It's time for another edition of Adventures in Shilling, in which we fight shilling the best way we can, by shaming tasteless, unscrupulous shills into submission. Well, that's the plan, at least. Fight shills yourself by dropping offensive links to tips@eater.com
This week we have a special Naya Mezze & Grill edition of Adventures in Shilling. Now the team here has been shilling for the restaurant ever since the renderings were released months ago, but they just won't quit. A little look at their handiwork:
Our first suspicious Naya Mezze & Grill reviews come from Menupages. They're not incredibly suspect but when added to the reviews that follow on Yelp and in our comments, they can't be trusted. Says one, "wow! Amazing Crowd, Food and Place! Shawarma was awsome...It was a lovely experience will do it again for sure." And another, "Awesome Food & Decor ,2 thumbs up! I have been to the soft opening last week. Great experience and almost no mistake even during their first week. I hope they will keep it this way!"
Shill Probability: 59%
And of course, right after the opening we have a lengthy and enthusiastic review from a first time user on Yelp: "If you're wondering where the heck you can get some good Lebanese food in the city - this is one place that you'll find it! And NO! I'm not talking about some greasy side cart vendor...Now my meal of chicken kebab, hommos, falafel, and tabbouleh was amazing... but they brought out this one dish of eggplant stuffed with rice that was braised or steamed - INCREDIBLE! ..On a side note... Mia and Hadi - why aren't those Al-Rifai nuts on the menu?!? Those things are like salted morsels of Lebanese goodness!"
Shill Probability: 65%A shill from the comments has the tell tale signs of misspellings and unwavering enthusiasm: "U should go see the place live it's amazing and it's the opposite of cold, its warm and the crowd is great...As for the food...it's the best lebanese restaurant in NYC, i have tried other lebanese restaurants in NYC and they can't even compete with Naya...love this place, will definitly be back again."
Shill Probability: 75%And we end with the following shill from the comments on another post about Naya. Compounded with all the others, this one is creeping toward 100% territory: "The Perfect dining experience! Unbelievable design, excellent food, great atmosphere, low prices, what more can you ask for in a restaurant! Dont miss it, it is quite an unforgivable experience I had there..."
Shill Probability: 98%
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