Possibly a bug?

Another possible bug, though not sure on this one:

I've added a few reviews and each one almost instantly had a user recommendation.
I know my reviews are good, but not usually that good. Could it be the site is automatically generating a user recommendation upon publishing?

probably gives it a recommendation because you yourself would recommend. but it could be a bug. i'd change your subject to match your question so others will maybe confirm.

Every review starts with your own recommendation, but that recommend doesn't actually get factored into the whole 'most helpful' stuff its just there for display purposes.