Ethos, an entirely AI-generated restaurant that only exists on social media pages and a website, went viral the other day when Andreessen Horowitz’s partner Justine Moore posted about the would-be Austin restaurant.
“This restaurant does not exist. Ethos, which claims to be Austin’s #1 restaurant, has 72k followers on IG. It seems normal until you realize the photos of the food + venue are AI. The posts get thousands of likes and comments from people who have no idea,” she wrote.
The restaurant first gained attention last year, when Austin Monthly wrote an article noticing the account, which had also come to the attention of other, real Austin chefs who found it funny and were wondering who might be behind it.
At the time, restaurateurs in the area praised it.
“It’s a playful version of what’s to come,” one chef told the magazine, while another speculated that it could be the brainchild of a local pop-up restaurant impresario.
But despite generating no food waste, not everybody’s thrilled about the ecological impact of the restaurant.
“this is an awesome reason to make the earth really hot,” replied one person to Moore’s post, referring to the energy demands of image generation.
Ethos’ Instagram page now has just under 75,000 followers and it celebrated the extra attention by posting images of a Twitter bird-themed macaron.
But despite all the recent buzz, it’s still unclear who is behind the account.
The restaurant’s “24/7 General Manager Giuseppe Fusilli” doesn’t have any answers.
“Greetings! I wish I could help, but I can’t,” Fusilli, who is a chatbot, said when asked about its owners. “That sucks.”
The restaurant has been posting images of its wild culinary creations since March last year. Its offerings include gargantuan shrimp:
And Van Gogh’s Starry Night as a macaron:
And monster croissants, purportedly prepared by the restaurant’s chef, Baker Ben.
The restaurant also boasts recognition from the prestigious James Beard Foundation and inclusion in Austin’s top five restaurants to be “poopoo peepee in” for 2023. It also offers a Valentine’s Day special where diners are encouraged to bring their anime dolls in for a buy one, get one free offer.
Ethos wasn’t actually on the James Beard Foundation’s 2024 list of award-winning restaurants and chefs.
But the 2023 “poopoo peepee” list includes a restaurant called Buford’s, which might be a clue as to who is behind Ethos. The restaurant referenced Buford’s in at least one other post promoting an “epic night” in partnership with Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden.
That restaurant is real. It appears on Google Maps and has a laundry list of Yelp reviews from over the years.
Buford’s didn’t immediately respond to questions asking about its involvement with Ethos, and Ethos didn’t respond to questions about the association either.
Outside of giant shrimp and satirical posts about the restaurant’s gratuity policy, Ethos also offers celebrity guest bartenders.
The AI-generated images Ethos posts advertise a Jeff Bezos bartending night, where the e-commerce billionaire serves a series of Amazon-themed drinks:
There is also Elon Musk night, where the SpaceX CEO serves “stellar cocktails”:
It even managed to hire “Jason Mimosa” as a bartender, who looks suspiciously like the guy who played Duncan Idaho in Dune and Aquaman in Aquaman.
At Ethos, “Mimosa” has “been making waves with his incredible skills and dedication!” the restaurant posted in an “employee spotlight.”
“Cheers to Jason for reigning supreme behind the bar! And hey, with his Aquaman-like charm, our drinks are always a splash hit!”
While many were baffled by why someone might do something like this, one so-called AI accelerationist thought it was the perfect way to build an audience before selling the account to a real restaurant.
“Here’s why,” they wrote. “1. Build up an audience with AI. 2. Sell the account to a similar restaurant. 3. Delete the posting history and rebrand it as the buyer’s restaurant.”
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