Writing Menu and Daily Special Descriptions with AI

A menu line has two jobs. It makes someone hungry, and it tells them what they'll get. AI tools are good at the first job and careless with the second.

Give it the plate, not the mood

Start from the kitchen's list. For a special that might be: slow-cooked lamb shoulder, white bean mash, salsa verde, served with flatbread. Type those words in as they stand. Ask for one line, twenty words at most.

What comes back is usually tidy and a bit glossy. You may see "succulent", "lovingly", "drizzled" or "bursting with flavour". Read for what the tool added. If you didn't say "drizzled", the plate may not be.

Wikipedia calls false or misleading output stated as fact a hallucination.¹ On a menu, that might be an ingredient the kitchen never bought. The OAIC, Australia's privacy regulator, adds that AI systems are known to produce wrong output.²

Why the match matters

Guests order from the words. If the line says house-made and the sauce comes from a tub, that's a problem for trust, and in some places for the law. The ACCC, Australia's consumer regulator, says posts on social media must be accurate and truthful, and it names the way a product is shown and described.³ That page is about social media, and it's an Australian rule. Check what applies to menus where you trade.

Leave allergens to the kitchen

Don't ask a chatbot to say a dish is "gluten free", "nut free" or "safe for" anyone. That's food safety and allergen information, and it must come from your kitchen and your local food authority. Many cafés list the dish and tell guests to ask staff about allergies. Write that part yourself.

Getting it to sound like you

Tools write in a house style that belongs to nobody. Three things move it toward yours:

• Paste in a few lines from your current menu that you like, and ask it to copy that tone.
• Say what to avoid: no puns, no "artisan", no exclamation marks.
• Ask for brevity. A dish rarely needs more than a dozen words on a café menu.

Then trim by ear. Your "Big breakfast" beats the tool's "A hearty morning feast" every time.

Daily specials

Specials suit AI well because they change daily and you're short on time. Keep a note on your phone with the usual shape: dish, one key ingredient, price. Type the day's version and ask for a one-line board version and a one-line social version.

Don't let the tool handle the price. Add it yourself once the wording is settled, then compare it with what the till charges. A wrong price on a board costs you either way.

A quick checking routine

Lay the draft beside the recipe card or prep list and tick off each noun. A word with no match on the card gets cut. A main protein missing from the line gets added.

Ask the cook or chef to read it too. They'll spot "pan-seared" on something that was baked in a second.

When to skip the tool

Your signature dish may already have wording that regulars know. Leave it. The tool is for the dull middle of the menu: sides, toasties, the third pasta. That's where a fresh line saves the most thinking time and costs the least if it's ordinary.