Guides · Updated October 2026

How to make a QR menu for your restaurant (step by step)

A QR menu should save you reprints and save your customers a wait. Most don't, because the QR opens a scanned PDF that is slow, tiny and out of date. Here is how to do it properly, whether you build it yourself or get it built.

1. Use a web page, not a PDF

A PDF has to download, then customers pinch and zoom. A simple mobile web page loads in a second, the text wraps to the screen, and you can change one price without redoing the whole file. If you only have a PDF today, the first upgrade is turning it into a page.

2. Write the menu for a phone screen

• Group dishes the way people order: tiffin, meals, chats, drinks.
• One line per dish name, price on the right. Skip long descriptions; add one line only where it helps (spice level, Jain option, "only till 11am").
• Put the dishes that sell most at the top of each section.

3. Add photos of your best 6-10 dishes

You don't need a photographer. Shoot near a window in daylight, plate on a plain steel or banana-leaf background, hold the phone straight above the plate. Photos of the dishes people already love matter more than photos of everything.

4. Add the languages your customers read

In Bengaluru that usually means English plus Kannada, and Hindi near tech parks and PGs. See our guide on writing a Kannada + English menu.

5. Make the QR code easy to scan

• Use a fixed address for your menu page so the QR never changes, even when the menu does.
• Print it at least 3 cm wide for tables; bigger (6-8 cm) for walls and counters.
• Dark code on a light background, with a white border around it.
• Test it from a normal sitting distance on 2-3 different phones before printing a batch.

6. Put it where people wait

One standee per table works better than one sticker on the wall. Add one at the billing counter and one at the entrance for parcel customers.

7. Let people order and pay from the page

For dine-in, the menu alone is enough. For parcel and repeat customers, a "Order on WhatsApp" button that sends the order to your number, plus a "Pay by UPI" button, turns the menu into a direct order channel. More in how to take direct orders on WhatsApp and UPI.

8. Keep it updated

The whole point is that prices can change without reprinting. Decide who updates the page and how (one person, one message), and check it once a month.

Doing it free yourself

You can build a basic version with free tools: a free website builder or a shared document for the menu, and any free QR generator that points to it (choose one that does not expire or redirect through ads). It takes an afternoon and you'll print the standees at a local printer. If you'd rather not, that's what we do.