QR codes for restaurants and cafes

Codes that pay off

• Menu. Link to a mobile-friendly menu page rather than a PDF, which is slow to load and hard to read on a phone.
• Guest WiFi. A WiFi QR code on the table or by the register saves staff from spelling the password all night.
• Online ordering and pickup. Put a code on takeout bags and receipts that opens your ordering page.
• Reviews. A code on the check presenter that opens your review page, while the meal is still fresh in their mind.
• Loyalty and newsletter sign-up. Make it worth their while with a free item on the next visit.

Pick two or three of these, not all five. A table with one clear code gets scanned. A table with four gets ignored.

Keep the paper menu too

Some guests don't want to read a menu on a phone. Some phones will be flat or left in the car. Have printed menus ready on request, in a type size that's easy to read in low light.

The QR code should be the convenient option, not the only one.

Where to place them

• Table tents or stickers in the center of the table, 4 to 6 cm wide
• The front window, so people passing can see the menu before they walk in
• The register, for WiFi and loyalty sign-ups while people wait
• Takeout bags, boxes and receipts, for the next order

Give each code a short label so guests know what they'll get before they scan: Menu, WiFi, Order again. Laminate anything that lives on a table, and choose a matte finish so overhead lights don't wash the code out. The size and printing guide covers the details.

Link to pages you control

Menus and prices change. If your code points at a page on your own website, you can update the menu any time and the printed code keeps working. Point it at a file that gets renamed, or a third-party menu service you later cancel, and every table tent breaks at once.

So set up the page first, at an address like yoursite.com/menu, then make the code from that address and never change it. Print one test tent, scan it from a seat with two different phones, and order the rest.