How to create a QR code menu: a step-by-step guide

What you need before you start

• An email address or a Google account.
• Your menu as a list: categories, dish names and prices.
• Optional photos of your dishes (phone photos are fine).
• The allergens in each dish (check them with your kitchen).

Signing up is free and no credit card is required. Your guests do not need an app either: the phone camera is enough.

Step by step

• 1. Create an account with your email or Google.
• 2. Set up your venue: choose its name and menu address (e.g. qrconnector.com/m/your-restaurant). This address is what the QR code permanently contains.
• 3. Add categories such as Breakfast, Mains, Desserts and Drinks. Reorder them by drag and drop.
• 4. Add dishes: name, short description, price, photo and allergens. If a dish comes in several sizes, add variants with their own prices.
• 5. Create your tables, one by one or in bulk (e.g. Table 1–20).
• 6. Download the QR codes: one by one as PNG or SVG, all tables as a ZIP, or as a PDF with table cards laid out on A4.
• 7. Print and test: scan the printed code with several phones before putting it on the table.

What is free and what does Pro add?

When you change the menu, printed QR codes keep working: the code only contains your menu’s address, not its content.

Tips for a good QR menu

• Keep descriptions short: one sentence that fits in two lines on a phone is enough.
• Add photos, starting with your best sellers and most visual dishes.
• Fill in allergens: a dish with nothing entered shows “No allergen information provided” on the menu, which does not mean “allergen-free”.
• Do not delete dishes that run out; mark them as sold out and switch them back on the next day with one tap.
• Print the QR code at least 3 × 3 cm, ideally 4 × 4 cm, and avoid glossy, reflective surfaces.

Common mistakes

• Linking the QR code to a PDF file: it is small on a phone and every price change means a new upload.
• Printing a QR code that is too small or low in contrast: some cameras cannot find it.
• Letting the menu go out of date: prices on the menu and at the till should match.
• Changing the menu address after printing: QrConnector redirects the old address, but it is still best to choose it carefully from the start.

For print sizes, see the guide “QR code menu size, printing and readability”; for allergens, see “Allergen labelling on a digital menu”.