Empanada Joe's Follow-Up

"Welcome to Empanada Joe's, would you like a Hot Pocket -- I mean empanada?"

I think I can safely say that no news source in the WORLD has covered the opening of Empanada Joe's better than FAPPAF. Food & Pants offered up -- arguably -- the first review of EJ's, which was then quoted by the venerable food site Eater.com.

In my original review of Empanada Joe's, I was quite underwhelmed. In the comments section of my review, a certain "Frank" offered a rather different opinion, saying: "I ate there today for lunch. Got my chow in three minutes. Tried three empanadas, all delicious. Spicy corn salad very fresh. Washed it all down with a big Goya mango juice."

It was pointed out very quickly that this "Frank" person was very possibly connected with Empanada Joe's. Well, this theory was not at all as unfounded as some may have thought. It turns out that Eater has conducted its own investigation on popular food review websites (Menupages, Yelp & Citysearch.)

It seems that some rather suspicious reviews have been popping up all over the World Wide Web. One review on Citysearch calls Empanada Joe's the "savior of fast food." In fact, of all 4 reviews on Citysearch, I believe that only one is authentic (the 1-star review), while the other 3 are bogus reviews done by Empanada Joe's.

Anyway, this is a very troubling development and I think everyone should be aware of what's going on.

If a review contains any of the following, chances are the review is a plant by Empanada Joe's PR team...

1) It claims that Empanada Joe's is good.
2) It mentions the bright interior and cool design of the store.
3) It mentions how the empanadas fill you up without leaving you with a sickening 'I overate' feeling.
4) It mentions the freshness of the ingredients
5) It mentions the healthiness of the food or compares the quality to other fast-food restaurants.
2) Basically, if it's at all positive, chances are you being led on by PR