Get your menu onto every table without printing booklets
Guests sit down, scan the code on the table, and your menu opens on their phone. No sticky laminated booklets, no reprinting when a dish changes, no waiting for a server just to see what's on offer.
The mistake that makes menu codes fail isn't technical — it's that the printed code links straight to a file that later moves. Set it up so you can change the menu a hundred times while the code on the table never changes, and this becomes the lowest-maintenance thing in the restaurant.
Fill the form to generate a QR code
Encode a link you can redirect, not the menu file
Don't point the code at today's PDF. Point it at a short link on your own domain, and set that link to redirect to the current menu. When you swap the autumn menu for winter, you change the redirect once and every printed table tent instantly shows the new menu.
Encode a file directly only if the menu genuinely never changes — which, in a restaurant, it does.
Size and placement on the table
Print the code at least 3 cm square on a table tent, standing upright rather than flat, so a seated guest scans it without leaning over their plate. Flat on the table it catches glare from overhead lights and collects crumbs.
Give it a quiet white margin and don't shrink it to fit a fussy design. A guest holding a phone 30–40 cm away needs a bold, clean pattern.
- Stand it upright on a table tent, not flat.
- 3 cm square minimum, with a white margin.
- Keep it clear of candles and condiment bottles that cast shadows.
Lamination and the glare problem
Table tents get splashed, so lamination protects them — but glossy lamination reflects ceiling lights and can defeat a scan at certain angles. Use a matte finish. It resists spills just as well and scatters light instead of bouncing it back into the camera.
How to set up a menu code
- Create a short link you control. Make a link on your own domain that redirects to the current menu page or file.
- Generate the code from that link. Encode the short link, not the menu file, so you can redirect it later without reprinting.
- Print it on an upright table tent. At least 3 cm square, matte laminated, standing so guests scan it at a natural angle.
- Update the menu by changing the redirect. When the menu changes, repoint the short link. The codes on the tables stay exactly as printed.
Technical details
- Maximum characters: 2953
- Recommended error correction: Q (quartile) — table tents get handled, splashed and scuffed, so extra recovery keeps them scanning after a few busy nights.
- The code carries a plain URL; the redirect that makes it updatable lives on your domain, not in the code.
- Matte lamination scans more reliably than gloss under restaurant lighting.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I have to reprint when the menu changes?
- No, if you did it right. Encode a short link you control and change its redirect to the new menu. The printed code never changes, only where it points.
- PDF menu or a web page?
- A web page is friendlier on a phone — it reflows to the screen, where a PDF forces pinching and zooming. If you only have a PDF, a simple mobile page listing the dishes will read far better at the table.
- How big should the table code be?
- At least 3 cm square on an upright table tent, with a white margin. Bigger is safer in dim restaurant lighting where cameras struggle.
- Why do some guests fail to scan it?
- Glare from glossy lamination and low light are the usual culprits. Switch to matte lamination and stand the code upright so it faces the guest rather than the ceiling lights.
- Can guests order or just read the menu?
- That depends on where the link goes. Point it at a static menu to read, or at an ordering system if you have one — the code is the same either way, only the destination differs.
- Does it need internet on the guest's phone?
- Yes, to load the menu page. The scan works offline, but the menu itself lives online. Most guests use mobile data, so pair it with your guest WiFi code for reliability.