This is uber-deceiving.
Sarah Stusek, who runs @sarahshooots on TikTok, claimed that food delivery apps are catfishing customers, but fear not, because there’s an easy way to tell.
“A lot of small businesses do it,” she said in the viral video posted on Nov. 17 with 3.8 million views, but also pointed out that large chains moonlight as other restaurants, too.
The 33-year-old claimed the fraudulent behavior in which eateries are posing as virtual restaurants is happening on several food apps but highlighted UberEats in her video. Using addresses of unknown establishments, she claimed that a single brick-and-mortar space can sometimes operate a number of “delivery only” operations under different names.
The hack to tell? Google the address and see if it leads back to an established eatery.
“My favorite thing to do is get on a delivery app and anywhere I haven’t seen before Googling the address and see what it really is and what they’re hiding,” she said.
Stusek then presented a lineup of restaurants on the food delivery app and compared the advertised restaurants’ addresses to establishments that actually reside there.
“So here we have Burger Den at 5501 Leesburg Pike,” she said. “I’ve never heard of the Burger Den before.”
She then revealed that the burger joint wasn’t at that address but a familiar chain diner instead.
“5501 Leesburg Pike… It’s a Denny’s,” she claimed.
The Post has reached out to UberEats for comment.
Stusek also exposed another restaurant disguised as “Denny’s” allegedly called “The Meltdown.”
“It’s still Denny’s. They’re just posing as multiple different brands,” she added.
“Chili’s,” another popular franchise restaurant, has also jumped in on the virtual kitchen scam, according to Stusek.
“Have you ever been to ‘It’s Just Wings’ because it’s just a Chili’s,” she claimed.
As The Post previously reported, many small businesses in New York City participate in virtual restaurants, too.
An Upper East Side deli located at 1741 First Avenue is advertised as 27 different restaurants across UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub, Seamless and DoorDash.
On those platforms, it’s listed as First Avenue Gourmet Deli, Hero Sandwich Shop, Bosscat Cheesesteaks, The Pancake Snob, Wraps on Tap, Insomnia Buffalo Wings, Panini Fantasy, Jasmine’s Coffee Bar and 20 other restaurant pseudonyms.
Each restaurant has a similar menu, but the price difference compared to the actual kitchen is nearly $10.
Stusek’s eerie revelation had many people spooked, declaring they felt bamboozled.
“My husband fell in love with a pizza place called Pasquallys. Ordered it all the time,” confessed one watcher. “We were eating Chuck E. Cheese pizza.”
“It confuses delivery drivers too. We walk around in circles looking for ‘Nonnas kitchen’ whenever it’s a damn Domino’s,” a food delivery driver commented.
“I refuse to order from ghost kitchens out of principle, haha like how dare you try to bamboozle me,” declared another.
Earlier this year, UberEats announced plans to remove 5,000 online-only brands from the app over concerns that restaurants offering multiple delivery options are taking over the app with identical menus.
This move is to give merchants a fair shot at user attention and promotes quality over quantity to provide the best options for users, UberEats told The Post in March.
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