QR menus for restaurants: what they are, where they fall short and how to improve them
A QR menu is a restaurant menu that guests open by scanning a code with their phone. The most basic version is a PDF; the useful one is a web page with categories, allergens, languages and photos that updates without reprinting. With dishes in 3D, guests also see what they're about to order.
By Zelerix · Updated on
What a QR menu is
A QR code printed on the table that, when scanned with the phone's camera, opens the restaurant's menu. It became popular in 2020 to avoid sharing paper menus and stayed because it solved something more useful: changing prices and dishes without reprinting.
The three levels of QR menu
- The PDF. The paper menu scanned or exported. Cheap and quick, but read with zoom, not translated, not filterable, and every change means uploading a new file (and sometimes changing the QR).
- The web menu. A page designed for the phone: categories, photos, descriptions, allergens, languages and sold-out dishes. The QR points to a fixed address and changes are immediate.
- The 3D menu. A web menu where, in addition, every dish can be seen in three dimensions and at real size on the table with augmented reality. It's the one that makes guests understand the dish before ordering.
What a QR menu needs to actually work
- Open in under two seconds on a dining room's signal. No 20 MB PDFs.
- Readable without zoom: large text, one column, clear categories.
- Languages: at least Spanish and English; German or French depending on your guests. Let the guest choose, not guess.
- Allergens on every dish and, better still, a filter to see them at a glance.
- A fixed address so the printed QR lasts for years.
- Real photos of the dish as served, not stock images.
Where it falls short
A small photo doesn't say how much is on the plate or how it arrives, and a translated name still doesn't explain what it is. That's where a 3D digital menu adds what's missing: the guest spins the dish, places it on their table at real size and decides with the same information they'd have watching it go past to the next table.
How to make the leap without changing the QR
With Cartalux, the 3D menu is a complete QR menu: categories, allergens, three languages, your design and a fixed address. The set-up costs €350 and includes 5 dishes in 3D; after that, each dish is added for €20 and the €25/month maintenance covers hosting and all menu changes. Details on the pricing page; to see it working, demo.cartalux.es.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a QR menu just be a PDF?
- It can, but a PDF reads badly on a phone (you have to zoom), isn't translated, doesn't filter allergens and has to be regenerated with every price change. A web menu solves all of that with the same QR.
- Do I have to change the QR every time I change the menu?
- Not if the QR points to a fixed address (for example, yourrestaurant.cartalux.es). Changes are made on the web and the printed QR keeps working.
- Is it mandatory to show allergens on a QR menu?
- Yes. Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 requires the 14 allergens subject to mandatory declaration to be stated in any menu format, digital included.
- Can I go from a QR menu to a 3D menu without starting over?
- Yes. With Cartalux the 3D menu is a complete QR menu to which the dish models are added: 5 included in the set-up and €20 for each additional dish.