Public service announcement, restaurateurs of the greater St. Louis area: Rumors are coming in that a fake Riverfront Times food critic is on the loose. She's out to wine, dine, opine -- but she ain't got no byline.
Here's how an e-mail from our tipster began: "i was wondering if anyone has ever asked about a lady that shows up at bars ( i have seen her a few times at diff restaurants/bars) and she tells everyone she is a writer for RFT, she has always been hammered/so drunk and loud, so rude."
At first, truthfully, our hearts dropped. Things get...rowdy from time to time in the company of RFT scribes. But as the e-mail went on, this incident sounded weirder and weirder.
See also: -Busted! Scamwich Artist Unmasked by Local Restaurant Owners -The Scamwich Artist Returns to Frida's Deli
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Our tipster says she first noticed the woman when she entered Billy's Roadside Bistro (1826 West Pearce Boulevard, Wentzville; 636-332-0556) because she already appeared to be drunk. The woman ordered a vodka and some food, then made it clear to the bartender and anyone in earshot that she was a food writer for RFT. She then apparently began dictating her forthcoming review out loud: Terrible atmosphere, crummy-looking crowd, the fact that she'd been sent "all the way out here."
"She just wouldn't stop," says our witness, a regular at Billy's (adding that it's "one of the best places I've been to").
F-ayle Greene picked at her food when it arrived before sending it back. The tipster says she ordered more, nibbled at it when it arrived, then told her server to send it over to the guys playing darts -- good enough for them, but not for her.
Fed up with her rudeness, the regular patron asked if she could see this so-called critic's business card. Things escalated from there.
"She got defensive. She called me a bitch and then she left," says our witness. "She could barely walk out of there."
