Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a new restaurant in Vienna that Lydia hyped up beyond belief and every meal at our table (5 of us) was just ok. I’ll give a new restaurant time to get into a groove but Lydia talked about this place like both the vibe and food were outstanding. Her OneNeighborhood Foundation gets tons of attention but as someone who works with nonprofits, it seems to have very little transparency or checks and balances regarding how money is spent. I’m not saying that Lydia is knowingly doing anything improper but one person giving away donated money at their sole discretion with little reporting isn’t in the spirit of a responsible nonprofit.

+1 I’ve always thought it is sketchy and weird. And I would never donate to it, or any of the other gofundme’s that she’s constantly begging for money for others. And now with all of the accusations on Reddit, I definitely question that nonprofit

Anonymous wrote:I went to a new restaurant in Vienna that Lydia hyped up beyond belief and every meal at our table (5 of us) was just ok. I’ll give a new restaurant time to get into a groove but Lydia talked about this place like both the vibe and food were outstanding. Her OneNeighborhood Foundation gets tons of attention but as someone who works with nonprofits, it seems to have very little transparency or checks and balances regarding how money is spent. I’m not saying that Lydia is knowingly doing anything improper but one person giving away donated money at their sole discretion with little reporting isn’t in the spirit of a responsible nonprofit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t call it a foodies group. It’s not about good food, as others have pointed out here. It was started to help restaurants local to Vienna survive the pandemic.

I’m a member, but I only use it to stay up on what’s going on in Vienna - there is a fair amount of interesting and helpful social-related posting there. Unfortunately we’ve been burned a couple of times by the reviews. Two very hyped restaurants did not live up to expectations based on Foodies’ feedback. I get that it’s a community-led effort to help local business, which makes folks who participate feel good about themselves. I just wish they’d be a little more honest in their reviews. My Indian DH didn’t like the gas station food - he found it underwhelming.

I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been more…pushback? from group members regarding prohibition against honest, transparent reviews. Lydia pushes certain restaurants so much that I sometimes wonder if she’s getting some kind of kickback.

She kicks people out of the group if they are negative.

NP but I had no idea that they didn't allow negative feedback in this group. That defeats the purpose. I won't trust the reviews anymore.

You can tell they don’t allow anything other than glowingly positive because that is all that is posted there. It is such a strange page. Never trust the posts on there.

Anonymous wrote:I’m on that FB group, and it’s so annoying the way only certain restaurants are promoted, but the flavor of the month changes. There are lots of restaurants in Vienna that you never hear about at all on that page, then people are surprised when they close. Isn’t the point of the page to talk about the small restaurants that could be struggling?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t call it a foodies group. It’s not about good food, as others have pointed out here. It was started to help restaurants local to Vienna survive the pandemic.

I’m a member, but I only use it to stay up on what’s going on in Vienna - there is a fair amount of interesting and helpful social-related posting there. Unfortunately we’ve been burned a couple of times by the reviews. Two very hyped restaurants did not live up to expectations based on Foodies’ feedback. I get that it’s a community-led effort to help local business, which makes folks who participate feel good about themselves. I just wish they’d be a little more honest in their reviews. My Indian DH didn’t like the gas station food - he found it underwhelming.

I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been more…pushback? from group members regarding prohibition against honest, transparent reviews. Lydia pushes certain restaurants so much that I sometimes wonder if she’s getting some kind of kickback.

She kicks people out of the group if they are negative.

NP but I had no idea that they didn't allow negative feedback in this group. That defeats the purpose. I won't trust the reviews anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for starting that Reddit thread, PP, what interesting info!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t call it a foodies group. It’s not about good food, as others have pointed out here. It was started to help restaurants local to Vienna survive the pandemic.

I’m a member, but I only use it to stay up on what’s going on in Vienna - there is a fair amount of interesting and helpful social-related posting there. Unfortunately we’ve been burned a couple of times by the reviews. Two very hyped restaurants did not live up to expectations based on Foodies’ feedback. I get that it’s a community-led effort to help local business, which makes folks who participate feel good about themselves. I just wish they’d be a little more honest in their reviews. My Indian DH didn’t like the gas station food - he found it underwhelming.

I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been more…pushback? from group members regarding prohibition against honest, transparent reviews. Lydia pushes certain restaurants so much that I sometimes wonder if she’s getting some kind of kickback.

She kicks people out of the group if they are negative.

Anonymous wrote:Seems like one of the local papers needs to investigate this page and its moderator.

Anonymous wrote:I want to know if the gas station Indian food is as good as they all say it is.

Anonymous wrote:There was a recent Reddit post about it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nova/comments/1gs7c2t/vienna_foodies_drama/?rdt=62197