Create useful QR codes for your restaurant

Your menu, at an address you own

A menu code should point at a page you control, such as yourrestaurant.com/menu. Then you can change dishes and prices every week without reprinting a single table tent. The printed code never changes; the page behind it does.

A few practical points:

• A web page beats a PDF. Text on a mobile web page is readable without zooming and loads quickly. If you do use a PDF, upload new versions to the same address so the link never breaks.
• Be careful with menu platforms and short links. If a code points at someone else's service, your tables depend on that account staying active. Read why in do QR codes expire?
• Keep paper menus. Some guests don't have a phone with them, have a flat battery or simply prefer paper. A code is a convenience, not a replacement.

Guest Wi-Fi without spelling the password

A Wi-Fi code holds the network name, security type and password. Guests scan and join, with no typing. Because the password is written into the code, it's worth setting up properly:

• Use a separate guest network, never the one your tills, card terminals or office computers are on.
• Pick a guest password you're happy to keep. Changing it means printing new codes.
• Put the network name and password in plain text next to the code as well, for laptops and older phones.

For a ready-made printable Wi-Fi sign or table tent, our sister site Wi-Fi QR Code Generator has layouts made for exactly that.

Reviews, the right way

A review code opens your Google review form directly, which removes most of the effort of leaving one. Put it near the till or on the bill folder rather than on every table, where it competes with the menu.

Follow Google's rules. Its policy on reviews prohibits offering incentives for reviews, and asking only happy customers for reviews while steering unhappy ones elsewhere isn't allowed either. Ask everyone, offer nothing in return, and let the code do the convenience part.

Separate codes, clear labels

It's tempting to combine everything into one code that opens a landing page with three buttons. It's usually worse: one more page to load, one more tap, and the Wi-Fi option can't join the network from a web page anyway. Separate codes, each with a short label, are clearer:

• "Scan for the menu" on the table tent.
• "Join our Wi-Fi" on the tent's back or on a wall sign.
• "Leave us a review" at the counter or with the bill.

Use different frame colors or positions so staff can point guests to the right one.

Table tents and signs that last

Size

Guests scan table tents from about 40 to 60 cm away, sitting down. A code around 5 to 6 cm wide, frame not included, is comfortable for a short menu link. Wall signs read from across the room need to be much larger: roughly a tenth of the scanning distance. Thesize calculator does the arithmetic.

Wipeable print

• Matte lamination or matte acrylic stands survive wiping and don't throw glare from pendant lights the way gloss does.
• Ask your printer about your cleaning products. Some laminates cloud or soften with repeated use of strong cleaners, which lowers contrast.
• Wipe with a soft cloth. Scratches and dried residue are damage the code has to correct for, eating into its error correction.
• Keep a few spares and replace any tent that's scratched, faded or sticky.

Color and light

Restaurants are often dim and warmly lit. Dark ink on a light background, with strong contrast, holds up best. Before printing a batch, take one proof to the darkest table at dinner service and test it on two or three phones.

A setup checklist

• Menu page live at your own address, readable on a phone.
• Guest Wi-Fi network separate from your business systems, with a stable password.
• Review link from your Google Business Profile, and no incentives.
• One job per code, each with a label.
• Matte, wipeable finish; dark-on-light colors; tested under dinner lighting.