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Menu and daily menu

A QR menu for your restaurant: what it needs and what it costs to maintain

The QR code will still be on the table when a price changes, a dish sells out or a guest does not speak Spanish. This guide helps you choose a menu you can maintain during service, calculate costs and identify the work your team will still need to do.

Pau Coderch8 min read

Customer checking a digital menu on a phone
In this article

In 30 seconds

  • A menu needs someone responsible for it, as well as a QR code. Decide who changes prices, hides sold-out dishes and checks languages and allergens. If a change reaches the kitchen but not the menu, customers will see old information.
  • Test the tasks you will do during service. Change a price, hide a dish and open the menu on another phone. Check what happens to printed QR codes if you switch providers or stop paying.
  • Compare the full first-year cost. Add setup, subscriptions, languages, support and printing when charged separately. Get written confirmation of what you can edit yourself and which changes the provider must make.

What a QR digital menu is and what it isn’t

A digital menu is a web page with your dishes, prices, descriptions and allergens. Customers open it from the table QR code, your website or your Google listing.

A QR code can also link to a PDF. The difference shows when you update it: each change means editing and replacing the file and checking every language version. In an editable menu, you update the dish data.

PDF with a QR code or a dynamic menu: the difference that matters

If the coffee price changes or a dish sells out during service, someone has to update the information. Choose a format based on who will do that and where they will work from.

Google accepts menu links and may transcribe your website menu into your listing. Review the menu Google publishes separately; linking your menu does not guarantee an immediate update.

What you need to do when the menu changes
ChangePDF linked by QREditable menu
Price or sold-out dishEdit and republish the file.Update the dish price or availability.
Another languageMaintain and review each version.Review the translation in the same catalogue.
New recipeCorrect ingredients and allergens in the affected files.Update the dish and check it with the kitchen.
Google and websiteCheck links and published versions.Link the menu and review what Google displays.

What a neighbourhood bar gains from a digital menu

An editable menu reduces the number of versions you maintain. Correct a price in the catalogue customers see; stop offering a sold-out dish by changing its availability.

Languages, photos and descriptions help customers understand what they can order. That work involves checking translations, choosing useful photos and reviewing changes before publishing.

How to create your restaurant’s digital menu, step by step

Before publishing, collect the current menu, prices and allergen information confirmed by the kitchen. Decide who will maintain those details when a dish changes.

  1. Prepare the contentOrganise sections, remove dishes you no longer serve and confirm prices and ingredients with the kitchen.
  2. Review every dishReview names, descriptions, allergens, photos and translations; an automated menu import still needs checking.
  3. Test on a phoneOpen the QR code on two phones using mobile data, switch languages and check that it reads without zooming.
  4. Publish and assign responsibilityLink the menu from Google and your website; agree who changes prices, hides sold-out dishes and updates the daily set menu.

How Menuveo does it

We digitise your menu from a photo or PDF and prepare seven languages. You confirm dishes, prices and allergens before publishing.

View the digital menu

Features you have to demand

Ask for a test with your own menu. Make these four changes from your phone before deciding whether the tool fits your service.

  1. Prices and availabilityChange a price and hide a sold-out dish without generating a new QR code.
  2. Allergens and languagesCheck a dish’s allergens and correct a translation.
  3. Daily set menuUpdate the daily set menu, including its date and price, without rebuilding the main menu.
  4. Control of your dataExport the data and find out what happens to the link and QR code if you change provider.

How much a QR digital menu costs

There are two parts to the cost: the tool and the work of preparing and maintaining the menu. A PDF may have no extra subscription if you already have hosting; changes and checks remain your responsibility.

Ask for a quote covering setup, subscription, languages, support and exit terms. Check whether initial loading and updates are included or charged separately.

Example: €240 in the first year

Calculation example, not a commercial rate: €15/month × 12 + €60 setup = €240. Add printing, extras and upkeep time; also ask whether VAT is included.

Compare the fee and who does the work
OptionWhat you payWork to plan for
PDF and QR codeNo additional software fee if you use free tools and hosting. Printing is separate.Prepare the file, maintain languages and replace it after each change.
Menu softwareA subscription depending on the plan; check setup, languages, locations and support.Load the menu, check the data and maintain it in the editor.
MenuveoFrom €59.99/month + VATSend us the menu to digitise. You check prices and allergens with the kitchen and communicate changes.

Languages and allergens: two topics with their own guide

On languages: switch on English as a minimum and check the 20 most ordered dishes. The rule is name in the original and description translated. On allergens: it is mandatory to give information on the 14 allergens in everything you serve, daily set menu included. RD 126/2015 (Real Decreto 126/2015, Spain’s rules on food information for non-prepacked food) allows you to do it verbally if the information is recorded in writing or in electronic format on the premises; in a digital menu they go on each dish with an icon and a word. Each topic has its own guide in this same cluster.

If the kitchen changes an ingredient, that update needs to reach every version of the menu. Define who checks the recipe, who edits the published information and who confirms the change to front-of-house staff. Translating an old description faster only spreads the error to more languages.

The physical QR code: where to put it and how to print it

Point the QR code at an address you can maintain. If you use a provider’s redirect, ask what happens when you cancel and whether you can change its destination. Print a sample with good contrast and a clear margin; test it on several phones under the lighting and at the distance customers will use at the table.

Put it where people see it when they sit down, with a line underneath: "Scan to see the menu in your language". Keep a paper menu too for anyone who prefers it, and make sure the two say the same.

What happens when nobody maintains the menu

The work continues after you print the QR code. A kitchen change can affect what customers read at the table, in another language or on Google.

An old price makes it to the bill
Customers choose at one price and receive another. Staff have to explain the difference during service. Check the digital menu, paper menu and billing system together.
An ingredient changes but the allergen information does not
A kitchen substitution can leave incorrect information online. Confirm recipe changes with the kitchen before updating the menu; automatic translation does not verify ingredients.
Customers keep ordering a sold-out dish
The waiter has to return to the table and ask for another choice. Decide who hides a dish when it sells out and who makes it available again.
Google and the table show different menus
People checking before a visit may see different dishes or prices. Review the link, the published menu and the listing menu after changes.

How Menuveo does it

Update prices and availability from your phone, with one menu for the QR code and website.

View the digital menu

What to ask the provider before you sign up

Ask for written answers and a demonstration using a real menu. These answers help you compare the service as well as the fee.

  • Who loads and checks the initial menu? Who confirms allergens and translations?
  • Which changes can I make and which does your team handle? What does support include?
  • What will I pay in year one, including setup, languages, locations and taxes?
  • How is the menu published on Google and who checks for old versions?
  • Can I export the menu? What happens to the URL and QR codes when the contract ends?

Frequently asked questions

You can publish a menu on free hosting and generate a QR code pointing to its URL. Check the service terms; content, checking and printing remain the restaurant’s work.

First publish the menu at a URL. Then generate the QR code with any free generator pointing to that URL, print it at a minimum of 3 centimetres and test it with two phones.

No. The 2020 measures that asked venues to avoid shared menus are no longer in force. What is mandatory is to give allergen information, with the information recorded on the premises.

It doesn’t have to. Many restaurants have both. What matters is that they say the same and that the paper one is reprinted when prices change.

Change its availability in the editor and check the published menu. If Google has another menu in your listing, review that too: its changes may not be immediate.

If it is a web page with text, Google crawls it and can transcribe the dishes to your listing. If it is a PDF or a photo, it accepts the link, and you can generate the menu with its AI (an experimental feature) and review it.

Ask beforehand whether you can export the menu and whether the URL is yours. If the QR code points to a domain owned by the provider, you will have to reprint the codes when you leave.

Official sources

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