Restaurant menu QR code
Paste your menu address, print the code on your table stands. No monthly subscription and no expiry date.
First: where the menu lives
The QR code does not contain your menu, it contains an address. So the real question is what it points at. In order of preference:
- A page on your own siteThe best option. You control both the address and the content, and the page reads properly on a phone. For example: yourrestaurant.com/menu
- A PDF hosted on your own siteAcceptable if you have no dedicated page, but PDFs read badly on phones — the guest pinches and drags constantly. Keep it light, single page, portrait.
- A third-party pageAvoid if you can. The day that service shuts down or changes its URLs, every printed stand you own becomes useless.
The rule that saves you a reprint: pick a short, stable address and never change it again. Update the content of the page, not its address. Codes already on your tables then keep working indefinitely.
Why this one is free
Plenty of services charge a monthly fee for a "menu QR code". What they are charging for is not the code — it is a redirect through their servers, which lets them count scans and change the destination later. The cost of that is steep: the day you stop paying, or the day the company folds, every printed stand stops working.
The code generated here contains your address directly. It passes through no server, cannot be switched off, and belongs to you. You give up scan statistics; you get a printed asset that does not die.
Printing for a dining room
- 3 to 4 cm across on a table stand, larger for a window poster or a terrace board. Budget one tenth of the reading distance.
- Export SVG and hand that file to your printer. It is a vector format, so it stays sharp from a placemat to a banner.
- No gloss lamination. Under ceiling spots the reflections stop the camera from reading the pattern. Matt finish works far better.
- Add a line of text. "Scan for the menu" removes the hesitation; a bare code is often ignored.
- Keep the contrast. A code in your brand colour works if it stays clearly darker than its background. On slate or dark wood, print onto a light label.
- Test at the table, seated, on a dim phone screen, in your actual evening lighting.
Do not drop the paper menu
The QR code is a supplement. Some of your guests have no smartphone, no battery left, or no signal in your room. And accessibility means being able to hand a readable menu to anyone who asks. Most venues that went paperless in 2020 have since gone back.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a subscription?
No. A QR code is a fixed pattern, not a service. Subscriptions pay for redirects and statistics, not for the code. Here it is free and permanent.
What if I change the menu weekly?
No problem, as long as the page address stays the same. You edit the page, not the code.
Can I put my logo in the middle?
Yes, under "Customise appearance". Error correction switches to maximum automatically. Stay under about 25 % of the width and test the result.
Does the guest need an app?
No. Recent iPhone and Android cameras open the link directly.
Can I track scans?
Not with a direct code. If you want the number, point the code at a page on your own site and read that page's traffic in your site statistics — same information, no third party.