Obviously he's never been to a family style restaurant. Someone people like to see how much food they'll be getting...
shareMy guess is that there are a few reasons. Ones that leap to mind are that it's a staple of chain/fast food places, and that the food you get will never look like the picture on the menu.
shareAlso, unless you are going to make the menu pages 11 x 17 sheets, the only pictures you could fit in would be teeny little thumbnails which give you no idea what the food actually looks like.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
I think the real reason is that he just wants to make snarky comments about EVERYTHING, so all of a sudden he invents this "rule" that he doesn't like menus with photos.
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Adversity does not build character. It *reveals* it.
Honestly, I think it's what was mentioned above: pictures on menus is something that chains and fast food restaurants normally use. When you think of a fast food restaurant you think: grab and go. The food at these places is usually frozen or pre-made. Also, the food probably can never really look like what's displayed on the menu. How many times has an actual Big Mac differed from what was on display.
Also, I think it costs more to mark up a menu with pictures and Mom & Pop places probably don't have the money to afford it (esp. the businesses Gordon visits since they are drowning in debt).
I think the real reason is that he just wants to make snarky comments about EVERYTHING, so all of a sudden he invents this "rule" that he doesn't like menus with photosCorrect, unless it's one of his own menus (like that of the Ramsay Pub and Grill) which has a photo of himself on it.
Actually, the answer to that one is pretty simple:
It's very difficult to take photos that make food look appetizing. That is why you have various professionals who specialize only in making such photos (food photographers and, yes, even food stylists).
Unfortunately, most restaurants owners do not possess such photography skills and end up taking unappetizing photos like these, which look ghastly:
http://naplessp.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/pasta-2.png
In addition, having photos in menus can, to be honest, be quite tacky.
Finally, it opens the door to customer complaints from guests who would ask for a comp every time the meal they get differs ever so slightly from the photo.
You're really going to hold up "family-style restaurants" as some sort of standard bearer?
Well, don't. Chili's, Applebee's, Olive Garden, and the lot are just a half-step above McD's.
I think you and I have different definitions of a family style restaurant. I'm taking about Chinese restaurants where a person orders different dishes, and everyone shares them.
When you look at the pictures in the menu, you can tell how much food you would be getting instead of having to ask the waiter. You want to make sure you order the right amount of dishes to feed the entire family.
I've never seen a Chinese restaurant with pictures on the menu.
shareA lot of casual Chinese restaurants have photos of the food behind the counter on a large board.
shareYes, of course. And on the menus, too, very often. Especially where communication might be an issue. In fact, outside of Denny’s/IHOP, Chinese (-American) restaurants might be the most common places to see a menu with photos.
So don’t mind PK Larkins. She is an old (judging by her Woolworth’s comment) Midwesterner who sees very little but often claims her not having seen or heard of something as some kind of proof that it doesn’t exist.
Your film gods: Lee Van Cleef and Laura Gemser
Chili-P
Robert Irvine on Restaurant Impossible once said that it's cheaper to have clearly described food items on a smaller menu that can be easily replaced when they get old or dirty.
Ramsay and Irvine have also said that if you want you place to feel classier you have to do what the higher end restaurants do. Simple typed menus, no pictures, no glossy surfaces.
A menu with pictures screams, "Woolworth's lunch counter."
shareThere was an episode of K.N. where I think Gordon said he hated to see pictures of food in the menu because they are typically done poorly making the food look worse than it actually tastes. There are some chefs who are known to get irate when a customer posts snaps of their food online, because of the same reason. What often looks good on the plate in person doesn't always translates to a quality photograph that makes the food look good.
shareI've been taking pictures of my meals for years and they always look like crap. And yes, Gordon did say exactly that in one of the eps. I like pictures on menus cause i'm kind of ignorant about what stuff is and if it has a fancier name than "hamburger" I have no idea what i'm ordering. Especially so in mexican/asian places.
"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"
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