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A New York City restaurant owner has gone viral after calling out a social media influencer who allegedly failed to honor a collaboration agreement. The influencer, identified as Fahmida, reportedly contacted Chef Papa Vietnamese Kitchen to request a free meal in exchange for promotional content. However, after being served approximately $200 worth of food, she never posted the agreed-upon video, and weeks of unanswered messages led the restaurant to speak out publicly.
In his now-viral TikTok video, the restaurant owner, John, explained that the woman had reached out through Instagram, introducing herself as a lifestyle and beauty content creator from New York who loved collaborating with local restaurants. After their initial exchange, where she proposed to film and promote the restaurant in exchange for a complimentary meal, the collaboration was confirmed. “We love collaborating with influencers because that’s one of our main sources of marketing,” John said. He asked when she planned to visit, and she replied that she would come in one evening at 8:30 p.m.
She Ate $200 Worth of Food and Left a $6 Tip
According to John, the influencer arrived at the restaurant and was served a $200 meal that was fully comped as part of their agreement. When she was ready to leave, she allegedly told the staff that the service and food were “great” and left a $6 tip.
However, nearly a month after her visit, no post or video about the restaurant had appeared on her page. “We reached out asking if there was an update on when the video would be posted,” he said, showing screenshots of messages sent to her between October 11 and October 17. “She never responded. We tried commenting on her posts that she was making daily. No response. We were completely ignored.”
John said he grew frustrated after several weeks with no communication. “I’ve heard nothing from her. Yet she was still posting videos,” he said. “We trusted this person to come in to record a video, and I feel like she scammed us.”
She Later Posted a Negative Review After Being Exposed
The influencer eventually published a critical review after John’s video went public, complaining that the food smelled horrible and that the service was not good, either. In the comments of her post, she replied to the restaurant saying that her dining experience was “disappointing,” claimed the food had made her feel unwell, and rated the restaurant 1.2 out of 10. She also added that she hadn’t posted about her time at the restaurant because she didn’t want to mislead her audience.
John, on the other hand, disputed her claims in the comments as well, pointing out that she had praised the food in person before leaving. “If your experience was truly disappointing, you could have easily told us after our server had asked you how everything was,” he replied. “Instead, you told us everything was great and proceed[ed] to pack everything to go.”
He also defended the cuisine in his own TikTok post, saying, “If you know Vietnamese food, you know it’s known for its strong aroma… It’s meant to be super strong. Maybe you didn’t know that because everyone has a complex palate. I won’t blame you for it. Vietnamese food won’t be for everyone.”
The Restaurant Says They Declined Her Offer to Repay $300
Following the backlash she received, the influencer sent a private message apologizing for the situation and offering to repay $300 along with creating a new promotional video. In her message, she wrote that she had been struggling with her health and had also received an “overwhelming amount of death threats.” She asked the restaurant to delete their posts about her because the situation had become “very dark” and that she was “unwell physically and mentally.”
John said that while he sympathized with her circumstances, they chose not to accept her money. “No, we did not accept her $300,” he stated. “Although it was kind of her to offer, it was too late. It would’ve felt like taking a bribe instead of proper payment for the meal. It wouldn’t follow our morals, and it wouldn’t be right to our supporters.”
He concluded by saying his intention was not to humiliate her but to bring awareness to the struggles that small businesses face when working with unreliable influencers. “If my parents didn’t have someone to do this for them, they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves,” he said. “They would have an influencer that would just bash them and create content that would be hateful toward them.”
In the comments of his posts, many netizens showed support for the restaurant and criticized the influencer’s actions. “She clearly breached the contract. You have a case,” one commenter wrote. A second remarked, “Sounds like she just wanted dinner that night.” “It’s always the micro-influencers that ask for collabs that are the most trouble,” a third said. “They really ruin it for the good ones.” a fourth added.
