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When you don’t have any expectations, you can’t get disappointed. But when there’s an advertisement for a delicious meal shoved right up in your face but you get served a big pile of cheap-looking cooking, you can’t help but get angry.
Nobody expects picture-perfect food at restaurants. However, some of these meals are so incomparable to their ads, Bored Panda just had to show you side-by-side examples. Check them out below, upvote the most egregious cuisine lies, and let us know about the times when a restaurant has made you swear like a souped-up version of Gordon Ramsay.
We’re not talking just about fast food here. Restaurants in seemingly good standing are also known to violate the most basic tenet of human relations ever: don’t mess with someone’s food. (Though, come to think of it, can you really expect anything good from places that have pictures of food on their menus? Kidding! Haha! Just kidding! Please don’t hurt me, Picture Menu Restaurant Mafia.)
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My "Cookies And Cream Stuffed French Toast" From Ihop
RELATED:
#2
I Ordered Bruschetta From My Local Pizza Shop
#3
Cheese Fries From Buffalo Wild Wings
As I see it, there are two main problems when it comes to sloppy reality being far from the picture-perfect gourmet meals you expect to receive. And they have a lot to do with our expectations. The problems are all about the actual cooking standards and the way food adverts can raise our expectations too high.
The first issue is very human: sometimes, the people making your food don’t 'five a guck' about what you’ll get served or they mess up and decide to put the meals out anyway. They might be overworked and burned out. Or they might be lazy and inattentive.
The solution here is simple (and incredibly hard at the same time)—the kitchen staff need to find the inner motivation to take pride in their work. Meanwhile, management needs to maintain acceptable standards. If you wouldn’t eat something you make, why would you expect your customer to? It’s better for the food to be late but presentable instead of rushed and disappointing.
#4
This Steak Salad That Looks Nothing Like It's Advertised
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
The second looks like when you throw all the leftovers in the fridge together at 2 am because you have the munchies
#5
This Is So Outrageous
Erin Presley-Froemke 4 years ago
Jameson and Ginger had been online dating for a while, when the day came where they would finally meet.....
#6
Subway Pizza
The second problem, however, is directly related to how things are advertised. What you see on the menus are the ‘perfect’ versions of meals that restaurants want you to see. While some restaurants go for amateur snaps, others go all out and hire professional food stylists to turn grub into glamor shots.
Food styling is an art. Pros can end up using a whole array of tools, from tweezers and tape to blowtorches and paint. So when you take so much time and effort to create a work of art, can somebody in the kitchen who is under pressure really deliver something that’s comparable? Sometimes? Yes! Always? Dear Lord, no.
#7
Menu vs. What They Served Me. No, Millennials Didn’t Kill Appleby’s, They Committed Suicide
#8
Taco Bell’s Grande Stacker Box
#9
Burger King Grill Dog Cheddar And Bacon
#10
Part Of A $3.50 School Lunch. Picture On The Menu And What Was Served
#11
A Texas Sized Disappointment
#12
The 3 Pieces Of Lettuce Was A Nice Touch I Guess
#13
Dreams Were Dashed At The Airport
#14
Grilled Salmon At The Mall Food Court
#15
Expectation vs. 2020
#16
Taco Bell, I Try To Love You, So Why Do You Treat Me This Way??
#17
Restaurant’s Charcuterie Board As Advertised vs. What I Got
#18
Damn, I Am So Looking Forward To Eating This Delicious Burger With Copious Amounts Of Guacamole, Just As Advertised, And Then- Oh Wait..
#19
Tim Hortons New Fruit Loop Donuts
#20
Jack In The Box Tacos
#21
Thanks KFC, Totally What I Expected
#22
Fungi Toastie From Subway
#23
Arby's Bacon Beef 'N Cheddar
Phoebe Bean 4 years ago
So... they don´t "have the meats" after all... (as opposed to the Arby´s tv commercials declaring "We have the meats")
#24
The Tempura Green Beans Looked Delicious On The Menu. I Think They Fell A Smidge Short
#25
The Burger I Ordered Tonight
#26
I Know It's Airline Food, But Sweet Baby Jesus United Airlines, Why Would You Let Someone Pay $10 For This?...
Idk Katniss Potter 4 years ago
Excuuuuuse me, the one in the add looks delicious
Load More Replies...
Nadine 4 years ago
Last time my husband and I took a flight, it was really late at night and we decided to buy food from the menu. We bought the cup of instant ramen, lol! At least it didn't disappoint!
Yoshie Inara 4 years ago
At least when you have instant noodles, you know what you're getting isn't lying to you XD
Load More Replies...
Louchebert 4 years ago
'Miss, do you serve barf sandwiches?' "O but of course good sir. How many would you like to order?" 'Well, guess just one will do the trick.' (and it did)
Mae (just add water) 3 years ago
I had airplane chicken tenders once... they were the crispiest most delicious tender tenders i have ever had. And the side sauces... 👌
Johanne Trudeau 4 years ago
Post-pandemic, they'll be charging $30.00 for the same sandwich...
Tina Harbour 4 years ago
You can't tell me no one realizes EVERY single food photograph has been styled to look amazing?!?? Get real,people! Food never looks like the promotional pics!
Sylas Lockwood 4 years ago
is that crushed up soggy shredded wheat with barbecue sauce because thats what it looks like
#27
This Is Why You Check Your Food Before You Leave The Restaurant...
#28
So I Bought This New Burger From Burger K!ng...
#29
When Reality Doesn’t Meet Expectations
RaroaRaroa 4 years ago
Eww. These must all be franchisee run businesses skimping for the biggest profit. I can only assume they live in highly populated areas where they can still survive, even if no one ever goes twice.
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
The problem is that a lot of takeaway joints use props to advertise their food and what is pictured is not actually all food. They make the burgers, pizzas, tacos etc out of numerous things not just food. For example the patties are often undercooked to make them look juicier, the buns are meticulously chosen and sometimes the sesame seeds are glued on. They also use cardboard, pins and special placements to make the foods look bigger and better. Some places even advertise ice creams using mashed potato. Don’t forget the advertisers also use photoshop.
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 4 years ago
I think they use elmers glue for mayo.
Load More Replies...
Rose the Cook 4 years ago
Most of these are from fast food franchises so the product will vary from owner to owner. They all use cheap unskilled labor anyway so it is unrealistic expect quality.
BusLady 4 years ago
Also, the manager may be telling them to use X amount of the ingredients because of pressure from the owners, who want to build their own profits. It will also affect the manager's salary.
Load More Replies...
MiniMaus 4 years ago
Most of these 'what I really got' pictures are also not real. They've been altered to look bad for the sake of the posting. I eat at a few of these places and the food looks good
Soggy Crumpet 4 years ago
I was thinking the same thing. Some of the “reality” photos look staged or they altered the order.
Load More Replies...
Naomi Armitage 4 years ago
I wish I knew this was a thing--I would have submitted my Giant Meatball from Olive Garden. It was the ONLY reason I even went there in the first place. What I got looked more like meat sauce on spaghetti.
Davor Jelacic 4 years ago
Insta return, some exceptions due to bad lighting but majority looks inedible
Dorothy Parker 4 years ago
Food stylists spend hours making the foods for ads look delectable. They use vaseline, food coloring, toothpicks, glycerin, etc. The poor chef in real life has twenty seconds to fill the order.
John Baker 4 years ago
a) Who actually expects the real thing to look like the ad photos, and b) I just don't buy most of these. No Subway in my town would serve that whatever the hell it is to a paying customer.
Peter Kelly 4 years ago
These are not issues of the product not matching the promotional image, but rather that they are truly disgraceful. No food should ever be served that looks that disgusting.
Lis Daglish 4 years ago
I do think there is a level here of Managing your Expectations....a lot of these are exactly what I would EXPECT to get from a fast food franchise / delivery having seen the promo pic Then, there are the ‘send it back immediately’ examples - I feel for the limp espresso martini recipient.
Dl B 4 years ago
Exactly. They expect cheap and they expect gourmet. You can't have both. If you want a meal like is in the picture go to a high end restaurant and pay for it. If you buy from a food truck or a mall food court take what you get and be glad you do not live in a third world country where you can't even get that kind of food.
Load More Replies...
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
The food in the adverts is expertly made with precision. I've seen modellers construct the items; every minute detail is taken of. They are genuinely made by food artists. That is why the food you get will never look like what you anticipated. Never. Also, as someone has already commented, most of these are franchises and you can see where they have reduced the fillings to gain more profit.
Call Me Mars 4 years ago
I understand why some food may not be up to par, but these are jut sad. If you love your job, why not take the time to put some love, and in these cases, time, into waht you make? I can understand fast food restraunts, but for somebody who has opened their own, make food IRL look presentable. Before you serve it to someone else, think "whould I want to eat that?" Thank you!
Anne 4 years ago
These are all fast food places (or semi-fast food). They don't get time, they have a certain amount of seconds in which they are expected to create a food item. And that's a very challenging amount. So they don't have time to make it look like the pic, or even remotely like a food item at some cases..
Load More Replies...
Samara Morgan 1 year ago
Don't buy from them anymore and tell everyone how they're scamming people.
Lena Flising 3 years ago
I worked at McDonald's in the 90's in Sweden, and yes, the pictures didn't look exactly like the hamburgers, because the pictures were of stone-cold food, to make it look plump, and the ingredients were all put in front, so you could see what was in them. The amount of foodstuff were still the same between the pictures and what was on the tray, at least in the restaurant I worked in. I looked for differences like that here, but the comparisons weren't even in the same ballpark, or (sometimes) in the same city.
Christel Nellemann 4 years ago
Well. Most of these foods are garbage mixed with additives of all categories to begin with, the fake photoshopped pictures fit the concept. Beware of those lying adds and go for actual food stuff instead.
Lorelei Michael 4 years ago
Why do people do this stuff just for money like for instance what if someone was about to pass out because they hadnt eaten in a while and they pay 20 dollars for food and it looks and tastes like abselute crap and they dont eat and pass out while driving then cause 10 cars to crash just because they didn't do their job correctley like this needs to stop or be illiegal and this is coming from a 10 year old even i am smart enough to know this kinda stuff like geez you have job just at least try to do it correctly. Thank yall all for listiening
Edwin Quantrall 4 years ago
This is why I don't do fast food -- or, indeed, *ANY* restaurant food -- anymore. 🤢🤮
Thomas Mills 4 years ago
It is f*****g unbelievable the s**t we put up with. Nobody holds their feet to the fire. False advertising in the biggest way. And for some reason thats ok. Well f**k no its not
Barbara Vandewalle 4 years ago
The awful actual results look like either 1. they were not trained how to make the food as it is supposed to be. 2. the person did not care just so long as they got rid of the customer.
Tammy Ralph 4 years ago
Most of these are just disgusting, I hope people gave that crap back and demanded their money back.
Russian Otaku 4 years ago
Fun fact you can always go and demand it to be better. I've done that plenty of times. Even walked out of this fancy looking but ultra shitty as f**k "restaurant" after the f****d my stuff up a second time after waiting for over 30 minutes
GenovevaDParks 4 years ago
Google paid for all online work from home from $ 16,000 to $ 32,000 per month. The more youthful sibling was jobless for a quarter of a year and a month prior her check was $ 32475, working at home for 4 hours per day, and procuring could be much greater… . So I started…….https://xurl.es/qxneo
Ayyan Ali 4 years ago
I feel that is among the most significant info for me. And i am happy studying your article. But wanna observation on few normal things, The site style is wonderful, the articles is truly nice : D. Good job, cheershttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/09/job-in-pakistan-airforce.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/09/public-sector-organization-gov-peshawar.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/09/jobs-in-pakistan-navy.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/10/pir-mehr-ali-shah-arid-agriculture_7.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/10/office-assistant-tehsil-municipal.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/10/guard-district-education-authority.html
Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 4 years ago
This kind of marketing should be considered false advertising. Stock photos, and photos of inedible doctored up "food" (can it really be called food when it has varnish sprayed on it, glues added, or other behind the scenes trickery) completely misrepresents what's being sold.
Thalia Lovering 4 years ago
Are these restaurants all in the US? I live in Greece and even McDonald's don't try to fool us this way.
Tiffany Marie 4 years ago (edited)
I think it's funny how this is actually normal yet everyone keeps going back and paying high over priced items from the menu. Plus you're expected to also pay a tip!! I hate going out to eat, tired of dropping $30+ on one nights worth of fast food that sucks and makes you fat and has little nutrients. They rip you off and its bad for your health. But, people do it daily.
Seabeast 4 years ago
These pictures are mainly of fast food, where tipping isn't expected.
Load More Replies...
Sent From The Slytherin House 4 years ago
This was so yucky, there is really nothing else to say.
d bradley 4 years ago
i'm a bit suspicious of stuff this bad, 'cause nobody would ever go in those joints
Ivana 4 years ago
If there was ever an argument for learning to cook at home. You know what is cheaper, faster, and taste better than eating at a fastfood joint of chain restaurant? Cooking at home. I haven't eaten at a fastfood chain or restaurant chain in years because I can cook everything at home cheaper, better, and faster. Only time fastfood is an option to me is when you are traveling long distances.
Kenny Kulbiski 4 years ago
Not especially shocking. I've never ever had a fast food meal that looked even remotely like its advertisements. If I go through the drive through and get the same thing I ordered I consider it a minor miracle.
Loveyiii 4 years ago
I was going to order take out for dinner this evening. This article made me decide to cook dinner at home.
Monika Soffronow 4 years ago
Do you want GREAT fast food? Go to Greece and avoid all the big chain names, especially the American ones but not only, and the food is almost always very, very good. The same goes, I believe, for most countries outside the big "first world, developed" countries where a lot of fast food has become so downgraded at the altar of profits from scaling up that it no longer should be called food.
Monika Soffronow 4 years ago
Two Seriously meant questions: WHY do people still choose to buy what in essence is substitute food from these places? More importantly, WHY DO THEY FEED IT TO THEIR CHILDREN???
Rainclouds Radio 4 years ago
The lesson here is to not by food from places that have photos to advertise it
JeanBean_BC 4 years ago
Don't speak in absolutes. I live in America, but stuff like this is practically like a once a year thing. And even if I decide to order something, it's not gonna be crap like this anyway. Yeah, sure I eat meat but even that's not always appealing to me. I'm sure thousands of other people feel the same way I do. So shut up.
Load More Replies...
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
The problem is that a lot of takeaway joints use props to advertise their food and what is pictured is not actually all food. They make the burgers, pizzas, tacos etc out of numerous things not just food. For example the patties are often undercooked to make them look juicier, the buns are meticulously chosen and sometimes the sesame seeds are glued on. They also use cardboard, pins and special placements to make the foods look bigger and better. Some places even advertise ice creams using mashed potato. Don’t forget the advertisers also use photoshop.
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 4 years ago
I think they use elmers glue for mayo.
Load More Replies... Rose the Cook 4 years ago
Most of these are from fast food franchises so the product will vary from owner to owner. They all use cheap unskilled labor anyway so it is unrealistic expect quality.
BusLady 4 years ago
Also, the manager may be telling them to use X amount of the ingredients because of pressure from the owners, who want to build their own profits. It will also affect the manager's salary.
Load More Replies... MiniMaus 4 years ago
Most of these 'what I really got' pictures are also not real. They've been altered to look bad for the sake of the posting. I eat at a few of these places and the food looks good
Soggy Crumpet 4 years ago
I was thinking the same thing. Some of the “reality” photos look staged or they altered the order.
Load More Replies... Naomi Armitage 4 years ago
I wish I knew this was a thing--I would have submitted my Giant Meatball from Olive Garden. It was the ONLY reason I even went there in the first place. What I got looked more like meat sauce on spaghetti.
Davor Jelacic 4 years ago
Insta return, some exceptions due to bad lighting but majority looks inedible
Dorothy Parker 4 years ago
Food stylists spend hours making the foods for ads look delectable. They use vaseline, food coloring, toothpicks, glycerin, etc. The poor chef in real life has twenty seconds to fill the order.
John Baker 4 years ago
a) Who actually expects the real thing to look like the ad photos, and b) I just don't buy most of these. No Subway in my town would serve that whatever the hell it is to a paying customer.
Peter Kelly 4 years ago
These are not issues of the product not matching the promotional image, but rather that they are truly disgraceful. No food should ever be served that looks that disgusting.
Lis Daglish 4 years ago
I do think there is a level here of Managing your Expectations....a lot of these are exactly what I would EXPECT to get from a fast food franchise / delivery having seen the promo pic Then, there are the ‘send it back immediately’ examples - I feel for the limp espresso martini recipient.
Dl B 4 years ago
Exactly. They expect cheap and they expect gourmet. You can't have both. If you want a meal like is in the picture go to a high end restaurant and pay for it. If you buy from a food truck or a mall food court take what you get and be glad you do not live in a third world country where you can't even get that kind of food.
Load More Replies... Steve Barnett 4 years ago
The food in the adverts is expertly made with precision. I've seen modellers construct the items; every minute detail is taken of. They are genuinely made by food artists. That is why the food you get will never look like what you anticipated. Never. Also, as someone has already commented, most of these are franchises and you can see where they have reduced the fillings to gain more profit.
Call Me Mars 4 years ago
I understand why some food may not be up to par, but these are jut sad. If you love your job, why not take the time to put some love, and in these cases, time, into waht you make? I can understand fast food restraunts, but for somebody who has opened their own, make food IRL look presentable. Before you serve it to someone else, think "whould I want to eat that?" Thank you!
Anne 4 years ago
These are all fast food places (or semi-fast food). They don't get time, they have a certain amount of seconds in which they are expected to create a food item. And that's a very challenging amount. So they don't have time to make it look like the pic, or even remotely like a food item at some cases..
Load More Replies... Samara Morgan 1 year ago
Don't buy from them anymore and tell everyone how they're scamming people.
Lena Flising 3 years ago
I worked at McDonald's in the 90's in Sweden, and yes, the pictures didn't look exactly like the hamburgers, because the pictures were of stone-cold food, to make it look plump, and the ingredients were all put in front, so you could see what was in them. The amount of foodstuff were still the same between the pictures and what was on the tray, at least in the restaurant I worked in. I looked for differences like that here, but the comparisons weren't even in the same ballpark, or (sometimes) in the same city.
Christel Nellemann 4 years ago
Well. Most of these foods are garbage mixed with additives of all categories to begin with, the fake photoshopped pictures fit the concept. Beware of those lying adds and go for actual food stuff instead.
Lorelei Michael 4 years ago
Why do people do this stuff just for money like for instance what if someone was about to pass out because they hadnt eaten in a while and they pay 20 dollars for food and it looks and tastes like abselute crap and they dont eat and pass out while driving then cause 10 cars to crash just because they didn't do their job correctley like this needs to stop or be illiegal and this is coming from a 10 year old even i am smart enough to know this kinda stuff like geez you have job just at least try to do it correctly. Thank yall all for listiening
Edwin Quantrall 4 years ago
This is why I don't do fast food -- or, indeed, *ANY* restaurant food -- anymore. 🤢🤮
Thomas Mills 4 years ago
It is f*****g unbelievable the s**t we put up with. Nobody holds their feet to the fire. False advertising in the biggest way. And for some reason thats ok. Well f**k no its not
Barbara Vandewalle 4 years ago
The awful actual results look like either 1. they were not trained how to make the food as it is supposed to be. 2. the person did not care just so long as they got rid of the customer.
Tammy Ralph 4 years ago
Most of these are just disgusting, I hope people gave that crap back and demanded their money back.
Russian Otaku 4 years ago
Fun fact you can always go and demand it to be better. I've done that plenty of times. Even walked out of this fancy looking but ultra shitty as f**k "restaurant" after the f****d my stuff up a second time after waiting for over 30 minutes
GenovevaDParks 4 years ago
Google paid for all online work from home from $ 16,000 to $ 32,000 per month. The more youthful sibling was jobless for a quarter of a year and a month prior her check was $ 32475, working at home for 4 hours per day, and procuring could be much greater… . So I started…….https://xurl.es/qxneo
Ayyan Ali 4 years ago
I feel that is among the most significant info for me. And i am happy studying your article. But wanna observation on few normal things, The site style is wonderful, the articles is truly nice : D. Good job, cheershttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/09/job-in-pakistan-airforce.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/09/public-sector-organization-gov-peshawar.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/09/jobs-in-pakistan-navy.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/10/pir-mehr-ali-shah-arid-agriculture_7.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/10/office-assistant-tehsil-municipal.htmlhttps://onlinepkjobs4all.blogspot.com/2020/10/guard-district-education-authority.html
Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 4 years ago
This kind of marketing should be considered false advertising. Stock photos, and photos of inedible doctored up "food" (can it really be called food when it has varnish sprayed on it, glues added, or other behind the scenes trickery) completely misrepresents what's being sold.
Thalia Lovering 4 years ago
Are these restaurants all in the US? I live in Greece and even McDonald's don't try to fool us this way.
Tiffany Marie 4 years ago (edited)
I think it's funny how this is actually normal yet everyone keeps going back and paying high over priced items from the menu. Plus you're expected to also pay a tip!! I hate going out to eat, tired of dropping $30+ on one nights worth of fast food that sucks and makes you fat and has little nutrients. They rip you off and its bad for your health. But, people do it daily.
Seabeast 4 years ago
These pictures are mainly of fast food, where tipping isn't expected.
Load More Replies... Sent From The Slytherin House 4 years ago
This was so yucky, there is really nothing else to say.
d bradley 4 years ago
i'm a bit suspicious of stuff this bad, 'cause nobody would ever go in those joints
Ivana 4 years ago
If there was ever an argument for learning to cook at home. You know what is cheaper, faster, and taste better than eating at a fastfood joint of chain restaurant? Cooking at home. I haven't eaten at a fastfood chain or restaurant chain in years because I can cook everything at home cheaper, better, and faster. Only time fastfood is an option to me is when you are traveling long distances.
Kenny Kulbiski 4 years ago
Not especially shocking. I've never ever had a fast food meal that looked even remotely like its advertisements. If I go through the drive through and get the same thing I ordered I consider it a minor miracle.
Loveyiii 4 years ago
I was going to order take out for dinner this evening. This article made me decide to cook dinner at home.
Monika Soffronow 4 years ago
Do you want GREAT fast food? Go to Greece and avoid all the big chain names, especially the American ones but not only, and the food is almost always very, very good. The same goes, I believe, for most countries outside the big "first world, developed" countries where a lot of fast food has become so downgraded at the altar of profits from scaling up that it no longer should be called food.
Monika Soffronow 4 years ago
Two Seriously meant questions: WHY do people still choose to buy what in essence is substitute food from these places? More importantly, WHY DO THEY FEED IT TO THEIR CHILDREN???
Rainclouds Radio 4 years ago
The lesson here is to not by food from places that have photos to advertise it
JeanBean_BC 4 years ago
Don't speak in absolutes. I live in America, but stuff like this is practically like a once a year thing. And even if I decide to order something, it's not gonna be crap like this anyway. Yeah, sure I eat meat but even that's not always appealing to me. I'm sure thousands of other people feel the same way I do. So shut up.
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