I like to order by picture. Denny's and McDonald's do that very well.
Last week we went to Russo's at 91st and Yale and their pictures looked exactly like the dishes we were served. I tipped extra just for that reason.
I would like to do everything by picture. If my voting precinct had pictures of the candidates I would vote by looks as well.
There is actually quite a bit of research on that. You are in the majority.
There is actually a saying in the the food marketing industry "Gazing Leads to Grazing." Here's how it works. . . When you look at a menu, your eye will follow a predetermined pattern. Your first item of focus will be whatever is pictured on the center-right-side of the menu. This is where the restaurant puts their signature (and most expensive item). It's called "The Hero Spot." If you pass up center-right, your next choice will be the item pictured directly below it (this is what they want you to order).
This has proven so strong that most restaurant marketing firms will advise their clients to place their most expensive item center-right and their highest profit margin offering just below it with an image that is about 30% smaller. The first photo will get you excited and the second provides the "reasonable" alternative. The restaurant wants you to choose one of these two.
The second item is smaller but will typically ofter more variety and have more descriptive text (additional sides, combinations, and additional descriptive terminology) and takes advantage of what is called the
Affect Transfer Effect. When you are hungry this is very powerful and basically means that the photo and description triggers a very basic impulse in the (animal) mind to justify ordering a large quantity of food, and because it's less expensive than the GIANT photo above it, the customer feels like they are further justified by getting quantity and variety at a good price (even though the restaurant's margin is more).
Menus with pictures are an excellent study in marketing psychology and the practice is quite refined and interesting. It was my favorite topic of study in a class called Images & Ikons I took in college.