QR Code for Restaurant Menus
Turn your menu into a QR code customers scan at the table.
A QR code menu lets diners view your menu on their phone - no app, no sticky laminated cards. With a dynamic QR code from QRmkr, you print the code once and change the menu behind it whenever prices, specials, or dishes change. The printed sticker never needs to be reprinted.
Make your menu QR code
Paste the link to your online menu or hosted PDF. The preview updates as you type - scan it with your own phone before it goes near a printer.
Design & brandingcolors · logo · frames
Center logos use 30% error correction so the code still scans.
Want to edit or track this?
This makes a static code (permanent). Create a free account for dynamic codes you can edit after printing, with scan analytics.
Make it dynamic →Free forever · No watermark · Never expires
Or make it art. Same code, still scans.
Animated
How to put your menu behind a QR code
The whole job takes about ten minutes, and the order matters: get the menu online first, because the code is only ever a pointer to it.
- 1
Get the menu online
Either a page on your website (best - it is readable on any phone and you can edit it in seconds) or a PDF hosted somewhere with a public link. If you only have a PDF, keep it under a few megabytes and make sure it is readable in portrait without pinch-zooming; a scanned A3 sheet is the single most common complaint diners have about QR menus.
- 2
Decide static or dynamic
If the menu lives at a URL that will never change, a free static code is fine. If prices move, dishes rotate, or you swap between brunch and dinner menus, make it dynamic - the printed table tent stays put and you change what it opens.
- 3
Generate and check the code
Paste the link above, set the colours if you want it on-brand, and scan the on-screen preview with your own phone. Check it opens the right page and that the page is legible on a small screen.
- 4
Print it at the right size
Download the SVG for the print shop. Table tents want about 2.5 cm; a code on the door or window that people scan from the pavement wants far more. Sizing guidance is below.
- 5
Test the printed proof
Scan the real table tent, at the table, in your actual lighting. Laminate glare and dim restaurant lighting break codes that looked perfect on screen.
Free menu QR code vs dynamic menu QR code
| Free static code | Dynamic code | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever, unlimited codes, no account needed. | Pro at $12/month, unlimited codes. |
| Change prices or dishes | Only if the menu URL stays the same - the code cannot be repointed. | Repoint the same printed table tent at a new menu in one click. |
| Swap menus by daypart | No - one code, one destination, forever. | Yes - brunch in the morning, dinner at night, same printed code. |
| See how many diners scanned | No scan data at all. | Every scan logged with time, device, and location. |
Not sure which you need? Read how dynamic QR codes stay editable after printing.
Printing and sizing: table tents, menus and window stickers
Most QR codes that fail in the wild fail for one of three reasons: printed too small, printed with no quiet zone, or printed with too little contrast. All three are decided before the file reaches the printer.
How big does it need to be?
The working rule is ten to one: a code scans reliably from roughly ten times its own width. A 3 cm code is comfortable at 30 cm - arm’s length. A code on a window meant to be scanned from across the pavement, say 3 metres, needs to be about 30 cm wide. For table tents, menus and window stickers, 2.5 cm square on a table tent is the practical floor. A code on the door or window meant to be read from the pavement is a different job: at three metres you need roughly 30 cm.
Leave the quiet zone alone
The blank margin around the pattern is not whitespace a designer can reclaim - it is part of the specification. Scanners need at least four modules’ worth of clear space (a module is one of the small squares) to find the code’s edges. Codes downloaded here already include it; the failure mode is a layout that crops it, or artwork that runs right up to the pattern.
Contrast and colour
Dark pattern on a light background, always - inverted codes (light on dark) are read by far fewer scanners. Keep a strong tonal difference rather than merely a colour difference: a mid-grey code on a pale-yellow background can look high-contrast to the eye and near-invisible to a camera. If you brand the code, test the printed proof, not the screen.
File format
Download the SVG for anything going to professional print. It is vector, so it stays perfectly sharp whether it prints at 2 cm or 2 metres, and it will not pick up the soft edges that make a raster code harder to read. PNG is fine for screens, documents, and office printers.
Test the proof, not the file
Before a print run of any size, scan the actual printed proof - in the light the code will live in, from the distance people will stand at, with an older phone if you have one. Laminate and gloss finishes add glare that a PDF preview will never show you.
If the destination might ever change after this goes to print, make it a dynamic code so you can repoint it without reprinting.
Why use a dynamic QR code for this
Change prices without reprinting
Raised the price of the burger? Update the destination in one click - the table tents stay exactly as they are.
Swap menus by daypart
Point the same code to your brunch menu in the morning and dinner menu at night.
See what's working
Scan analytics show you how many diners view the menu, when, and on what device.
How to set it up
- 1
Upload your menu as a PDF or link to your existing online menu.
- 2
Generate your dynamic QR code and print it on table tents, stickers, or the door.
- 3
Edit the linked menu anytime - the printed code never changes.
Before you print it
If your restaurant menus code may ever need to point somewhere else, create it as a dynamic QR code you can edit after printing. The printed pattern never changes; only the destination behind it does. It also means you can track every scan by day, device, and location and see which placement actually worked.
Restaurant menus FAQ
Can I update the menu after printing the QR code?
Yes. That's the whole point of a dynamic QR code. The printed code points to qrmkr.io, which redirects to your current menu - change the destination anytime.
Do customers need an app to scan it?
No. Every modern phone camera scans QR codes natively. Diners just point their camera and tap the link.
Is the QR code menu free?
A static menu QR code is free forever. Editable (dynamic) menus with analytics are part of QRmkr Pro.
Should I put one QR code on every table or a different code per table?
One code reprinted for every table is simplest, and it is what most restaurants start with. Separate codes per table or per section become useful when you want to see which parts of the room actually scan, since each dynamic code keeps its own scan count and time-of-day breakdown. Both approaches point to the same menu page, so you can start with one and split later without changing your menu.
How big should I print the code?
Roughly a tenth of the scanning distance: about 2 x 2 cm for arm's length, bigger for anything read across a room. Leave a clear white margin and test-scan the proof before a print run.
General questions about how QR codes work, what they cost and how to print them are answered on the QR code FAQ.
Ready to create your restaurant menus code?
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