Pics or it didn’t happen
The SF Chronicle’s restaurant critic asks a good question: What happens when the photos don’t match the review?
When a restaurant review opens with a warning about the bathroom, you know it’s going to get spicy. But the most interesting points — or questions — in MacKenzie Chung Fegan’s recent review for the San Francisco Chronicle came in a follow-up story: How do photos play a role in reviews? When it comes to photographing restaurant dishes in the context of a review, what’s fair to both restaurant and diner?
The recent review in question lambasted San Francisco’s newly reopened Park Tavern for its food and service. The review included a photo taken by Fegan of what she calls, "the worst steak of my life,” in the headline. It shows a steak covered in limp baby kale, shot in a style familiar to anyone with an iPhone (top-down in imperfect lighting.) It is decidedly unappetizing. Point made.
Later in the review, Fegan debates the historical merits — but does not include a photo — of a different menu item, a three-piece order of “jw Red Pepper Pancakes.” It’s a signature dish attributed to noted chef and Park Tavern collaborator Jonathan Waxman, topped by “a minuscule dab of caviar.” Fegan likes it fine. But later, after a Chronicle photographer shot the dish (which is a routine practice for the paper), it looked different: four pancakes were topped with a “reasonable, even hearty” portion of caviar, Fegan writes, a big discrepancy from her own experience.
In the follow-up titled, “I published a negative review. Here’s the controversial photo you didn’t see,” Fegan shared the pro photo, probably deemed controversial by her editor because it didn’t accurately depict the reviewer’s experience. They went to Yelp for a fact-check, where diner-submitted photos didn’t match the pro photo, either. The Chronicle chose not to run the photo alongside the review, holding it for the follow-up.
Thanks to our love of documenting restaurant food, we’re all carrying a ton of photographic evidence in our pockets. A number of recent studies indicate that reviews that include photos that match the content — in this case, Fegan’s steak image, but not the pro pancakes photo — make a review significantly more helpful to readers.
Yelp, a company that’s synonymous with online ratings, has introduced a host of features meant to properly contextualize its reviews with photos, including surfacing user-uploaded photos of popular dishes based on the context of a restaurant’s reviews. The company’s own data suggests that businesses that upload their own photos to their pages, along with accurate contact information, average over 7 times more monthly views from consumers.
In this example, those images are sources of truth.
“I heard from a prominent SF restaurateur who said he pays way more attention to the photos on Yelp, etc, than he does to the words. I tend to agree,” Fegan told me over email. “I don’t know a Yelp power user from Adam, but the user-generated photos often speak volumes.”
Reviews, especially online reviews, have become contentious.
Last week, Italy introduced draft legislation to regulate online reviews of hotels and restaurants. It would require reviewers to provide ID and proof that they visited the place they’re reviewing. It’s a potentially heavy-handed effort to address bogus and solicited reviews; while welcomed by the country’s tourism minister, other industry groups worry a ban on anonymous reviews will drastically reduce the amount of information available about hospitality businesses.
Stateside, Former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan released finalized rules around fake reviews last year. The rule prohibits false reviews and other associated behavior, like paying for followers or intimidating customers in order to prevent or take down a bad review. But the FTC’s rules offer little on how such prohibitions would be enforced. Notably, online platforms are not required to confirm reviews on their platform are legit. It’s still unclear how and if this might change under the Trump administration, which has already announced significant changes under new FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson.
What else?
President Trump is trying to pick a fight with chef José Andrés again. Despite a dramatic social media “firing” of Andrés by Trump (Andrés was a Biden appointee made co-chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition), the chef and World Central Kitchen founder says he resigned after his two-year term ended. — The Hill
The two men have clashed in the past, most notably around a restaurant Andrés planned for the property that would eventually become the Trump International Hotel in Washington. (Andrés pulled out of the project after Trump made inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants, a lawsuit ensued and was settled.) But then the Trump Hotel became the Waldorf Astoria, and Andrés opened The Bazaar in its lobby in 2023. Now, there are apparently talks to revive the Trump International, but Andrés’ restaurant group says they have no plans to change operations, “regardless of hotel ownership.” — Washingtonian
“Sorry to OpenTable and Resy, but this simply is not enough.” What responsibility do restaurant tech companies have toward their customers in times of crisis? — Tap is fine
Restaurant workers bring unique skills to the LA fire crisis. Yes, the hospitality business keeps showing up. — New York Times
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The Simmer is back for 2025! The year’s first episode features loyalty expert Zach Goldstein, founder and CEO of Thanx. I always appreciate Zach’s insight.