A TikTok food critic with millions of followers demonstrated how he can make or break a restaurant with a single video when he visited the D.C. area this week. 

Las Vegas native Keith Lee stopped by Okonomi Asian Grill — also known as the “Asian Chipotle” for its custom rice bowls — in Fairfax, Virginia, and business has been booming.

“I literally opened this by myself,” owner Alex Kang said. “So, six months I was doing 130-hour workweeks.”

There were times when he only got six orders a day.

“I can’t sustain this with six orders,” he said. “That’s like 60 bucks. What can you do with 60 bucks?”

Ever since Lee posted a video about Okonomi, they’ve had to put signs on their door saying they can only serve people who order online because they’ve been so busy.

“It’s definitely wild,” Kang said. “I mean, it’s any restaurant owner’s dream to have this much exposure.”

Lee also went to the Flavor Hive food truck in Alexandria where one of the specialties is the walking nacho. Customers bring their own bag of chips – any size, same price – and they fill it up with meat and toppings.

“We had people bring in a size for a whole village,” owner Shihan Chowdhury said. “We still fill it up.”

Flavor Hive also serves quesadillas and tacos.  

“It looked really good,” customer Alexia Urieta said about Lee’s TikTok. “When you saw the picture, you could see the flavor in the picture. So. really wanted to come out and try it.”

For those who can’t afford the food, Flavor Hive will give it to them for free.

“Some people will come and say, ‘Hey I don’t get paid until this day, I don’t get paid until that day, can I pick up a meal?’ We’re always open to that,” Chowdhury said.

Lee donated $3,000 to Okonomi because they’ve been dealing with theft issues recently. Kang said he’ll use some of the money to feed local teachers and the rest to provide bonuses to his staff. 

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Archaeologists in Virginia are uncovering one of colonial America’s most lavish displays of opulence: An ornamental garden where a wealthy politician and enslaved gardeners grew exotic plants from around the world. Such plots of land were the 18th-century equivalent of buying a Lamborghini. The garden in Williamsburg belonged to John Custis IV, a tobacco plantation owner who is perhaps best known as the first father-in-law of Martha Washington. She married George Washington after Custis’ son Daniel died. Historians also have been intrigued by the elder Custis’ botanical adventures, reports the AP. And yet this excavation is as much about the people who cultivated the land as it is about Custis.

“The garden may have been Custis’ vision, but he wasn’t the one doing the work,” says Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg, which now owns the property. “Everything we see in the ground that’s related to the garden is the work of enslaved gardeners, many of whom must have been very skilled.” Some finds:

• A pierced coin that was typically worn as a good-luck charm by young African Americans. Another is the shards of an earthenware chamber pot that likely was used by enslaved people.
• Animals appear to have been intentionally buried under some fence posts. They included two chickens with their heads removed, as well as a single cow’s foot. A snake without a skull was found in a shallow hole that had likely contained a plant. “We have to wonder … are they West African traditions?” Gary says. “It’s features like those that make us continue to try and understand the enslaved people who were in this space.”
• The garden disappeared after Custis’ death in 1749. But the dig has determined it was about two-thirds the size of a football field, while descriptions from the time reference lead statues of Greek gods and topiaries trimmed into balls and pyramids. In letters, Custis referenced one of the earliest known references in America to growing “apples of love”—ie, tomatoes.

In recent years, the museum has boosted efforts to tell a more complete story about the Black Americans who lived in Williamsburg. It plans to reconstruct one of the nation’s oldest Black churches and is restoring what is believed to be the country’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children.

(More Williamsburg stories.)

VIRGINIA – The Virginia Mega Millions will have a drawing Friday night and the jackpot has increased to an estimated $535 million.

Virginians have been feeling pretty lucky in fiscal year 2024, helping the Commonwealth reach record-breaking sales of more than $5.5 billion. Making this the most successful year in history.

The exciting news was shared by Governor Glenn Youngkin at the beginning of the month, celebrating the massive boost to the state’s education budget. 

“I am so thrilled these record profits will help provide the necessary support and resources for Virginia’s students. Approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s K-12 education budget comes from Virginia Lottery profits,” Youngkin said. 

The Mega Millions drawings happen every week on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The results of each drawing are made available on the Virginia Lottery website.