A version of this post originally appeared on September 22, 2025, in Eater and Punch’s newsletter Pre Shift, a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world.
We’re here to talk about a dreaded four-letter word in the industry: Yelp. You don’t need me to tell us how annoying, cruel, and occasionally inaccurate that review platform can be, but you also can’t deny that Yelp’s influence is everywhere today, echoed in platforms like Resy, Beli, or Google Maps. This year, Eater has been celebrating its 20th birthday by looking back on the last two decades, and we’d be remiss to talk about them without mentioning the app, born a year before Eater, that you love to hate.
“Orgasms on the tongue?”
Brandon Hoy, co-owner of the legendary Brooklyn pizzeria Roberta’s, applauds the “snarkiness” of a 2010 review from a user named Ariel: “The pizza’s pretty good but based upon some of the other reviews here you’d think that it causes multiple orgasms upon touching your tongue, gives you the confidence to quit your shitty job as a babysitter to a successful Manhattanite power couple to pursue your dream as an avant-guard [sic] spoken word performance artist, and clear up that breakout of pimples on your face just in time for the weekend.”
A 21st birthday gone wrong
Derek Piva, the executive chef of the “wilderness-to-table” restaurant Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge in Gold Beach, Oregon, recalls a review after a 21st birthday celebration. “Fourteen guests showed up, got wildly intoxicated, and two of them vomited at the table — then tried to hide it by pushing it underneath. The birthday girl toppled out of her heels and ended the night in an ambulance,” he says. “The review? One star — for ‘ruining their celebration.’ Apparently, we were supposed to anticipate the bodily fluids and poor footwear choices.”
Laila Bazahm, the chef and co-owner who exectues the Barcelona-inspired menu at El Raval in Austin, Texas, had one reviewer question her political affiliation based on the wine menu. “I received a review from a guest who accused me of being an Independista!” says Bazahm says, “which I think is very funny!” The review stated: “The owner has to be pro-independence or something, otherwise I don’t understand how they have so many Catalan and French wines and not one Rioja or Ribera del Duero, I’m Catalan but the good wine in Spain is not in Catalonia.”
Point Seven in New York City’s MetLife building is known for its seafood, including an extensive roster of sushi, sashimi, aguachile, and crudo. “I received a review that the raw fish was too raw,” said chef Franklin Becker. The review in question complains that “everything was undercooked.”
Steve Chu, co-owner of Ekiben in Baltimore, says that the review platform has “been a way to democratize food reviews.” That being said, there’s one Yelp post that still makes his blood boil. “During the pandemic, someone said that we lied about being a Black-owned business,” he remembers. “I posted it on our Instagram to clarify that Ekiben is Black-owned and to put respect on [co-owner] Ephrem [Abebe]’s name.” Soon after, the user adjusted their review — including to say “WTF, the flavor was nothing like I have ever experienced in my life. This is my new favorite place” — and upped the star rating.
