AI Food Photos on Menus: When Meat Looks Like a Belt and Bread Like Reptile Skin
At lunchtime, Jill Sennett, a nurse in Denver, was scrolling through her phone when she came across a menu from a Jamaican barbecue pop-up. The image of the meat looked less like food and more like strips of leather, with what appeared to be tiny beetles crawling on top. She snapped a screenshot and shared it with her 26,000 followers on X. The reaction was swift—over 500 retweets, with many echoing her disgust.
"Eating is one of the most fundamental human experiences," Sennett said. To her, restaurants using such "terrifying, weird, and unappetizing" images signals a troubling cultural shift. Yet, with limited lunch options nearby, she eventually ordered the chicken and mac and cheese anyway.
Sennett isn't alone in her reaction. Across the country, diners are encountering AI-generated food photos on menus and marketing materials—and they're not shy about voicing their displeasure. The images often look off: meat that resembles rubber, bread that looks like reptile skin, or dishes that seem to have an unnatural sheen.
Restaurants, meanwhile, say they're turning to AI to save money. With food and labor costs climbing and profit margins shrinking, AI offers a cheap way to produce appetizing visuals. A 2026 report from the National Restaurant Association found that 26% of restaurant owners are using AI for marketing, inventory management, staff scheduling, menu optimization, and order processing.
But the backlash can be intense, especially in tech-savvy areas like the San Francisco Bay Area. At a café called Grind & Unwind, an AI-generated menu sign sparked such outrage that someone spray-painted graffiti on the storefront wall. Lindsay Losano, who identified the graffiti as "seriously," later removed the sign and spent about $700 to repaint the wall. On Reddit, a post titled "Yum, slop" mocked the café's bread, with commenters comparing it to reptile skin or a loofah.
Why do these images provoke such strong reactions? Professor Charles Spence, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, conducted a 2024 study that found something intriguing: when people didn't know images were AI-generated, they often preferred them. But once they learned the truth, the appeal plummeted. Spence also noticed that AI tends to add fat—like extra butter on mashed potatoes—when asked to make food look more appealing. That could subtly influence both diners and chefs, nudging them toward larger portions and higher-fat choices.
Professional photographer Jamie Soya points out that AI often stumbles on food texture. "The color, texture, and arrangement of ingredients always look a bit off," he says, and the lighting often feels unnatural. Delivery platform DoorDash offers an AI image tool that lets restaurants tweak lighting, color, or background, but it automatically labels such images as "AI-enhanced." The company's policy prohibits creating or modifying misleading menu images.
Hunter Lewis, editor-in-chief of Food & Wine, believes this technology shouldn't be noticeable to diners. "American diners are smart; they know what they want and what is real," he says. Some restaurants are capitalizing on that sentiment by openly pledging never to use AI. A restaurant in Wyoming even wrote this commitment on a signboard and posted it on Instagram, earning over 200,000 likes.
So, is AI-generated food photography a passing fad or a lasting trend? For now, it's a delicate balance between cost-saving and customer trust. As one diner put it, "If I wanted to eat a belt, I'd go to a shoe store."
Key Points:
- Diners are repulsed by AI-generated food images that look unnatural, like leather-like meat or reptile-skin bread.
- Restaurants use AI to cut costs amid rising food and labor expenses.
- A 2026 report shows 26% of restaurant owners use AI for various tasks.
- Studies reveal that knowing an image is AI-made reduces its appeal.
- AI tends to add fat to food images, potentially influencing preferences.
- Some restaurants proudly avoid AI, earning customer appreciation.