What Is a QR Code Menu?
A QR code menu is a menu that guests open by scanning a code with their phone camera. The code is printed on a card or sticker on each table. In its simplest form it opens a page or a PDF to read. In a complete system it opens a menu where the guest can also add dishes to a cart and send the order to the kitchen. This guide covers the complete version, and each step also works if you only want the menu.
If you want to understand the whole flow before you start, read how QR code ordering works.
What You Will Need
You do not need technical skills or special hardware. You need:
- A phone or a laptop to build the menu
- A printer, or a print shop, for the table cards
- A tablet, monitor or phone in the kitchen to show incoming orders
- A reliable internet connection in the dining room and in the kitchen
Step 1: Build Your Digital Menu
Create the menu in your dashboard, starting with the categories (starters, mains, desserts, drinks) and then the dishes in each one.
For every dish, enter:
- The name and a short description. Two or three lines are enough: say what is in the dish and how it is cooked
- The price
- The allergens it contains
- A photo, if you have a good one
- Whether it is available today: switch dishes off when you run out instead of deleting them
Write descriptions as if you were explaining the dish to a guest who has never been to your restaurant. "Tagliatelle with beef ragù cooked for six hours and aged Parmigiano" tells the guest more than "delicious pasta". Photos are worth adding only if they are good; a poor photo does more harm than none.
Step 2: Tag the Allergens
If you serve food in the EU you must give guests information about the 14 allergens listed in Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Tag every dish with the allergens it contains, one by one, and ask the kitchen to check the list against the real recipe.
A digital menu helps because a change is made once and every guest sees it on the next scan: if a recipe changes and now contains nuts, you update the dish and the old information is gone. This does not replace a conversation with the kitchen when a guest has a severe allergy: the menu is a support for your staff, not a replacement for them. The full rules are in the guide to EU allergen rules for restaurants.
Step 3: Add Languages
If you have international guests, offer the menu in their languages. Easy Restaurant supports six: English, Italian, French, Spanish, German and Chinese. You write the menu in your own language and the other languages can be filled in by automatic translation. Read the result before you publish it, especially dish names and anything about ingredients: automatic translation is a good first draft, not a final text.
Allergen names are shown in the guest's language too, so a German guest reads "Erdnüsse" and not "Arachidi".
Step 4: Generate the Table QR Cards
Once the menu is ready, generate the cards for your tables. Each card is specific to one table, so the kitchen always knows which table an order comes from. In Easy Restaurant you download all the cards together as a ZIP file and bring them to a print shop. Each card shows:
- The name of your restaurant
- The QR code
- The table number
- A 6-digit PIN
The PIN is what guests type once after scanning. It makes sure that orders only come from people who are sitting at the table: a photo of the code is not enough. When the waiter resets a table at the end of the meal, the next guests start a new session and enter the PIN again.
Practical tips for printing:
- Use laminated cards or tent holders: they survive spills and wiping
- Put the card where a seated guest can scan it without leaning over
- Add a line under the code, for example "Scan to see the menu and order"
- Print a few spare cards and test each one with at least two different phones before service
Step 5: Set Up the Kitchen Screen
Orders must reach the kitchen on a screen, not on a printer. Open the staff area on a tablet or a monitor, sign in with the kitchen account and place the screen where the cooks can see it from their station.
Create the staff accounts in the dashboard: one for the kitchen, one for each waiter and one for the cashier. If a staff member leaves, deactivate the account and the access stops at once.
When the order arrives the kitchen marks it as being prepared, then as ready. The waiter sees that it is ready and serves it. For more on the kitchen side, read how a kitchen display system works.
Step 6: Brief Your Staff
QR code ordering changes what the waiter does, not whether the waiter is needed. A short briefing is enough, covering:
- How to welcome guests and point them to the card
- Where the kitchen screen is and how to mark an order as served
- What to do when a guest prefers to order out loud: take the order and, if you can, enter it for them
- How to reset a table at the end of the meal
Step 7: Run a Test Service
Before you open the system to everyone, test the whole path with your team:
- Sit at a table, scan the card and enter the PIN
- Browse the menu in two languages
- Add dishes, write a note and send the order
- Check that it appears on the kitchen screen with the right table number and note
- Mark it as ready and served and check that the waiter sees the change
- Reset the table and check that a new scan asks for the PIN again
Problems that appear most often on the first day: a code that does not scan (it is too small, the print is poor or there is glare), a dish that is missing (it is switched off), and orders that do not arrive (a connection problem). Test the connection at the busiest time, not in the empty restaurant.
Going Live
Start with a few tables or one service, keep the verbal option open, and ask your staff what annoyed them after the first evening. Widen the system once the basics run smoothly.
A simple way to see whether it is working is to look at three things after a week: how many orders arrive through the system, how many are corrected by hand, and what your kitchen and waiters say. You can also compare the plans with your number of tables on the pricing page before you decide.