Businesses with ugly AI menu redesigns

A beloved local Filipino/Hawaiian spot tried to give its menu a glow-up with AI-made food pictures, and the internet responded with the digital equivalent of flipping the table. The original diner’s complaint was painfully relatable: the actual food was comforting and delicious, but the menu art looked like nightmare fuel. The biggest mood in the comments? If a business uses weird fake food images, customers instantly assume the place is cheap, lazy, or cutting corners. One commenter flat-out called AI signage a new warning label for “low-effort, low-skill output,” while another said it screams the same vibe as a dollar store. Ouch.

But the drama wasn’t totally one-sided. A few people admitted they’ve softened a little: ugly menus have always existed, whether they were made with chalk, Microsoft Word, or now AI. In that view, bad design doesn’t always mean bad food; sometimes it just means the owners care more about what’s in the kitchen than what’s on the page. Still, the snark won the day. People joked they’d rather read a menu in Comic Sans, Papyrus, or Curlz than stare at uncanny spam and adobo that look like they were cooked by a haunted printer. The funniest, bleakest punchline came from the crowd predicting a future where handmade comfort food and handmade menus are both luxury items. That one stung because everybody knew exactly what it meant.