Adventures in Shilling is a celebration of the latest, greatest and grossest shills from around the world wide web. Per normal, you too can help fight shills.
Contrary to popular belief, shills do not only come of the absurdly-positive variety. Indeed, sometimes people—including (dare we say) rival restaurateurs—feel it necessary to denigrate their competition in addition to shilling their own restaurants. Hence, the reverse-shill is born. Let's get to it, shall we?
Up first, we have a dubious review from a first-time reviewer on Yelp (where else?) on the still-unopened Honu's Island Bar and Grill:
The poke bar idea is a major rip off of the Hukilau Restaurants in the bay area. Hukilau San Jose was actually the first Hawaiian restaurant in the bay area to ever have a poke bar, and that started about 4 years ago! Hukilau Palo Alto also has a poke bar. I am from Hawaii and I hit up all the Hawaiian restaurants in the bay area, so I consider myself a local expert. Stealing some one elses idea is hardly groundbreaking.Reverse Shill Probability: 92%
But it's not just competing restaurateurs who resort to reverse-shills. Sometimes, local Chowhounds (posting for the first time, mind you) just don't want people flooding new restaurants, because of ... gangs? (Sidenote: CH post coming down in 3 ... 2 ...):
Before going to 1300 Fillmore or the new Yoshi's in the Jazz center, you might want to consider the location as related to the recent gang injunctions in the area.And then there is the unfortunate case of the Luisa Hanson-Barleycorn feud. Our feelings on the matter are probably clear by now, but Barleycorners have been doing plenty of unnecessary reverse shilling on the Yelp page for Luisa's on Union Street, and Yelp moderators are pretty much doing nothing. An excerpted pick of the litter:
The injunction restricts Knock Out Posse and Chopper City members, once they are served with written notice, in six blocks bordered by Ellis Street on the north, Divisadero Street on the west, Turk Street on the south and Steiner Street on the east.
Eddy Rock members are barred from gathering in a six-block area bordered by Ellis Street on the north, Gough Street on the east, Turk Street on the south and Webster Street on the west. That area includes Jefferson Square.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...Ellis is one block north of Eddy. New Jazz center is at 1300 Fillmore St.(at Eddy St.)
Reverse Shill Probability: 80%
Painful. It was the kind of meal that made a foray into cannibalism a not-all-together unappealing proposition. No window dressing can doll up this culinary sh*thole, no matter how many sycophants (to whom I suspect Luisa Hanson offers a free meal) submit the cloying and sometimes painfully over-optimistic reviews found on this site. Overpriced? Absolutely. Taste? Bland, unless you consider salt lick a flavor ...Reverse Shill Probability: 150%
The fight against shilling continues. See a shill, share a shill.
