Restaurant Review Websites - Yelp, CitySearch and Urban Spoon Continue to our site

In the past several weeks, a number of very negative reviews have been posted to some of the Internet Review websites. These include: Yelp, CitySearch and Urban Spoon.

We, the owners of Gourmet on the Go, are stunned by the things that are said, and we have interviewed our employees, and searched our records to see if there is any truth to the accusations.

As best as we can tell, these are false reviews. We can rebut the contents of each, but our purpose here is not to argue the details but to explain to our customers that we appear to be under attack from a disgruntled individual or perhaps a local competitor (see update below for an important revelation).

It is incredibly painful to read these horrible untruthful stories. We have written to the review websites and asked for confirmation of the reviewers legitimacy or consideration in light of the appearance that these are false attack reviews, and not the efforts of reasonable individuals. The results have been very disappointing, ranging from no response, to dismissive neutrality.

Every day, we hear many wonderful comments from happy customers about our delicious food, and awesome hospitality. Unfortunately, these comments rarely make it to the review websites, where the truth could be told.

All we ask is that you judge for yourself. Come and experience our restaurant first hand, or call and place an order.

I am not always available, because I am often hard at work in the kitchen, but if you have a concern or would like to speak with me personally, please call and leave your name and number on our automated system or with the counter staff.

Sincerely,

Tim

UPDATE

We have just learned that Yelp.com is accused by several small business of Extortion. Yelp.com will remove or bury negative reviews (that may even appear suspiciously) if the business purchases hundreds of dollars of advertising from Yelp. Unfortunately, we too appear to have been targeted by Yelp, as some of our favorable reviews have been removed entirely and the Review by Mr. Sanjay P. is a total fabrication.