How to make a QR code menu for your restaurant

Updated 2026-10-24 · DishPage

A QR code menu lets diners scan a code on the table and read your menu on their own phone. Done well, it saves reprinting costs, shows a photo for every dish and lets you change prices in seconds. Done badly, it frustrates people. Here is how to do it well.

1. Get the menu content right first

Write dish names the way your diners say them, and add the local name where it helps (for example, Nati Koli Saaru, country chicken curry). For every dish, check:

• the price, including every size (half and full, 3 pieces and 6 pieces);
• the veg, egg or non-veg mark;
• one short line for any dish a first-time diner might not know;
• a clear note on whether prices include taxes, and any parcel charges.

2. Choose a web menu, not a PDF

A PDF of your printed menu is quick to make, but on a phone it loads slowly, the text is tiny and diners have to pinch and zoom. Google also struggles to read it. A proper web menu fits the phone screen, loads fast on mobile data, can be searched and filtered, and can be found on Google. See our comparison of QR, printed and PDF menus.

3. Add photos diners can trust

Real photos of your own dishes work best (our phone photo guide shows how). If you use AI illustrations to fill gaps, say so on the menu. Diners forgive an illustration; they don't forgive feeling misled.

4. Make the QR code work in the real world

• Size: a code needs to be at least about 3 cm across to scan easily from a seat. A common rule of thumb is that people scan from about ten times the code's width.
• Contrast and finish: dark code on a light background. Use matte lamination; glossy plastic reflects tube lights and makes scanning fail.
• Words beside the code: “Scan for menu” and the short web address underneath, for anyone whose camera won't scan.
• Placement: where diners look while waiting: the table centre, the entrance and the counter.
• Test: scan with a few different phones, Android and iPhone, under your actual restaurant lighting.

5. Keep it alive

The biggest advantage of a digital menu is that it can stay current. Update prices the day they change, mark dishes sold out instead of disappointing diners, and put today's special at the top. Once a week, look at how many people scanned and which dishes they opened.

Mistakes to avoid

• Linking the QR code to a file in Google Drive: permission settings often block diners.
• Free “dynamic QR” services that expire after a trial or show adverts before your menu.
• Tiny codes on glossy stickers, or codes placed where they get wet or scratched.
• Old prices: a digital menu that is out of date loses trust faster than a paper one.

Some diners will always prefer paper. Keep a couple of printed menus for them; the QR menu is for everyone else.