How to Make a QR Menu: A Step-by-Step Guide for Cafés and Restaurants

A QR menu is a square code on the table that opens your menu on the customer’s phone. It looks simple, but the code is the smallest part of the job. What matters is that the page it opens is fast, readable and current on a phone. This guide sets up the three parts in order.

1. The page where the menu lives

The QR code points to an address; what lives there decides everything.

• Uploading a PDF. Fastest. But it needs pinch-and-scroll on a phone, every price change means regenerating and re-uploading, and search engines cannot read it.
• A hosted QR menu platform. You enter items in a panel and the page builds itself. Free tiers usually carry ads, item limits or the platform’s logo; when the subscription ends, the menu goes dark.
• A custom page on your own domain. The menu lives at your address (menu.yourbusiness.com), the design is yours, price changes take seconds. It needs a setup; after that there is no dependency.

Whichever route you pick, aim for the page to open in under three seconds on a phone and for categories to switch with one tap. A customer waiting for the menu calls the waiter — and the point of the QR is gone.

2. The code itself

The code is just an image carrying an address; the tool that generates it does not matter, the address inside it does.

1. 01
   Keep the address short and permanent. Once printed, a code cannot change; if the address changes, you reprint. Services selling “dynamic QR” offer redirects, but the code dies with the subscription — your own domain is the safest permanent address.
2. 02
   Export at high resolution (SVG, or PNG of at least 1000 px). Low resolution softens corners in print and lowers scan success.
3. 03
   Leave empty space around it (the “quiet zone”); a code pressed against an edge fails on some phones.
4. 04
   Before printing, test with at least three different phones, from table distance, in daylight and dim light.

3. The table stand

Acrylic, metal, wood, sticker — the material follows your venue. The decision criteria:

• The code should be at least 3×3 cm to scan comfortably from table distance.
• Put a one-line call above it: “Scan for the menu”. A stand with only a code explains nothing.
• On tables wiped often, prefer a stand or lamination over stickers; a worn code will not scan.

Where the free route runs out

You can start today with a free QR generator and a PDF — do it, do not wait. The limits arrive later: price updates, two languages, allergen info, a “sold out today” flag, a promotion. For these, the items need to live in a panel and the page on your own address. When you reach that point, see our QR menu service or send a brief with your current menu.

Common mistakes

• Pointing the code at an Instagram post: the app opens, asks for a login, the customer leaves.
• Placing the code under the table or inside the menu card: an unseen code is never scanned.
• Printing a different code per table: unnecessary; if you want table tracking, a small parameter at the end of the address is enough.
• Forgetting phone, address and opening hours on the menu page: the same page shows up on Google, so business details belong there.