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Restaurant sees massive upturn after daughter's viral TikTok video

This article is more than 12 months old

Six seconds. That’s all it took to change the fortunes of a struggling Vietnamese restaurant in California — all thanks to a TikTok video that went viral.

A month ago, Lee’s Noodle House in Santa Rosa was filled with empty chairs and tables. Its owners, in the words of their daughter, would just stand there, waiting for customers.

“I wanted to share the video because their food is so good and they put a lot of work into it; (it's) very authentic,” said daughter Jennifer Le.

That’s when Le, 21, shared a video on TikTok, on Jan 18.

About 1.2 million views later, the place became flooded with customers.

Dozens of commenters said they looked up the restaurant's location on Google and were planning to visit and support the family. 

Other viewers said they liked or commented on the clip in the hopes that interacting with the post would cause the algorithm to boost the video, a common theory among TikTok users.

@jennif3rle tiktok do your thing & help support my parents Vietnamese restaurant:( my parents haven’t been having that many customers & been feeling stressed dealing with financial issues. if you want to check it out, they make delicious vietnamese food:) 1010 Hopper Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 #fyp #vietnamesefood #restaurant ♬ The videos under this audio breaks my heart - •.༺♡༻.•

“There are so many phone calls, that when you pick up the phone, it’s still ringing on the other side,” Le said.

Le says her parents, who have been in business for 20 years, are now working 12 hours a day and running out of ingredients — just trying to keep up with demand.

“My dad is so happy, so grateful,” Le said.

On Jan 21, Le posted a follow-up video in which she thanked viewers for their kind comments and interactions on her initial post.

"The amount of love & responses from the TikTok community has been insane! The comments section has brought my parents and I to tears. We are so grateful for all the support,” a caption under one of the videos read. 

RESTAURANTS/EATERIESTIKTOKViral (Social Media)