The secret Yelp reviews for California’s top politicians have been revealed — and former gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter did not hold back.
Posts reportedly penned by the state’s most powerful leaders, including Karen Bass, former LAUSD chief Alberto Carvalho, Jennifer Newsom and Senator Alex Padilla, emerged this week.
The majority were five stars for visits to sites such as dinner spots, pet stores, massage parlors and medical facilities.
But firebrand former congresswoman Porter bucked the trend, writing extended essays tearing into a masseuse, a taxi firm, a hair salon and a pizza shop.
According to LA Material, Porter wrote in 2017 about Massage Heights in Sherman Oaks: “If you want consistent good service, and want to patronize a place that treats employees with respect, I would never recommend this.
“I cannot continue in good conscience to be a patron, even though it is a very convenient location and a nice facility.”
She alleged the business had serious management problems, claiming employees who left the spa were treated unfairly and customers were left scrambling when therapists departed.
She continued: “Note that almost 1/3 of reviews written are ‘not recommended.’ Management is hiding a serious problem. I was a member here for over six years, so consider my depth of experience with this place in how you judge this review.”
Two other places she reviewed—Tony Pepperoni Pizzeria and Irvine Yellow Cab, which has since permanently closed—also suffered, receiving two-star and one-star ratings.
On the pizza shop she visited in July 2013, she posted: “Horrible service on delivery. I ordered at 4:39. I am told 35-40 min. I call to check at 40 min. Driver on way. I call again at 5:31—52 minutes later.
“He says driver will call me. He doesn’t. I have 20 angry hungry kids! Pizza was decent when it arrived. But allow ample ample time.”
On the cab company, she wrote: “I had a horrible experience with this company. I called the night before to book the cab for 6am. At 6:03, no cab so I called to check–“5 minutes away.”
“Called again at 6:11–put on hold and disconnected. 6:15, told that original driver had never responded to call do they’d try someone else. It would be 5 minutes.
“6:28: Re-installed 3 kids car seats, loaded luggage in my car, and drive frantically to SNA. I was parked and trying up lug my 3 preschoolers and our stuff through parking lot for 7:15 flight when–at 6:35–driver says he is a few blocks from my house. Ludicrous! I would have missed my flight but for it being delayed. I will never use this company again.”
Asked about her reviews on Thursday morning, Porter simply told The Post: “The Yelp reviews are what they are.”
Meanwhile current California Sen. Alex Padilla had some harsh words for “JESSICA,” the stylist assigned to his son for a haircut at the Northridge location of Great Clips, a chain hair salon, in September 2018.
“I’ve been to this location many times with each of my sons and am usually happy with the results. It’s a given that each visit and each stylist is a little different, but tonight we had what I can genuinely call a terrible experience,” he wrote.
“JESSICA, the stylist my son was assigned to, had a very bad attitude, was impatient with my son, who is a pretty easy child, and she clearly does not know how to cut hair. I do not recommend you let Jessica cut your hair or your child’s hair. And I hope she gets more training.”
At the time Padilla wrote the review, he was serving as California’s 32nd secretary of state.
Rivals who are set to face off against each other in November’s Los Angeles mayoral runoff may not agree on many things, but one thing they have in common is leaving a streak of five-star reviews at places where they have eaten or received services.
Both incumbent Karen Bass and Councilwoman Nithya Raman left five-star reviews. Bass left two—one for the UCLA Dental Practice and another for Amy’s Angels Cleaning—while she was serving as the U.S. representative for California’s 37th Congressional District. Raman left a five-star review for Tea Drops, a café.
Other political figures, including First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, left limited reviews consisting of a simple five-star rating.
The Post also contacted the businesses where Porter left one- or two-star reviews, but they did not respond to requests for comment. Massage Heights declined to comment.
