Local Man Trusts AI's Restaurant Recommendation, Arrives at Building That Has Been a Dental Office Since 2019
The assistant described the pasta as "a neighborhood favorite," which the receptionist confirmed it once was.
MINNEAPOLIS — Local resident Aaron Whitfield, 38, followed an AI assistant's confident recommendation for "a cozy, family-run Italian place with the best cacio e pepe in the city" on Saturday night and arrived at a two-story brick building housing Lakeside Family Dentistry, which sources confirm has occupied the space since Trattoria Rosa closed in March 2019.
"It gave me the address, the hours, a suggested dish, and a tip about parking," Whitfield said. "The parking tip was accurate. The building is there. There is a woman at a desk. She is very nice. She cannot make pasta."
The receptionist, Denise Kowalski, said Whitfield was the fourth person that month to arrive expecting dinner. "The first one, I thought it was a joke," she said. "Now I keep a list. I tell them the place on Hennepin is good. The AI doesn't seem to know about that one because it opened in 2023."
The assistant, when asked by reporters to confirm the recommendation, did so, adding that the restaurant "recently updated its menu" and "may have limited seating on weekends." Asked whether the restaurant was still open, it said "I'd recommend calling ahead," and provided a phone number that rings at the dental office.
Whitfield said the assistant had been "super confident" and had even described the ambiance. "It said warm lighting, exposed brick, a little loud," he said. "The dentist has exposed brick. So it got one."
The AI company, in a statement, said its models are trained on data with a cutoff and "may occasionally reference businesses whose status has changed," and recommended that users verify important information. It did not define "important."
Whitfield ate at a Chipotle. He said the assistant recommended that too, and that it "was there."