Set a good-looking plate of food in front of someone these days and FWIP! Out come the smartphones to take a photo of the culinary creation and post it on social media for all to see and envy. But apparently Chili’s wasn’t feeling like the prettiest girl at the ball, so to get more Instagram love, it changed up how it presents its food.

Chili’s Grill & Bar gave its dishes a makeover to please the Instagrammers, reports Bloomberg: Things lik serving fries in stainless-steel vessels, perching its burgers high up on the plate and using buns that look good on camera. catering to the Instagram crowd, revamped the look of its dishes to make them look better on social media.

On those pretty buns alone, Chili’s says it’s spending $750,000 a year now on an egg wash that gives the buns their new, camera-ready sheen.

“It just makes it look great. It glistens, it shines,” Wyman Roberts, CEO of Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s, told the Associated Press.

Chili’s seems to have caught on to what anyone scrolling through Instagram knows, or anyone who’s ever faced down a gleaming bowl of pho/towering plate of golden fries/inspiring landscape of tortilla chips covered in nacho cheese and tried desperately not to take a picture.

“Food is the second most photographed thing, after yourself,” Roberts told Bloomberg. “Selfies of people eating food is the sweet spot.”

At least it’s not trying to incorporate that weird trend of people who take pictures of their feet while they’re standing somewhere. Foot selfies are a mystery to me.

In Instagram Age, Chili’s Pays for Buns With Photo Appeal [Bloomberg]
Burger Selfies: Chili’s Tweaks Food to Look Better on Instagram [Associated Press]

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