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The #1 Restaurant in London Never Existed. Here’s What That Means for Your Brand.
In 2017, a freelance writer named Oobah Butler pulled off one of the greatest pranks in internet history. Armed with a burner phone, a garden shed in his backyard, and a knack for deception, he created a fake restaurant — The Shed at Dulwich — and got it to the #1 spot on TripAdvisor.
No food. No staff. No real customers. Just a myth with the right kind of story.
People begged for reservations. Influencers offered exposure. PR firms sent invites. One couple even showed up at the front gate with a bottle of wine, hoping to get in.
But here’s the kicker: none of it was real.
And that’s exactly why it worked.
The Mechanics of the Scam
Oobah didn’t invent a scam restaurant out of boredom. He did it because he used to get paid to write fake reviews for real restaurants. So he knew exactly what TripAdvisor’s algorithm prioritized — and more importantly, what people believed.
Here’s how he made the lie feel real:
