King Fake

He knows the first rule: stupid hats, when done right, give you authority

Thank you VICE UK:

How To Become TripAdvisor's Number 1 Fake Restaurant
Dec 2017, VICE
video link

Vice correspondant Oobah Butler becomes so good at writing fake reviews that he learns how to send restaurants to top rate, and then decides to do it to a restaurant that doesn't even exist. And then proceeds to king troll the interweb, or at least South London.

He names his restaurant after his backyard, in a most perspicacious manner, The Shed, and by appointment only. Bogus pictures of bogus food (made with shaving cream; because regular cream is too expensive?) named after bogus things like "moods" (because if they were "horoscopes", he would have to do 12), and all in his bogus restaurant/back yard.

Followed by expertly calculated fake reviews and voila:

From the bottom of 18,149 to the top at #1, it took only months for him to realize he should probably call back some customers and have a proper night.

They don't pay, because they're told it's experimental, and they eat microwave food, and they like it. Who doesn't like macaroni and cheese?

You know what else people like? Not knowing things. They didn't know where the restaurant was located, and whether they could ever get a seat. Like lingerie, the less he told them the better. They get all excited and fill in the blanks themselves.

Then the real reviews of the fake restaurant come rolling in. And that's it, experiment over. Social engineer extraordinaire. Bravo.