and safety protocols, and confirmed that all ingredients are safe for consumption, in compliance and up to code, and we look forward to serving you delicious sushi once again,” FOB Sushi said in a statement emailed to GeekWire on Monday. The news was also shared on the restaurant’s Instagram feed.
FOB Sushi said that a visit from Public Health – Seattle and King County on Nov. 27 found no food code violations and that the restaurant provided “all necessary paperwork related to parasite destruction” in the fish it serves.
FOB said its Belltown neighborhood location where TikTok creator Keith Lee bought his meal continues to have an “excellent” food safety rating from Public Health, the highest in the agency’s four-tiered food safety rating system. Health investigators will return at an unannounced time and date after the chain reopens for an additional inspection, and FOB said it remains fully cooperative with the agency.
Lee, a Texas-based social media personality with more than 16 million followers on TikTok, posted a video of himself eating sushi in Seattle during a visit to the city in which he dined at a number of eateries. In his review, now viewed more than 21 million times, viewers said they spotted movement of a possible worm in the fish.
FOB initially pushed back on the claim, saying on Instagram that “the movement in the video is due to natural elasticity in the fish — not worms.” The restaurant argued that such rumors could be harmful to a small business.
But on Nov. 18, FOB closed its two locations voluntarily to investigate the matter, writing that customer health and safety were its “highest priorities.”
Lee never got sick, but another TikTok user posted a video in which he said his girlfriend had been hospitalized after eating at FOB Sushi Bar after Lee’s visit. And Lee said that while he didn’t believe in tearing down any business, accountability should be taken if people were getting sick.
“We are so grateful to the Seattle community for helping us navigate this time and are thankful for your continued support,” FOB Sushi said in its statement on Monday.