LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Restaurant owners across the valley won’t have such a bad taste in their mouths if a new bill passes.
It’s meant to crack down on virtual restaurants or ghost kitchens impersonating legitimate restaurants on apps like Uber Eats.
FOX5 first brought you this story last year when restaurants sued Uber Eats after they were imitated on the platform, and several owners told us they were victims of these fakes.
Imagine knowing your restaurant isn’t even on Uber Eats, like at Gaetano’s Ristorante in Henderson, then seeing menu items available for order, and getting a bad review because it’s lousy food.
To say some restaurant owners are fed up is an understatement, owners like Nick Palmeri of Gaetano’s.
“They were serving hamburgers, French fries, nachos, whatever you can sell for, like, drunk people food. That’s what they were selling. They were using our name,” Palmeri said.
But when you scroll through Uber Eats, Gaetano’s doesn’t come up.
That’s why owner, Nick Palmeri welcomes the new bill, especially if someone gets sick.
“So if they order something that is impersonated as Gaetano’s and they get a cheeseburger that’s been sitting on a griddle for I don’t know, four hours and then they get it and they get E. coli or they get sick, then they’re going to come after me,” Palmeri said. “These people have no insurance. They have no liability and that’s another issue that needs to be put in this bill that they need to be held accountable.”
Nevada State Assemblymember, Selena Torres-Fossett is trying with Assembly Bill 116. Especially after hearing about a pizza owner FOX5 profiled before whose restaurant was impersonated on the app.
“The owner of Manizza’s Pizza actually said that they offered her, they offered her credit for her Uber account. That doesn’t rectify the harm that’s caused to the business,” Torres-Fossett said.
Torres-Fossett says local restaurant owners complained of getting bad Google reviews, how it’s damaging to their brand, bad food quality, and mentioned how it’s a deceptive trade practice.
She thinks the bill has enough teeth to get bad actors to fall in line.
“I strongly believe that this piece of legislation will prevent future imposter kitchens and really hold applications accountable and require them to review the processes that they have in place,” Torres-Fossett said.
If you’re caught it’s a misdemeanor. There’s a $1,000 fine and a one-year jail sentence.
The bill would also require food delivery platforms to be up to date on health permits and business licenses.
The state lawmaker was unsure if neighboring states have similar laws on the books. However, it looks like California does have a law that resembles the one proposed in the Silver State called the Fair Food Delivery Act. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill. It allows California restaurants who don’t want third-party delivery companies to deliver their food without their consent to have certain protections.
The chef and owner of Esther’s Kitchen in the Vegas valley, James Trees says he’s happy to know lawmakers have his back.
“It’s really nice that the legislators are doing something for small business and those big tech companies don’t care about small businesses,” Trees said.
His popular restaurant, Esther’s Kitchen doesn’t even rely on the food delivery app, but it didn’t stop fake accounts from popping up on Uber Eats. Trees says he had his restaurant identity stolen and food was sold under that name. Trees have a pointed message for the higher-ups at these food delivery apps.
“I would love it if Nevada would throw the CEO of Uber Eats in jail for a year for having my restaurant impostered on his platform multiple times,” Trees said.
FOX5 got a response from Uber Eats saying, “Small businesses are the backbone of Uber Eats. Impersonating any restaurant is a clear violation of our terms and conditions, and any restaurant found to be an imposter is removed from our platform.”
The company says its team continues to track this type of fraud before it goes on the app.
The state lawmaker says the bill has enough support to make it across the finish line. She is hopeful it will receive a work session in the next few weeks.
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