A Toronto restaurant is at war with online reviewers after a slew of one-star reviews hurling a slew of unflattering accusations have begun popping up, and it’s impossible to keep track of what’s even going on anymore.

This might just be the most bizarre story you read today.

Bobbie Sue’s at Foxley and Ossington is a go-to spot for a piping-hot bowl of mac n’ cheese, but these days, their Google reviews are offering some controversy that’s even hotter than the mac.

It all started with a particularly vicious Google review of the business which is no longer public, that accused the employee working at the time, a 16-year-old girl, of being rude, refusing to look up from her phone, and not washing her hands before preparing the food.

Worse yet, the reviewer also alleges that she and her friend became violently ill after eating at Bobbie Sue’s, which Trei, the restaurant’s owner, vehemently denies, citing health inspections that were “passed with flying colours.”

“Upon reading [the] review I believed her,” Trei tells blogTO, “but some things didn’t add up,” which is when he decided to “put [the reviewer] in her place,” he says.

What followed was a wild response from the business, claiming the review is “BS,” claiming that the reviewer had, during her visit, walked into the kitchen area demanding service, spooking the young employee.

This exchange occurred in December, Trei tells blogTO, but the movement against Bobbie Sue’s seems to have gotten a second wind, which has reportedly been bolstered by a Reddit thread about the story, with a slew of one-star reviews having popping in recent days.

The new reviews, coming from several different accounts, range in their accusations, stating everything from “food is not good,” to the suggestion that employees of the restaurant are performing  “illicit acts” alley behind the business — all of which Trei denies.

Though he does admit that the photo included on the original review looked a little heavy on chili flakes, which was another one of her major qualms, and the only statement in the review that Trei agrees with.

“As I was about to go in I spotted the owner performing indecent acts in the alleyway. Weird. Won’t return,” reads one review.

Perhaps only adding fuel to the fire, Trei has responded to many of the negative reviews telling reviewers to “get a life,” or that their alleged experiences “didn’t occur.” 

blogTO spoke to a friend of the original reviewer, who argues that the review was admittedly negative, “but very honest and normal,” about their “really just not […] great experience,” to which they recieved what they felt was a disproportionate response from Trei.

The reviewer’s friend tells blogTO that in the response that has since been deleted (though a reported copy is circulating on Reddit,) Trei allegedly called the reviewer “pure scum,” “pathetic,” and “ghetto.”

“Sometimes all people understand is the low road,” Trei tells blogTO, “and as you can see I walk down it myself on occasion.”

In the light of this most recent wave of review-bombing, a second camp has arisen in the business’ Google reviews coming to Bobbie Sue’s defence.

“Happy to add a rating to counter the blatant review bombing,” reads one five-star review, adding “the drama surrounding this makes me more likely to come in soon.”

Another five-star reviewer writes that “there was a Reddit post trying to rally people to negative review this establishment,” and that they “have no idea what is true or not, but […] don’t think a business should be attacked by strangers who have never been to it before.”

With a rapidly disappearing trail of evidence and a slew of reviews, both good and bad, by people who have never been to the restaurant to go on, it’s hard to say who — if anyone — is in the right here.

Is this a case of an overly protective small business owner defending against false allegations, or a complaint made in earnest being blown out of proportions by the internet troll machine? I can’t say for certain, but my money’s on the latter.

What I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, is that Bobbie Sue’s has some pretty good mac n’ cheese, and if you go to try it out yourself, do let me know if you see anything indecent going on in the alley.