Lou's Food Bar gets reviewed on Yelp...long before it's slated to open

"That Lou's yelp review looks promising," deadpanned Frank Bonanno on his Facebook page, referencing a pre-review of Lou's Food Bar, Bonanno's newest restaurant, which will, uh, open in mid-December at 1851 West 38th Avenue, a good month and a half (at the minimum) AFTER the Yelp review -- typed on...

By Lori Midson

November 30, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

"That Lou's yelp review looks promising," deadpanned Frank Bonanno on his Facebook page, referencing a pre-review of Lou's Food Bar, Bonanno's newest restaurant, which will, uh, open in mid-December at 1851 West 38th Avenue, a good month and a half (at the minimum) AFTER the Yelp review -- typed on October 21 -- was posted.

At least that review, written by "Mitch B," who describes himself as a chef and resident of the Sunnyside neighborhood, was positive, unlike a previous review of Pho 95 at the Streets at SouthGlenn that was shot into Yelpland by a disgruntled patron who had apparently walked by the joint, only to find that it hadn't opened yet.

That review has since been removed from Yelp, but the Lou's review, screen-captured below, continues to exist, despite the fact that it's against Yelp's TOS (that's Terms of Service to the rest of us) to review a business, restaurant or otherwise, that you haven't actually, you know, been to and experienced firsthand.

But Mitch, admittedly a Yelp newbie, was only doing what a lot of Yelpers before him have already done: granting a starred review -- a whopping five, in this case -- to an unopened restaurant, proving, yet again, the social-networking site's blatant disregard for accountability.

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.