LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A number of restaurants across the Las Vegas Valley say they are being impersonated, with their business stolen by an imposter using a popular food delivery app.
On Wednesday night, FOX5 heard from the owner of Manizza’s Pizza who uncovered what was happening when a customer called to ask about an order on Uber Eats, a delivery service the pizzeria doesn’t use. The owner told FOX5 she discovered 15 restaurants on the platform, all tracking back to one address.
Thursday, FOX5 spoke with several other restaurants with the same problem.
“They are stealing my name, they are stealing my food,” reported Joseph Gonzales, Owner of Brooklyn’s Best Pizza & Pasta.
“God forbid if someone orders food from them under my name and they get sick, or something happens. I am liable,” Nick Palmeri, Owner of Gaetano’s Ristorante stated.
“We found out today that this restaurant is impersonating at least 18 other restaurants. My better sense told me not to go down there and confront them,” revealed Chef James Trees, Owner of Esther’s Kitchen.
Trees knows his customers expect a lot as a prestigious James Beard Award nominee in 2020, when he was recognized as one of the top chefs in the country.
“We are so busy we couldn’t do to go food. It’s been really odd to see people text me and tell me that they are ordering from me, delivery service that I do not provide,” Tree explained. For the last couple of months, someone has been using the Esther’s name. “He is doing it by adding a couple of words to our name putting ‘Italian pasta kitchen’ along with Esther’s on there,” Trees added.
Brooklyn’s Best Pizza & Pasta is also having their name used on food delivery sites with someone else fulfilling the orders.
“Customers would call in and say, ‘Did you change the recipes? Food don’t taste the same,’” Gonzales recounted.
For Gaetano’s in Henderson, it is personal. The restaurant is named after Nick Palmeri’s father, yet on Uber Eats, the name is registered to someone else.
“Doing advertising on other platforms, you have to go through the safeguards of sending them your business license. Believe it or not, Uber does not take your business license,” Palmeri stated. FOX5 contacted the restaurant listed as the pickup address for several of the restaurants and the owner sent us this statement:
“It has been brought to our attention that there has been some confusion concerning customer’s orders on certain on-line ordering platforms. Customers claim to be getting orders filled by us when they are trying to order from other restaurants. We recently began acting as a ghost kitchen and filling orders for a third-party service. We believe this is where the confusion lies. We are discontinuing working with them immediately. Our sincerest apologies to everyone involved in this situation.” -NY Pizza & Bagel Cafe
Restaurants say the best way to ensure you are getting food from them and not an imposter is to call the restaurant directly or just go in.
FOX5 also asked Uber Eats about this, specifically what they do to ensure that one restaurant isn’t posing as another on their platform.
They tell FOX5 they are constantly reviewing restaurants and if they find restaurants assuming another’s identity, they send a cease and desist letter and remove them immediately.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Uber Eats and what these restaurants have alleged is beyond frustrating. We’ve taken action to remove these pretenders from our platform and hope to reach out to impacted restaurants to see how we can work to make it right.” -Uber Eats Spokesperson
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