Daughter's clip of dad awaiting customers at struggling restaurant gets best response

TikTok has become a powerful platform for young people, allowing them to share their experiences, support mental health, and grow their businesses. When Jennifer Le (@jennif3rle) faced family financial struggles, she turned to TikTok for help. Her heartfelt video resonated with millions, who rallied to support her family.

A grad student in Southern California, Jennifer posted this seven-second clip in January 2023. In the clip, the camera pans around the restaurant’s interiors showing empty tables as her father stands at the counter, his hands folded atop the countertop, while he’s staring in the distance. "It makes me so sad to see my parents just wait for customers to walk through their door to eat at the Vietnamese restaurant," Jennifer wrote in the video’s overlay text. Jennifer’s parents own a restaurant called “Lee’s Noodle House,” where her mom, Ha Tran, cooks most of the meals while her father, Vuong Le, takes care of the groceries and catering.

Lee’s Noodle House opened in 2003. The restaurant was up and running for several years until the ferocious 2020 pandemic struck the world. The pandemic, Vuong Le told The Press Democrat, affected nearly everything, closing down shutters in Sonoma County, and restaurants were particularly crippled. “Before the pandemic, it was really, really busy,” Jennifer said. “Back in 2018, 2019, but right now when COVID hit, it was dead silent.”

When even after the pandemic had passed and the restaurant remained empty, Jennifer took the matter into her own hands and pleaded to TikTokers to spread the word. “TikTok, do your thing and help support my parents’ Vietnamese restaurant. My parents haven’t had that many customers and have 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,” she wrote in the video caption.

Describing what prompted her to post this TikTok, she told Good Morning America, "At that moment, I just kind of recorded the video to reach out to people and see if I could make a change," and added, "And for people to know about the restaurant so if they're ever in the area, they know to come check it out."

The video quickly became widespread garnering more than 900,000 views in less than a day. Currently, it has over 1.7 million views and more than 4,000 shares. “My coworkers and I used to go there for lunch twice a week we love this place and now my kids love to go there,” commented @kitty_kat2600. @_suuumiii_ added, “My family has been going there since before I can remember. We always love the food and I remember all the huge family meals we would have there.” Those who lived far away commented on “algorithm boost.” People were flocking from everywhere with suggestions like “Keep making more videos,” “Show off the food,” and “Use more hashtags,” to support her family business.

The post not only started attracting more customers to the restaurant, but tons of people displayed enormous gestures of support towards them. When Erika Altes (@whiskeyandlace) saw Jennifer's TikTok, she urged her over 100,000 Instagram followers to support the restaurant, according to CBS News. Another Instagrammer, @sonomacoguide, saw Erika’s post and headed to the restaurant and reviewed some of its meals like shrimp egg rolls, chowmein, pho, and vermicelli. @ladyironchef recommended the restaurant’s beef brisket noodles and fish balls to her followers. The situation was slowly changing.

"I was just in shock because it just kept consistently going up. I posted it when I woke up and then I left it alone, and when I checked back three days later, it was blowing up,” Jennifer recalled, speaking to Good Morning America. The support was so outpouring that orders rushed in fast and they had to post a notice asking customers to wait. Jennifer said, "My parents are really grateful for all the support." She even traveled back to Santa Rosa for two weeks to assist her parents.

Since many people suggested she post more “food” videos, Jennifer has been posting shots and clips of the meals from the restaurant. She even uploaded a follow-up video in which she shared her recommended dishes from Lee’s Noodle House, including the Bánh Mì pork sandwich, which she said, is her personal favorite, and that costs just $6.95. "The power of social media is, like, insane," she told CBS News.

Follow Jennifer Le on TikTok and her family restaurant Lee's Noodle House on Instagram.