MELBOURNE — Revenge is a dish best served…barbequed?

A Korean BBQ restaurant in Melbourne, Australia, gained attention online for a banner that the owner of the restaurant supposedly penned to his ex.

“Hey Sophia, you broke up with me because I was poor,” reads the sign in front of the yet-to-open Chingu Korean BBQ restaurant in Caroline Springs.

“Now I have money to open a Korean BBQ, are you regretting it now?”

The picture, posted last Tuesday (March 19) on Reddit, gained traction on the r/Melbourne subreddit, receiving over 200 comments as of Tuesday afternoon.

Netizens picked sides between Sophia and the restaurant owner, while others called it out as a clever marketing stunt to drum up anticipation for the restaurant’s opening. It is not known when the eatery will start operating.

“Revenge is a dish best served barbecued,” Reddit user “fulham_fc” wittily quipped. 

A second added: “She got skewered.”

“Roasted,” said a third.

Meanwhile netizens on “#TeamSophia” are questioning if there is even money to be earned from the food and beverage business.

“This person doesn’t know that there’s no money in the food industry,” wrote one Redditor.

Another said: “Plot twist: Guy’s business fails within the first six months…Sophia puts a sign up on a pedestrian overpass.

“Sign reads: ‘I knew you were a loser’.”

Others believed Sophia wouldn't lose any sleep over her ex's success: “I don't think Sophia will be able to see that from her new boyfriend's yacht.”

For those on Sophia’s side, the sign only confirmed that she had dodged a bullet.

“I think this is just depressing for the guy,” said Redditor “FranticFetus”.

“The fact he needs to do this other than move on for someone better just proves he will never be happy in his life.”

User “FormerlyKnownAsBeBa” concurred: “She made the right decision…The fact that he can't enjoy his success without some pitiful attempt to rub it in his ex's face is just sad.”

Another joked: “The food must be…extra salty!”

Finally, a third camp theorised that the sign was a clever marketing ploy to generate buzz for the restaurant's opening.

“It's 100 per cent an advertising gimmick. There's no Sophia. And it worked,” said user “buckleyschance”.

Despite the theatrics, most saw it for what it was: a cheeky marketing stunt.

“Honestly, in an age of shock value for engagement, this one is pretty harmless so play on I think,” one Redditor said.

“2cmZucchini” summed it up into a mini-lesson on how to grab eyeballs in advertising: “Today's generation advertises in a different way since Wendy's opened up the can of worms by being sassy and snarky on their social media.

“People here are now having a laugh and spreading it around to their friends and family to have a laugh, unknowingly spreading around an advertisement for free.”

Fast food chain Wendy’s is known for its spicy Twitter (currently known as X) roasts of its competitors and followers.

In 2018, it famously engaged in an online rap battle with rival Wingstop which ended with a 5-track diss album produced by the fast food chain titled "We Beefin?".

One track even topped Spotify’s global viral chart.

Riding on the coattails of Chingu Korean BBQ’s viral banner, another local business put up a sign of their own. 

“Yo, Korean BBQ, don’t worry about Sophia,” read the decal stickers plastered on the shop front of Gotham Donuts in Caroline Springs.

“We have all the dessert you need right here!”

Last year, a group of nine women in China gatecrashed their ex's wedding, holding a banner that declared that they will "destroy" him. 

In the same year, a bride in China reportedly seated all her ex-lovers at the same table during her wedding banquet which was labelled with a placard: “table for ex-boyfriends”.