A group of Gen-Zers have managed to fool over 100 fine diners by creating a highly exclusive steakhouse that doesn't actually exist.
On Saturday evening 140 diners were invited to Mehran's Steakhouse, thinking they had finally managed to get a spot at the most exclusive restaurant in Manhattan. In reality, it was an elaborate prank pulled off by a 21-year-old, and over 60 of his friends.
Mehran's Steakhouse was a joke created in 2021, when Mehran Jahali's 16 housemates decided to commemorate the biweekly steak dinners he'd cook them by marking their Upper East Side Home as Mehran's Steakhouse on Google Maps.
His friends and roommates left glowing reviews, resulting intrigued strangers showing up at their door trying to get a table.
Taking it one step further, Mehran made a website for their solidly booked, "revolutionary steak experience". By the end of 2022 Mehran's Steakhouse had accumulated a 2,600-person waitlist.
Mehran eventually decided to make the steakhouse a reality, recruiting friends to be volunteer staff, choosing a public-bathhouse-turned-event-space for the night, getting a one-day liquor license, food handling permits, and a 212 number to invite select wait listers to a one night dining experience at the restaurant's 'Lower East Side location'.
Whilst it was not immediately obvious that the restaurant was in fact one big joke, guests began to notice something was off as the night went on. From the sommelier being unable to open bottles of wine, to the venue being surrounded by photos of Mehran with celebrities such as Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, and JFK.
As part of the elaborate act, two waiters paraded around a gallon of whole milk, telling diners it was "intended to represent the bovine life cycle", according to New York Post reporter Hannah Frishberg.
There was also a staged crowd outside the restaurant screaming for Drake, as well as a fake proposal.
When diners got wind that the restaurant was not what it seemed many were amused, although one couple threatened Mehran with legal action after founding out Merhan's Steakhouse was "fake."
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