A restaurant in Tampa, Florida, known as Hales Blackbrick, filed a lawsuit against a diner over a negative review left on Yelp. The diner, Irene Eng, criticized the quality of the restaurant’s meat, describing it as "subpar," and labeled their spare ribs as "dry." Eng dined at the restaurant in December 2023 and shared her experience on Yelp, where she detailed her meal, which included tiger shrimp, lamb chops, spare ribs, eggplant, mushrooms, and chocolate cake.
In her review, Eng acknowledged that Hales Blackbrick was "one of the better fusion restaurants" she had visited in Florida, but she pointed out several shortcomings, including the quality of the meat and the temperature of the coffee, which she referred to as lukewarm. She also noted that one of her friends found the Yangzhou fried rice to be greasy. Following her review, the restaurant deemed her comments as abusive and disrespectful, leading them to send a cease-and-desist letter and subsequently filing a defamation lawsuit against her.
In response to the legal threats, Yelp added a warning on the restaurant’s page, indicating that they may have attempted to misuse the legal system to suppress free speech. Despite claiming that Eng’s review had harmed their business’s reputation and revenue, a judge ultimately dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the restaurant did not provide sufficient evidence to support their claims and that Eng’s review was directed toward the public rather than targeting the business itself.
This incident highlights a growing trend where restaurants have taken legal action against customers for negative reviews. Earlier in the year, for instance, the owner of a ramen shop made headlines when he offered a cash bounty for customers who left unfavorable reviews.