Delis are going viral for horrifying AI-slop menus. I called one to try to understand why they did it.
A menu of AI-generated sandwiches in Chicago.
Chris Murphy Delis and other restaurants are using AI to make menus.
The results are often horrifyingly unsettling, like perfectly round shrimp.
I asked one deli in Chicago why they used AI for their menu — and they had a reasonable answer.
Chris Murphy said he was on his lunch break from his job as a server at a restaurant in downtown Chicago when he walked to the nearby Chi-Town Deli to buy a sandwich.
As he scanned the menu, he noticed something unsettling: All of the images were actually AI-generated monstrosities.
AI has tragically struck my local deli.
Reuben in particular looks like vomit pic.twitter.com/oITqDoqlmG — dropchris1000 (@dropchris1000) August 27, 2026 "Immediately I clocked [AI use] from the glossy sheen, the sameness of every sandwich, that weird lettuce that looks like it's made of bricks, and the horrifying Lovecraftian Reuben sandwich that they were all pictures of AI monstrosities," Murphy told Business Insider.
I called the Chi-Town Deli and talked to manager Ali Malik.
He told me that the AI-generated sign was made by an employee and was put up several weeks ago while they wait for the delivery of a new sign with real photographs.
The creepy AI Reubens are a placeholder for now, he said.
So at least in the case of the Chi-Town Deli, the answer to the question, "Why would anyone OK such obviously sloppy AI?" appears to be: "Because it's only temporary and doesn't matter that much." This is genuinely one of the worst ai shop horror food menus I’ve ever seen and I have to pass it almost every day on the way to work pic.twitter.com/dM7myJt6si — Julia 🤝 (@REMARKSIST) August 27, 2026 This does seem to be part of a larger trend — many other restaurants and delis are using AI for menus and signs.
And customers seem to hate it.
People have been sharing online photos of very clearly AI-generated food on menus, ranging from humorously uncanny to downright nauseating.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.businessinsider.com — the content belongs to Business Insider.
