A lot of people find their travel inspiration on social media. TikTok and Instagram have become an incredibly outsized influence, though Reddit is also becoming a popular source of trip-planning inspiration, too. According to a Tripit survey from March 2024, 69% of Gen Z and millennial travelers rely on social media to get trip ideas. The result is a lot of people heading to the same 10 restaurants in viral TikTok videos and overshared Instagram posts as part of a quest to find the “hidden gems” of their destination. For locals, this can especially suck. A great coffee shop or fantastic restaurant is now impossible to enjoy, with long lines and people trying to avoid tourist traps inadvertently creating new ones.
London is just one of the many cities experiencing this unfortunate phenomenon. Their beloved steakhouses have been especially vulnerable to influencer culture. But instead of whipping out water guns like the Barcelonans, Londoners are running a more subtle operation. They have started to “Love Bomb” one restaurant that is more average in nature, in hopes that it will keep tourists away from real hidden steakhouse gems.
The psy-op works like this: Londoners are leaving ultra-positive reviews for this place called Angus Steakhouse. It’s known to be a bit more of a tourist destination and, thus, not something regular Londoners feel all too protective of. There’s nothing “bad” about the restaurant; it’s just not one of the best steakhouses in London.
But you wouldn’t know that from the recent campaign from some clever (and embittered) London locals. Here are just some of the few Reddit reviews of Angus Steakhouse:, with the unnecessary “u” kept in all the words, for accuracy.
- “It was bound to happen, apparently it’s Taylor Swift’s favourite place in London to eat, so the influencers were going to discover it eventually.”
- “Rumour has it that The Black Dog is actually Angus Steakhouse, just Taylor didn’t want to ruin her favourite restaurant.”
- “Omg is this THE London steakhouse where Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce went on their first date? The one she sings about in that song on that album?!”
- “I had the best steak of my life in this fine establishment. The chef came out and spoke to us, starstruck. He was down to earth and VERY funny.”
- “Please delete this post, we don’t want all the TikTok people going there now 🙁 “
- “I’ve been vegan for about 5 years but I was tempted and tried the sandwich at Angus Steakhouse and man was it worth it. Best meal I’ve ever had! I think people deserve to know about the restaurant. Stop gatekeeping.”
The idea is that when people search for “the best steakhouse in London,” horrendous AI-powered search engines will generate results for Angus Steakhouse instead of truly popular and beloved London steakhouses like Hawksmoor and Goodman. Could it possibly work?
“I think the biggest obstacle would be that sites like Yelp and Google have moderators that look out for review bombs, both positive and negative,” Jaya Saxena, a correspondent at Eater who has written about the “Yelp Effect,” told Thrillist. “So if suddenly a restaurant were getting hundreds of good reviews at once, that might trigger suspicion.”
After testing the theory, I found that Saxena’s assessment was correct. A quick Google search still has Goodman, Hawksmoor Seven Dials, and Flat Iron Covent Garden as top results. The same goes for Yelp. Angus Steakhouse is still noticeably absent from the top ten list. If you are using Reddit exclusively and search “best London steakhouses,” the trickster ‘Angus’ post is at the very top of the list, as well as some additional ones asking about where to find the best Angus location—and one person clearly not catching on to the joke. But even that isn’t a foolproof strategy for Londoners hoping to have an easier time snagging a reservation.
“On Reddit it might, since responses to any thread asking about steakhouses might look like legit answers,” Saxena said. “But also, presumably since this is already circulating social media and you’re writing about it, I imagine anyone looking at Angus might see this information and second guess the reviews.”
Sorry, mates, for blowing up your spot. But even if it’s not entirely successful, this gambit must be one of the most sincere attempts at “Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss” I’ve seen in a minute.
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