Woman's 1‑Star Tamale Review Goes Viral-Restaurant Owner Reveals Truth
One woman’s review of a Mexican restaurant has exploded in popularity, being shared across multiple social media sites, and each time racking up tens of thousands of likes and comments.
If you spend much time online, you’ve likely seen it flooding social media in recent days. It’s simple and effective: A woman named only as Rebecca O leaves a one-star Google review on a restaurant’s page, complaining: “Absolutely awful tamale. It was chewy, stringy, and I couldn’t even bite through it.”
Then she leaves a second review, this one with full stars, and writes: “OK, I was just told I’m not supposed to eat the cornhusk. That just changed the whole experience.
“Seriously the best thing I’ve ever tried omg. Sorry I don’t know how to delete my other review, my bad.”
The review has gone viral on Threads, where user @jonschneiderman shared it to more than 16,000 likes; on Instagram, a post from @pubity has more than 300,000 likes, and across Facebook, where multiple posts have racked up several thousand likes each.
But it originated from The Tamale Store, a family-owned restaurant and marketplace based in Phoenix, Arizona, who shared the post on January 29 with the caption: “It’s OK Rebecca we forgive you.”
Newsweek spoke to Pauline Alvarado, chief marketing officer and one of the owners of the store, who said she “cannot believe how viral [Rebecca] became.”
But there’s a twist-one that marketers and social media workers around the world can only dream of: Rebecca O isn’t real.
Alvarado explained: “Rebecca O actually came from my imagination. We receive this complaint from new customers all the time. They are not always sure how to eat a tamale and sometimes start with the corn husk.
“In our 18 years in business, I cannot count how many Rebecca O's we have had. I wanted to showcase that in a lighthearted and funny way!”
Explaining how she came up with what has become one of the biggest viral memes of 2026, Alvarado told Newsweek that as she’s in charge of social media and marketing, she’s always trying to find creative ways to promote the store, which “can be challenging.”
“The idea came from a woman who purchased a hot tamale the day before and came back to complain. When I went to see which one she had been eating, I realized she had eaten part of the corn husk. We both laughed, and I gave her another tamale on the house so she could try again. That moment inspired the Rebecca character,” she said.
“Although she is made up, she represents many first-time customers!”
A well-done marketing ploy can cement a company in history, and make the brand bigger than ever. In 2012, Red Bull sponsored Felix Baumgartner’s jump from space, which became one of the most widely-viewed marketing events of all time as millions watched him jump from 128,000 feet.
The marketing for horror film The Blair Witch Project is almost as famous as the iconic film itself, as it led viewers to believe it was a true story: the movie received $248.6 million at box office, compared to a $35,000 budget, according to a report from Stanford Business.
And the 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money and awareness for ALS worked better than anyone could have predicted, as families across the world took part, and raised more than $115 million for the ALS Association, according to the charity’s website.
While Alvarado may not have sponsored a man to jump from space, or raised millions for The Tamale Shop, her own marketing ploy certainly got the restaurant noticed, as thousands commented on her original post taking it at face value.
One wrote: “That’s amazing. Welcome to the wonderful world of tamales, Rebecca!”
“I think having the first review kept there makes her second review even better,” another laughed, as one wrote: “I wish there was a video of Rebecca eating the tamal with the husk. Rebecca, are you here?”
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This story was originally published February 16, 2026 at 12:18 AM.