FOB Sushi Bar reopens after TikTok dustup, maintains 'excellent' rating

FOB Sushi Bar in Bellevue and in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood reopened Tuesday following a recent spate of social media attention that raised questions about raw fish safety.

"We are really excited to be reopened," said Vincent Chen, who co-owns FOB Sushi Bar with his three brothers. Lunch customers trickle in at the Belltown eatery on Fourth Avenue and Blanchard Street. "We made sure that our serving standard is safe."

Public health officials conducted an investigation of the Belltown location on Nov. 27 in response to a TikTok video circulating about the restaurant.

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According to Public Health — Seattle and King County, inspectors found no food code violations and awarded the restaurant an “excellent“ rating, the highest possible, as it did in January after a previous inspection.

As part of the inspection, the restaurant provided paperwork detailing where the fish was sourced and how it was handled before arriving at the restaurant.

“This is probably more important for fish and seafood than anything else,“ said Eyob Mazengia, who runs the Food Safety program at Public Health Seattle-King County.

The documentation also included information about parasite destruction, a process that involves freezing the fish.

“What the freezing does is it actually kills the parasite but does not mean it kills bacteria,” Mazengia said.

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FOB Sushi closed its stores after popular TikTok food reviewer Keith Lee visited and shared a video with his nearly 17 million followers. Some of those followers claimed they could see movement at the end of one of the pieces of sushi. There were speculations that it was a worm, a claim the restaurant's owners denied in a post on Instagram; they also thanked Lee for his visit and warned that “rumors like this can harm small businesses.”

The owners also maintain they comply with federal and local food safety guidelines, but temporarily closed the locations to conduct their own investigation and "take all necessary measures to prevent it from happening again."

Lee also addressed his followers' concern about FOB Sushi in a follow-up video, saying he didn't see anything until someone pointed it out.

Opened in January, FOB Sushi is a fast-casual restaurant where the sushi is sold by the pound.

Health inspectors were not able to complete a full routine inspections because the restaurants were closed and not serving food. An agency spokesperson says inspectors will return unannounced at a different time and date for additional evaluation.