Lisa Nguyen is showing off Kansas City restaurants to millions on TikTok and YouTube

After going viral for trying the crab rangoon pizza at Old Shawnee Pizza, Nguyen has grown her audience to millions for restaurant reviews, original recipes and eating challenges. Her soaring popularity allowed her to quit her day job in 2021.
If you caught her pointing her phone at her meal at local restaurant, you might assume Lisa Nguyen is just a typical member of Gen Y or Z.

But those clips she’s capturing with her iPhone 14 Pro Max are likely to reach more than just friends and family. Nguyen, who relocated from Wichita in 2021, operates a booming YouTube channel that has grown to 4.46 million subscribers and collected over 2.4 billion views around the world. (She has another 3 million followers on TikTok.)

Though she’s based here in Kansas City, she now has a global audience that watch her review restaurants, create new recipes in her kitchen, and test herself with different eating challenges, particularly ones involving spicy foods.