Published: July 24, 2025 2:29PM
UPDATE (07/25/2025 6:35AM): Since Hoodline SF originally broke this story on the morning of July 24, 2025, Kis Cafe has confirmed the restaurant and chef's identity, issued an apology coupled with a statement that chef-owner Luke Sung would no longer be a part of the business, and announced the restaurant will be "closing soon and restructuring."
A food influencer's collaboration at a Hayes Valley wine bar went spectacularly sideways, and now the restaurant has temporarily closed while an unrelated business scrambles to distance itself from the mess.
The drama centers around a viral TikTok video where micro-influencer @itskarlabb detailed her disastrous experience at Kis Cafe on Hayes Street. The restaurant has since confirmed they were the subject of the video, with chef-owner Luke Sung stepping down immediately following the backlash. The viral video has garnered over 13 million views.
@itskarlabb its a long video and not something i would normally upload but i feel like i had to talk about this experience. i basically ran out of there but i wish i would’ve stood up for myself. if you are a micro influencer i know it’s easy to feel discouraged at times but don’t let anyone make you feel small or unimportant!!
♬ original sound - itskarlabb
According to the influencer's account, what started as a planned collaboration quickly devolved when the chef-owner questioned her research, scrolled through her TikTok at full volume in the restaurant, and ultimately declared her 15,000 followers insufficient for his establishment. The kicker? He allegedly suggested her audience couldn't afford to eat there anyway, then name-dropped his daughter's 600,000 TikTok followers as the real standard.
From Micro to Macro: Mission Accomplished
If the goal was getting attention, well, mission accomplished. The influencer's follower count has skyrocketed from 15,000 to over 221,000 followers—meaning the chef's complaint about her small audience inadvertently solved that exact problem and transformed her from a micro-influencer into a full-fledged influencer.
In her follow-up video, @itskarlabb expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support: "I woke up today to the most supportive and kind and genuine and encouraging comments and messages. I could not be more grateful and shocked at how much empathy you guys have toward basically a stranger on the internet."
Restaurant Responds, Chef Steps Down
Following the viral backlash, Kis Cafe confirmed Thursday evening that they were indeed the restaurant featured in the video. In their Instagram statement, they announced Sung's immediate departure: "Our chef's behavior was unacceptable and he is no longer part of the team as a co-owner, a chef or in any other way. That behavior does not reflect the remainder of our team."
The statement also revealed that Sung had reached out to @itskarlabb with a personal apology. More dramatically, the restaurant announced it would be "closing soon and restructuring after these events," though they plan to remain open temporarily "to sustain the livelihoods of our team members and their families." The statement concluded with a plea: "We understand the frustration and anger, but please do not use this lapse in our values as an opportunity to foment racism and hate speech towards us and our loved ones."
As reported by The San Francisco Standard, co-owner Eric Lin said the statement was intended to protect staff members who had been bearing "the brunt of the online fallout." Lin told the Standard: "It breaks my heart when my staff are having to listen to those voicemails, and my friends are getting harassed on Instagram."
Real Consequences Pile Up
The real consequences are playing out beyond social media. When Hoodline first contacted Kis Cafe on Wednesday, a clearly stressed staff member confirmed the chaos: "I have to answer the phones because obviously that's what I'm paid to do. I just deal with reservations," adding, "I have been getting so many calls about this other stuff. I have nothing to do with that." The employee noted, "I have really bad anxiety and this isn't helping."
By Thursday, the situation had escalated to the point where the restaurant announced it would temporarily close for restructuring, though they emphasized their commitment to supporting staff during the transition.
Further, Kis Cafe has experienced a flurry of negative reviews in the wake of the viral video. As of the time of writing, the restaurant had 1.1 stars on Google and 1.8 stars on Yelp!, due almost entirely to reviews focused on the management's perceived poor handling of guests.
"I have 91 followers on tik tok and the owner kicked me out," quipped one Google Reviewer.
On Yelp!, Kis Cafe's page is stashed behind a formal notice stating, "This business recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news. While we don't take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we've temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate whether the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events." Nonetheless, Tatiana G. wrote, "I was so excited to try this place out until I found out how RUDE they are to people trying to HELP them."
Collateral Damage Spreads
The backlash has spilled over to seemingly completely innocent parties. Isa Restaurant in the Marina—which shares a name with Sung's daughter but hasn't been associated with the chef since 2009—changed its Google listing to explicitly state it's "Not affiliated with Kis Cafe or Luke Sung since 2009." Some reviewers, apparently unaware of this distinction, have been leaving negative reviews, nonetheless.
Source: Isa Sung / YouTube
Even Sung's daughter appears to have been dragged into the controversy, with some comments allegedly targeting her social media accounts despite her having no connection to the incident beyond being mentioned in the original video.
Latest Chapter in SF's Influencer Wars
This follows an even messier incident earlier this year when Michelin-starred chef Geoffrey Lee was forced out of three restaurants—Ju-Ni, Handroll Project, and Hamburger Project—after harassing food influencer Kat Ensign over her lukewarm burger review. Yahoo News reported that Lee's attacks included personal comments about Ensign's appearance and even a voice memo from his young daughter calling her a "dumbface."
The San Francisco Standard reported that Lee initially defended his actions, stating "I find influencer culture to be some of the scummiest in our community," but ultimately stepped down when the backlash became overwhelming.
The power dynamics between restaurants and food influencers have become increasingly fraught as creators gain massive audiences capable of make-or-break impact. As The Hollywood Reporter noted, influencer videos "can reach millions of people in 24 hours" with unprecedented speed and scale.
The Kis Cafe Story
Luke Sung, a James Beard Rising Star Chef nominee in 2000 and 2003, opened Kis Cafe in May with partner Eric Lin in the former Petit Crenn space. According to The San Francisco Standard, he envisioned it as a neighborhood hangout serving French-inspired small plates under $20—exactly the kind of approachable spot that might appeal to a diverse audience of, say, 15,000 TikTok followers.
The restaurant represents Sung's return to San Francisco after selling his previous Marina restaurant Isa and spending over two decades in Taiwan. He'd hoped Kis Cafe would be "more casual and realized" than his previous fine dining approach, creating a space where people could "split a bottle and linger throughout the night."
When Social Media Reality Bites Back
What began as an unverified social media allegation has snowballed into confirmed real-world consequences: a chef's career ended, a restaurant temporarily closed, staff livelihoods disrupted, and unrelated businesses caught in the crossfire of mistaken identity.
The incident serves as a stark reminder that in today's hyperconnected food scene, every interaction is potentially one viral moment away from changing everything—and in this case, it changed everything for everyone involved, just not in the direction anyone intended.
