The founders of a fake restaurant that pranked hundreds of New York diners into thinking they had secured an exclusive reservation now say they hope to pull off more such stunts in the future.
21-year-old tech startup founder Mehran Jalali hosted a pop-up evening this weekend for more than a hundred guests who thought they’d been off the year-long waiting list – after the keen home cook jokingly listed his apartment on Google Maps as a restaurant which earned him rave reviews from his friends.
About 140 guests arrived at a swanky East Village eatery Saturday night to discover that Mehran’s Steakhouse was actually a prank — but one so successful that there might be more to it.
“Mehran’s Steakhouse is a once-in-a-lifetime wonder, but we hope it won’t be a one-hit wonder,” Jalali said. “We hope to do all sorts of fun things over the years.”
Mehran and his roommates Riley Walz and Danielle Egan, who live in a group home on the Upper East Side, spoke to about how they turned their joke into a profitable reality.
Mehran Jalali (right), 21, Riley Walz (left), 21, and Danielle Egan (center) pranked a hundred New York guests by setting up a fake steakhouse and said they hope to do more stunts in the future close
The three invited more than 60 friends from around the world to help organize a pop-up night of the fake restaurant Mehran’s Steakhouse
About 140 guests arrived Saturday night to discover that it was actually a prank at Mehran’s Steakhouse
Jalali’s friends also briefly appeared outside, calling out to pop star Drake as if he were eating at the restaurant to pique the interest of passersby
“I moved there in November and started cooking steaks for people about every two weeks,” Jalali said.
It was so good that Egan created a Google Maps listing and Walz left a five-star review in March 2021.
“The best steak I have ever eaten in my life,” Walz wrote.
“More friends joined in and within a few weeks we had about a couple dozen, probably reviews, and people were showing up,” Jalali said.
Jalali’s roommates and friends flooded review sites with effusive praise for the fake restaurant, and strangers began rushing through her door looking for seats.
“Somebody came through our door and said, ‘Hey, I’d like a steak.’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’” Jalali said.
It happened so often that Walz created a website and a waiting list for the steakhouse.
“And then I created the website. And from there it became more and more real,” Walz said.
“It took more than a year and a half of this kind of gradually becoming more and more real until we came to the conclusion that we should actually just do this.”
Neither of them had any previous restaurant or cooking experience, but they began researching and visiting several steakhouses.
Jalali and Walz booked a venue — formerly a public bathhouse — in the East Village and had their friends, mostly college students and tech dropouts, fly in from around the world to help.
“Basically every single person said yes, they flew in from Canada. They flew in from Mexico, they flew in from the West Coast. “There were so many friends and they helped us do all the work to make this happen,” Jalali said.
“It was truly a group effort,” Walz said. “Everything was homemade by us, except for the gluten-free food, just because we had to make it safe for everyone.”
“The massive overstaffing was also like a meme in itself,” Egan said.
“What we lacked in expertise, we made up for in overstaffing,” agreed Jalali.
The fake restaurant’s pop-up evening ended with 65 waiters serving a hundred guests.
“In the end we didn’t quite break even because there were really unexpectedly large amounts of rain that led to some cancellations,” Jalali said.
“But it was pretty good. “We didn’t spend excessively.”
As guests entered the steakhouse, they saw fake photos of Jalali posing with celebrities such as Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy.
Walz also staged a crowd pretending Drake was eating at the restaurant to pique the interest of passersby.
“We invited some of our friends to go outside and rented this like a velvet rose on the sidewalk.”
“They were like 20 people standing outside in the rain behind me.”
“I just bought some blank posters and markers,” Walz said. He told them to pick a celebrity and see what happens.
Shortly after 8 p.m., a large crowd began screaming for pop star Drake as if he were eating at the restaurant.
The fake restaurant’s pop-up evening ended with 65 waiters serving a hundred guests, resulting in a massive overstaffing
The Google reviews for the restaurant are also increasingly exaggerated. One claims that Chef Mehran was “God among men.”
Once seated, they were presented with a 15-inch laser-etched woodcut informing them of the details of their upcoming meal
“People said they wouldn’t change a thing about the steak,” Jalali said
“It was really funny because people walking by in the neighborhood or going to the restaurant for reservations thought that Drake might have been inside.”
“I think we convinced about 10 people in the neighborhood that they thought Drake was actually inside,” Walz said.
“And then the New York Fire Department did some kind of routine inspection in a building next door.
“There’s a fire truck parked in front of the building and firefighters in the truck are talking to them.”
“It was just a really fun moment out there.”
Shortly afterwards, two of Jalali’s friends proposed marriage as a joke.
The restaurant’s motto was “The Bovine Circle of Life,” which once involved servers pouring glasses of whole milk as if it were wine.
“We had the idea of having a theme for the menu. So if you make it ridiculously big, it’s also a circle, which is weird,” Egan said.
“Originally I just wanted to do anything cow-related, but that probably wouldn’t be a good experience.”
“And we basically want to find the balance between a good experience but also fun,” she added.
The makers of the fake steakhouse said they hope the evening won’t be a “one-hit wonder.”
“I think we had a lot of fun with it, honestly,” Egan said.
“People said they wouldn’t change a thing about the steak,” Jalali said.
However, according to the New York Times, reaction to the meal was evenly split: diners praised the steak Jalali prepared, but others sent their steak back.
The restaurant’s reviews on Google are also increasingly exaggerated, with one person claiming that Chef Mehran is a “god among men.”
Alex Lamper wrote: “Mehran’s Steakhouse is not just a restaurant, it is a life-changing experience.”
“I was a staunch vegan and believed that a plant-based diet was the only way to live a moral and healthy life.
“The moment I took my first bite of steak in this heavenly establishment, my eyes were opened to the truth. The tender, juicy flesh was like a revelation, a taste of divinity.
“And then there was Chef Mehran. He is not just a chef, he is a visionary, a genius, a god among men.
“The steak he served us was a work of art, a symphony of flavors, a masterpiece of culinary excellence.”
One guest even claimed he ordered the Surf n Turf, prompting Mehran to respond, “This review is not about Mehran’s Steak House.” “We provide a premium dining experience and do not serve ‘Surf n Turf.’
“I just thought it was really funny, especially because when you read their reviews you feel like they’re so exaggerated and ridiculous,” Egan said.
“They’ll talk about how we take a cow to the back and slaughter it and, you know, do the proper religious prayer over it.”
“There was one that was written like a fanfiction of Mehran, how he was wise and how they felt at peace.”
“I thought it was ridiculous to find out what was going on,
“Or they just didn’t even look at the reviews and just thought it was five stars and then bothered to put a name on the website.”
“Someone else could send me some concert tickets. “I’d much rather spend it on this rather elaborate project.”