Why a Sharpie menu may beat an AI-generated restaurant ad

Restaurants are increasingly using handwritten menus, custom embroidery and lo-fi photography to signal craft at a time when AI-generated marketing images are flooding social media.

Bettina Makalintal writes for Eater that restaurants are embracing visible handmade details as a response to AI-generated visual content. The shift reflects a wider cultural reaction to synthetic images that can appear polished but often contain obvious errors, such as distorted food, impossible shadows or overly elaborate event posters.

New Manhattan restaurant Somssi makes craftsmanship central to its identity. Its launch announcement showed a custom lace panel carrying the restaurant’s name, address and opening date. Inside, the venue uses vintage glassware, old lace tablecloths and curtains made with fabric collected over decades. Managing partner Ahris Kim says the Korean word “somssi” describes a skill refined through time and handwork.

The approach extends beyond high-end interiors. Superiority Burger in New York often announces specials with hand-scrawled notes photographed for Instagram. Mosquito Supper Club in New Orleans posts simple photographs of handwritten menus. Owner Melissa Martin tells Eater that writing, trimming and photographing menus makes promotion feel more personal.

Craft as a marketing signal

For restaurants, handmade visuals can communicate values that customers also associate with food: care, local sourcing and individual effort. Dean’s, a British restaurant in New York, photocopies menus written by hand each week. Co-owner Annie Shi says the practice draws on the personal feel of British pubs and may also record the restaurant’s evolution as the handwriting changes.

AI can reduce the cost and time needed to create marketing assets. But the examples cited by Eater suggest that efficiency is not always the main goal. In a crowded feed, an imperfect photograph or a paper sign can offer evidence that a person made it. For some diners, that evidence increasingly matters as much as visual polish.