A Tampa restaurant unsuccessfully sued a diner who left a damaging assessment on-line that ripped the eatery over its “subpar” meat high quality, “dry” spare ribs and lukewarm espresso.
Irene Eng, a blogger and frequent poster on Yelp, Google and TripAdvisor, was hit with a defamation lawsuit in search of at the very least $50,000 final fall after she left a one-star assessment of her eating expertise at Hales Blackbrick in December 2023.
The restaurant, described within the submitting as an “innovative, inspired, seasonal Chinese restaurant” operated by award-winning chef Richard Hales, alleges that Eng’s assessment contained false statements about her eating expertise and even included a photograph of his spouse, Jenny Hales, who shouldn’t be a public determine, in keeping with the lawsuit filed in Florida state court docket.
Eng’s Dec. 11, 2023, assessment of Hales Blackbrick wasn’t a full-on takedown, but it surely wasn’t glowing both, in keeping with the Tampa Bay Instances.
She praised the meals as “well presented” however discovered it “a bit too sweet,” and critiqued one server’s wine etiquette as “odd.”
Some dishes fared higher than others in her write-up.
The eggplant and mushrooms had been “wonderful,” and the tiger shrimp had been “tasty and succulent.”
However the spare ribs had been “so so,” and the Hawaiian prime ribs, she wrote, had been “the worst: way too much fat.”
Whereas she didn’t strive the Yangzhou fried rice herself, Eng famous her buddies thought it was “greasy.”
She was particularly important of the espresso, calling it lukewarm — “a Cardinal sin!!”
In a comparability to different institutions, she wrote: “The better Cantonese restaurants serve their spare ribs tender and moist. Theirs is neither: looking unappetizing, dry and could use more cooking time.”
Eng, who’s of Chinese language descent, additionally made observations past the meals.
She included a photograph of Chef Richard Hales’ “impressive mobile home parked in the lot” and questioned the restaurant’s description of a dish with Sichuan origins.
Eng is a “Yelp Elite” reviewer — a designation awarded to customers acknowledged for his or her constant, high-quality contributions and energetic engagement throughout the Yelp neighborhood.
She has authored over 660 opinions spanning varied institutions, together with eating places, seashores, libraries and pressing care services.
After asking Eng to take away the photograph of Hales’ spouse, the restaurant mentioned she as an alternative doubled down — reposting the damaging assessment once more in January 2024, and as soon as extra in October, with out returning to the restaurant.
Hales swiftly reacted, publicly calling Eng’s assessment “abusive,” “arrogant” and “disrespectful.” He then issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding she take away the assessment, alleging defamation.
The reposted assessment on Yelp triggered a client warning label on the platform studying, “Consumer Alert: Questionable Legal Threats,” which seems when Yelp detects potential authorized disputes associated to a assessment.
The lawsuit alleged that this tag has additional harmed the restaurant’s capability to draw new clients.
In keeping with the criticism, the assessment and its republication damage Hales Blackbrick in a number of methods: driving down its common ranking, discouraging potential diners and damaging its search engine marketing (website positioning) rankings, which in flip made the assessment extra distinguished in Google outcomes.
The lawsuit alleges that these components have brought about the lack of “significant revenue, goodwill, confidence, trust, and standing,” and that its capability to take care of enterprise relationships has been put in danger.
In February, Hillsborough Circuit Decide Christine A. Marlewski dismissed the case, ruling Hales didn’t substantiate his claims.
Marlewski decided Eng’s opinions had been directed towards the general public and never deliberately focusing on particular enterprise relationships.
Eng celebrated the dismissal on her private weblog, labeling the lawsuit “frivolous” and expressing willpower to defend free speech.
In the meantime, Hales, who subsequently closed the Dale Mabry location to give attention to a brand new Hyde Park enterprise, conceded that Eng had the best to her opinion.
“I’m 1,000% for freedom of speech — you can say whatever you want,” Hales advised the Tampa Bay Instances.
He acknowledged the challenges cooks face in navigating criticism with out showing overly delicate.
“We’re not thin-skinned, we’re just humans,” he added.
The Put up has sought remark from Hales, Eng, Yelp, TripAdvisor and Google.
Leaving damaging opinions towards small companies have led to authorized disputes prior to now.
In June 2021, a Washington State-based firm, Government Roof Companies, unsuccessfully sued a pair for $112,000 over 1-star Google opinions, alleging defamation and interference with enterprise expectancy.
That very same yr, a luxurious auto dealership in Texas filed a defamation lawsuit towards a girl who criticized the dealership on Yelp, however the case was dismissed.
In 2020, a Florida-based property administration agency filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit towards a person over a important on-line assessment, although no important judgment was publicly reported.
In 2016, a dental follow based mostly in Georgia sued a affected person for defamation after she left damaging opinions on Yelp and Google concerning billing practices. The case was finally dropped.
In 2013, a Utah couple filed swimsuit towards KlearGear.com after the retailer fined them $3,500 for a damaging assessment — resulting in a default judgment awarding them $306,750 in damages.
