Vegas Pizzeria That Went Viral After Keith Lee's Review Facing Tough Times

Frankensons Pizzeria in Las Vegas is facing some new struggles in 2024.

The Vegas-based pizzeria, which became a viral TikTok sensation last year thanks to popular food critic Keith Lee, is facing some difficult times.

Owner Frank Steele recently chatted with The Blast to share what business was like before Lee's review, after his review went viral, and now, more than a year later.

Lee, who received an email about Frankensons Pizzeria needing some help to stay open back in January 2023, shared his honest review of the pizzeria. The TikTok video quickly went viral and currently has more than 54 million views. He also shared an update just four days later that also went viral with more than 25 million views.

Steele's business saw a huge increase in customers thanks to Lee's videos and positive review.

Rating all the dishes he tried high on the scale - pepperoni pizza, white pizza, garlic knots, wings, all-American burger, classic Italian sub, and french fries - people came from near and far to try out the food.

Now, about a year and a half later, business is slow again, and Steele is hoping to get it back to a busier pace.

The 2024 struggle has been real for the pizzeria that's located about 7 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.  Steele opened up his dream business in late 2022 in the spot where another restaurant used to be.

"Being it was right after COVID, the place was shut down for a year or so. Nothing was really going on in that site for about a year," he told The Blast exclusively.

"It got no traction for like the last year or so before I bought it. It sat dead for so long because of COVID so everybody found other places to go, which ended up being their pizza spot or whatever it may be, their go-to restaurant, for pizza and wings. So I had to try to gain customers back. The customers I was getting absolutely loved my food."

In January 2023, Steele thought he was going to have to close the doors, but that's when Lee entered the picture.

Thanks to Lee's visit and viral review, Steele instantly saw more customers than ever before.

"I had tons of customers, more customers than I knew what to do with. I had to hire a whole new bunch of people," he explained. "That went on for a good seven months. I was probably the most viral restaurant in Las Vegas, and everybody wanted to come out to see us."

But then the economy shifted business for Frankensons, as well as many other local mom-and-pop owned businesses.

"Something happened with the economy, the economy kind of suffered, and we suffered a little bit, but we were still busy," he continued. "Now within the last, I would say, six, seven, eight months, it has just gone totally downhill. We can barely keep our doors open now. And then I was in the hospital for three weeks for foot surgery and my business suffered greatly because I was not there to oversee everything."

The business also lost a lot of employees because Steele had no choice but to cut costs to survive.

Despite business being much slower in recent months, Steele said he still has a lot of customers who come in because they saw Lee's review. (And while I was there getting dinner with my son, a family visiting the area came in because they saw Lee's viral video!)

While Steele loves all his customers, whether they are from out of town or live nearby, one thing he hopes to do is attract more regular business from the Henderson and Las Vegas markets.

"I post videos all the time about our specials that we got going on," he said. "I'm trying to increase exposure and draw people in, but it's very tough."

Steele recently set up a GoFundMe page in the hopes of being able to save his beloved business.

"I am asking for the help of the community and patrons in keeping our business doors open. Our business went viral over a year ago and customers came from all over the US to enjoy our menu. With the success, I was able to hire on several employees for what was once only a family establishment. It is my true joy to be able to offer jobs, offer quality food, and take pictures with my customers," he wrote in the description on the fundraising page.

"Unfortunately, due to serious medical reasons, I was hospitalized for over 3 weeks and am currently recovering. Without saying, the medical bills are far beyond the means of what I can afford. In addition, not being present during that period of time at my restaurant, it has taken an additional hit with expenses and a decrease in customers."

So far, the page has raised more than $8,000.

Frankensons Pizzeria is located at 8334 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas. You can find them on TikTok and Instagram.