Toast and Food Critic Keith Lee Team Up to Give Back to Restaurants

March 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM EDT

Toast and Lee to surprise deserving restaurants with $150,000 total in cash prizes to celebrate the little things they do to deliver great hospitality experiences

Toast (NYSE: TOST) and acclaimed food critic, Keith Lee, are joining forces to celebrate extraordinary restaurants and the little details that make them special. Beginning today, Toast and Lee will surprise the first of three restaurants with $50,000 each over the next few weeks.

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Based on three categories, Commitment to Hospitality, Community Connection, Employee Care and Engagement, Keith has selected the first two restaurants. Toast and Keith Lee will also select a third restaurant based on submissions entered on social media, awarding a final $50,000 cash prize to one restaurant — and $25,000 to the individual that nominates them.

“As guests, we often see only what arrives on the plate, while restaurants orchestrate a complex symphony of details – from ingredients to atmosphere to staff choreography, and more – to make for amazing dining experiences,” said Kelly Esten, Chief Marketing Officer at Toast. “Like Toast, Keith Lee recognizes that it's those little things that often set restaurants apart, not big marketing budgets or big name chefs. We’re delighted to work with him – and invite our community on social media to do so as well – to recognize some truly special businesses.”

“Getting a 10 out of 10 in my book is about more than the taste of the food alone – it’s also about the energy when walking in the door, the way food might be packaged, or how the server made me feel when I ordered,” said Lee. “I’ve made a career highlighting the way these details come together to make for great meals, and I’m thrilled to work with Toast to celebrate just a few of the people in our big, broad restaurant community who make it happen.”

How to participate:

Catch the first giveaway on Keith’s and Toast’s social accounts on TikTok or Instagram starting today, and keep checking those same channels to see when Keith selects the second recipient.
Nominate your favorite restaurant by April 25 at 12am ET for their chance to win $50,000 – and your chance to win $25,000 just for nominating them, here’s how:

     ○ Post on TikTok or Instagram letting Keith and Toast know why this restaurant deserves to win.

     ○ Include #ItsTheLittleThings and #ToastContest hashtags in your post

     ○ Tag Toast – @toasttab on Instagram and @toast_tab on TikTok.

     ○ Full Official Rules are available at https://pos.toasttab.com/little-things-official-rules
Be sure to watch out on Instagram and Tiktok on May 13 for the winner to be announced – it could be your favorite restaurant – and you!

The Toast and Keith Lee’s collaboration continues Toast’s Little Things campaign, which kicked off in early 2025.

In January, Toast premiered One of Those Nights, a video short featuring chef and actor Matty Matheson filmed at NYC fine dining restaurant and Toast customer Marea that showed off the power of Toast tech – and an amazing staff – to handle a particularly challenging evening of service.
Signature Dish with Sophia Roe, will also launch on April 2nd. Featuring intimate conversations between Sophia and some of her best friends in the industry, each interview gets into the little details that go into making each dining experience at their restaurants so memorable.
Toast has also teamed up with industry influencer and creator Danny Grubs for additional content that gives an inside look at the inner workings of top chefs from his casual and friendly point of view.

To learn more about Toast, and follow along with our latest updates, visit https://pos.toasttab.com/

About Toast

Toast [NYSE: TOST] is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Toast provides a comprehensive platform of software as a service (SaaS) products and financial technology solutions that give restaurants everything they need to run their business across point of sale, payments, operations, digital ordering and delivery, marketing and loyalty, and team management. We serve as the restaurant operating system, connecting front of house and back of house operations across service models including dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, and retail. Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue, and deliver amazing guest experiences. For more information, visit www.toasttab.com.