Restaurants are increasingly turning to AI-generated images of food for menus and marketing, drawing criticism from diners who find the results unappealing or even off-putting. Consumers have shared images of leathery, beetle-flecked meat and bread resembling reptile skin, with viral posts prompting widespread mockery, while restaurateurs defend the practice as a cost-saving measure amid high food and labour prices.

A 2026 National Restaurant Association report found 26% of restaurant operators use AI for tasks such as marketing and menu design. Backlash has been particularly sharp in the Bay Area, where a San Francisco cafe's AI-generated signage was vandalised, costing the owners around $700 to repair, while a Denver restaurant manager admitted using ChatGPT instead of a graphic designer to cut costs. Industry figures, including Food and Wine's editor-in-chief, argue AI should remain invisible to diners since poor imagery can seriously damage a restaurant's appeal, and some businesses, such as Wyoming's Chugwater Soda Fountain, have won praise online for publicly rejecting AI in favour of hand-drawn imagery.