If you're on the internet, how far would you go to commit to the bit? For a few friends in New York City, an inside joke of owning a steakhouse actually evolved into a one-day pop-up event that had real New York foodies fooled. Enter Mehran's Steak House, which, while on Google Maps, is not a true-to-form restaurant where you can sit down, order a glass of Pinot Noir, and chow down on some porterhouses and New York strips.
How did the fake Mehran's Steak House come to be?
According to New York Times Cooking, Mehran's Steak House started merely as an inside joke. A group of friends went on Google Maps and named the house they were living in together Mehran's Steak House after one of their friends, Mehran. To keep the joke rolling, they also started leaving fake, albeit excellent, reviews of the fake restaurant. The roomies realized New Yorkers actually thought they were a real steakhouse, and they furthered the prank with a website.
The site garnered a waitlist of 900 people. Honestly, these people have clearly never deep-dived into a restaurant's social media and scoured Yelp just to check out the menu for hours on end before, like yours truly.
How did the fake Mehran's Steak House actually come to life?
The roommates and friends of Mehran's Steak House decided to bring the joke to life and actually rent out a venue space for one Saturday night in New York City. They planned out and cooked a four-course meal (according to the life of the cow) and served 140 guests who applied on the site's waitlist. Food included a mixed green salad with lemon dressing, bruschetta with mozzarella, ribeye with rosemary potatoes, devil's food cake, and angel food cake.
TikTok user @spicytunarena shared a video about the original Mehran's Steak House roommates — her friends Riley, Danielle, and of course, Mehran, himself.
According to the TikToker, the group have been planning for two years to prank the fine diners of New York with the "elaborate scheme." Frankly, I think it's brilliant, and I love a joke on metropolitan elite eaters.
Aside from planning and cooking the meal in a venue space, the crew made an unforgettable dining experience with other details. They had friends stand outside with signs as if a celebrity was inside, there was a fake proposal, and Mehran's photoshopped face adorned the walls with celebrities.
According to the New York Times, the friends were not paid, but they definitely deserve to be. After all, they toasted thousands of bruschetta bread slices in a mini toaster oven. I hope the 140 lucky diners left a nice tip because these Gen Z friends worked hard to make their memes come true.