High Road Restaurant Hit by Two-Month Campaign of Fake Reviews

Bronzo Sardinian victim of co-ordinated online attack

Bronzo restaurant is at 130 Chiswick High Road

April 26, 2026

A popular Sardinian restaurant in Chiswick has been the target of a sustained and apparently co-ordinated online attack involving fake one-star reviews, doctored photographs and the impersonation of both staff members and celebrity chefs.

Bronzo, the family-run restaurant at 130 Chiswick High Road, has been subjected to what owner Sara Cucca describes as a relentless two-month campaign that has caused significant harm to the business and taken a serious personal toll. The restaurant has not suggested who it believes might be responsible for the attack.

Bronzo opened in February 2024 and is the creation of Fabio and Sara, a husband-and-wife couple originally from Sardinia who previously ran a restaurant in Bristol. Fabio, a graduate of the prestigious Alma Culinary Academy, is the head chef, assisted by his brother-in-law, while Sara runs the front of house. The 36-cover dining room, which also has a garden terrace, has quickly established itself as one of the most highly regarded restaurants in the area. At the time of writing, TripAdvisor ranks Bronzo sixth out of 25 Chiswick restaurants, with an average score of 4.5 and not a single review at the lowedy rating.

According to Sara, the campaign began on 24 February this year. Since then, more than 20 fake one-star reviews and over 50 manipulated images have been posted across platforms, with new content still appearing as recently as this week. Many of the images were created using the restaurant's own photographs, altered to misrepresent the food and the premises.

Fake images posted in reviews of the restaurant

The attack has escalated in sophistication and reach. Fake accounts — some created using photographs and names taken from real people's Facebook profiles, including those of unrelated individuals and even celebrity chefs — have been used to post the fraudulent content. Sara says one account in particular has uploaded 51 photos to date, and though reviews from that account have been removed twice for policy violations, the photos remain live and the account continues to operate.

Fake reviews from celebrity chefs were posted

The campaign has also spread to neighbouring businesses. Reviews disparaging at least six other local restaurants in Chiswick have been posted under accounts using images resembling members of the Bronzo team, with the reviews referencing Bronzo by name — apparently in an attempt to damage the restaurant's relationships with fellow traders. "It felt like a way to put us in a bad position with other local businesses, almost as if we were behind it," Sara said. "Which is incredibly upsetting."

The response from the two main review platforms could hardly be more different.

TripAdvisor identified the pattern of fraudulent activity quickly and removed all the false content. The platform invests heavily in fraud detection, running reviews through automatic filters before publication and employing a team of content specialists working around the clock to identify, block and remove fraudulent material. Its decisive response has meant Bronzo's strong standing on that platform remains intact.

Google has been a different matter. Despite repeated reports over nearly two months, only a small number of reviews have been removed from the restaurant's Google listing, and none of the manipulated images have been taken down. The account responsible continues to post new material. Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Google's own stated policy is unambiguous: contributions to Google Maps should reflect a genuine experience, and fake engagement is not allowed and will be removed. The policy explicitly prohibits content posted to undermine a competitor's reputation and content exhibiting unusual patterns indicative of efforts to manipulate a business's rating. The company has said it uses automated systems to detect sudden spikes in spam reviews, and claims that when it does, it will quickly remove the fake content, pause new reviews on the profile and alert the business owner. In Bronzo's case, none of that appears to have happened with any consistency.

Sara says this is what she finds hardest to understand. "If the reviews were removed because they break the rules, why are the photos still there, when they clearly belong to the same pattern?" she asks. "Why is this account still allowed to operate?"

Sara says she hesitated for a long time before going public, not wanting to show those behind the attack how badly it was affecting her. What ultimately pushed her to speak out was seeing the fake accounts used to damage other local businesses she knows and respects.

"This has been going on for two months now," she said. "Dealing with this continuously has been mentally exhausting and deeply distressing. What I find really hard to accept is how little has been done despite all the reports."

She is careful to distinguish the targeted fake reviews from the genuine critical feedback that any restaurant receives and welcomes. "If you look at our page, you will see that we do receive genuine one-star reviews as well, and I usually respond with appreciation because they help us improve. But this is something completely different. It feels targeted, persistent, and unfair."

The case raises wider questions about the protections available to small businesses facing this kind of abuse. "If someone said these things in person, we would have the right to take action," Sara said. "It's hard to understand why the same behaviour can continue online with so little consequence."

The restaurant is continuing to pursue the matter through official channels and urges anyone who has noticed suspicious reviews on local businesses to report them to the relevant platforms.