A QR code for your menu
Last updated 2026-11-02
A menu QR code is a link QR code with one extra problem: menus change. Prices go up, dishes come and go, and the table cards stay where they are. Plan for that before you print a hundred of them.
Put the menu somewhere first
The code does not hold the menu. It holds an address, and the menu has to be at that address. Common options:
- A page on your own website. Best for customers: fast, readable on a phone, and your domain shows when they scan.
- A PDF. Easy to make, but it opens slowly on mobile data and needs pinching and zooming. Keep it small and make it one column if you can.
- A shared document or drive link. Works, but check it opens without a login in a private browser window. This is the most common reason menu codes fail.
Avoid pointing the code at a social media page. Many open with a login prompt and the menu buried under posts.
Static or editable
If your menu always lives at the same address, and you just update the page or replace the PDF at the same URL, a plain static code is fine.
If the address may change (a new PDF file name each season, a new site, a different ordering system), use an editable short link. You change where it points from your account and the cards on the tables keep working. It also tells you how often the code is scanned, which is a rough count of how many tables actually used it.
Table cards
- Size: people scan table cards from close up, so around 3 to 4cm square is usually enough for a short link. See minimum size for a QR code.
- Say what it is: a line like "Scan for the menu" next to the code. A bare code gets ignored. The generator's label field can print a caption under the code.
- Mind the light: glossy laminate under a ceiling light makes glare that blocks scanning. Matte works better.
- Keep paper menus available. Not everyone has a phone with them, a charged battery, or data.
Check your cards now and then. Swapped stickers on restaurant tables are one of the known QR scams, covered in is it safe to scan a QR code.