How to make a QR code menu for your restaurant

A QR code menu is a code on your table cards that opens your menu on a guest's phone. You can link a menu you already have online, host a PDF with us, or build a menu page with sections, hours and prices. A fixed code to a menu you host yourself is free. A menu page or a PDF hosted by ovbq comes with Pro and Business plans.

Pick your route

• Your menu is already online. Make a code for its link. A fixed code from the free QR code maker costs nothing. To change the link later without reprinting, make it an editable website link. A free account includes 2 editable codes.
• You have a PDF and no website. On Pro or Business, upload it to ovbq. On any plan, you can share it from a file-sharing service, as in how to put a PDF behind a QR code.
• You want a page that reads well on a phone. On Pro or Business, build a menu page: sections, items, prices and hours.

Make a menu page

Sign in, make a new editable code and choose Menu page. Add your place's name, then a section for each part of the day or the menu, like Breakfast, Lunch and Drinks. Under each section, add items with a name, a price and a short description. You can add up to 12 sections, and up to 60 items in each.

Mark an item vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or spicy where that is true. The page shows each word in full, so you are the one saying it is true. Every menu page also carries a line asking guests to tell their server about any food allergy before they order.

Give a section hours and the page marks the one being served now, or shows what starts next. A section can have more than one rule, like weekdays and weekends, or run all day. Hours that go past midnight work too, like 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Choose your time zone, and the page shows it next to the hours. The page can be in English or Spanish.

Or host a PDF

Choose PDF or image and upload your menu. It can be a PDF, a JPEG or a PNG, up to 10 MB. We check each file, and we don't host PDFs that carry scripts, forms or attached files. To change the menu, replace the file. The code stays the same, so the cards on your tables don't change.

A PDF is harder to read on a small screen, and screen readers can't read a picture of text. If you can, use a PDF with real text, or add the menu to a menu page too.

Print it where guests sit

Guests hold a table card at arm's length, so the code needs room. Our guide on how big a QR code should be gives the size, and printable table tents come ready to fold. Print a test copy and scan it from where a guest would sit.

Change the menu later

The printed code holds a short ovbq link, not your menu. Change an item, a price or the hours, or swap the PDF, and save. Saving updates the menu behind the same printed code. Saved pauses and access restrictions still apply. Your scan counts stay too. To see what happens to your codes if a paid plan ends, read what happens if you stop paying.

Related: QR codes for restaurants · Change a QR code's link

Choose the menu’s page language

Choose a supported page language, then write your menu’s sections, items and descriptions in that language. The setting changes ovbq’s page labels; it does not translate your menu text. Preview the saved menu before sharing it, and check its labels, prices and hours. Your account interface remains in English. About page languages.

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