How to make a QR code menu for free

What do you need to make a QR code menu?

You need your current menu (dish names, short descriptions and prices), your logo if you have one, and a phone or laptop with a browser. You don't need a designer, an app or a QR code subscription: Tablemenu.Link is free and builds the menu and its QR code in one place. When you publish, you create a free account with an email and a password.

• Dishes: each item's name, price and a one-line description.
• Categories: the headings guests scan for, such as Starters, Mains, Desserts and Drinks.
• Dietary information: which dishes are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or spicy, and any allergens you want to mention.
• Branding: your logo (PNG or JPG) and your brand colour.
• Optional extras: opening hours, address, phone number and dish photos.

How do you make a QR code menu, step by step?

Type your menu, add your branding, choose your link and publish with a free account, download the QR code, then print and place it. With your dishes and prices to hand, a typical menu takes well under an hour, and you can start from a ready-made template to go faster.

1. Type your menu

   Open the free menu maker and enter your restaurant's name. Add a category, then each dish's name, price and description. A live phone preview updates as you type. A menu holds up to 300 items in 30 categories, and you can label dishes as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, spicy, popular or new. To skip the blank page, start from a menu template.

2. Add your branding

   Upload your logo, pick your brand colour, and choose a dark or light theme and a modern or classic font. The menu keeps text readable on whatever colour you choose. Add dish photos where they help people decide, such as signature dishes, and leave them out elsewhere.

3. Choose your link and publish

   Press Publish and pick your menu's link, such as m.tablemenu.link/your-restaurant. To publish, you create a free account with an email and a password (no card). Your menu then lives in your dashboard, where you can edit it from any device, change its link and see its views. You can change the link later and the old one keeps working.

4. Download the QR code

   Download the code as an SVG for print, because a vector file stays sharp at any size, and as a PNG for screens, social posts and documents. The code stores your public menu link, so it keeps working after every edit and never expires.

5. Print, place and test

   Print the code on table tents, stickers, counter cards or a window decal. Before printing a batch, scan a test print with an iPhone and an Android phone in your restaurant's real lighting. Then add the same link to your Instagram bio, Google Business Profile and WhatsApp Business profile.

What size should a menu QR code be?

Print a menu QR code at least 2 × 2 cm (about 0.8 × 0.8 in), and larger when people scan from further away. A common rule of thumb is a code about one tenth as wide as the scanning distance: around 3 cm on a table, 10 cm in a window.

Contrast and quiet zone

Print dark squares on a light background; black on white scans best. Light-on-dark, pale colours, gradients and glossy laminates that reflect light all make codes harder to read. Leave a blank margin around the code at least four of its small squares (modules) wide. That margin is the quiet zone the QR code standard, ISO/IEC 18004, asks for, so keep borders, text and table edges out of it.

Where to put the codes

• On every table. A tent card or a sticker near the edge, so nobody has to pass a code around.

• At the counter and the queue. A stand by the till and a bigger code where people wait, so they choose before they reach the front.

• In the window or on the door. Passers-by can read the menu, even when you are closed.

• On takeaway bags, receipts and flyers. The menu goes home with the customer for next time.

• Online, as a link. Use the link rather than the code in your Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, WhatsApp Business and website.

Add a short instruction next to every code, such as “Scan for our menu”, and print the menu link underneath so it can be typed if a camera won't scan. Keep a few paper menus for guests without a phone.

Should a menu use a static or a dynamic QR code?

Use a static code that opens a menu page you can edit. A static code stores its destination directly and never expires; because the page behind it changes when you edit, you never need a new code. Dynamic codes route scans through a provider's redirect, which adds scan counts but usually needs a paid plan.

Tablemenu.Link gives you a static code that stores your permanent public link, which looks like m.tablemenu.link/your-restaurant. The link doesn't change when you edit, so the code has nothing to expire. More detail: What is a QR code menu?

What mistakes should you avoid with a QR code menu?

The most common mistakes are pointing the code at a PDF, printing it too small or in low contrast, using a code from a trial that later expires, and printing a whole batch before testing. Each is avoided with a few minutes of checking before you print.

• Linking to a PDF. PDFs make guests pinch and zoom, download slowly on mobile data and must be re-uploaded after every change. See PDF menu vs digital menu.

• Codes that expire. Some “free” generators make dynamic codes that stop working after a trial. Check before you print hundreds.

• Too small, too pale or too shiny. Stick to at least 2 × 2 cm, dark on light, on a matte finish.

• No instruction or fallback. Say what the code opens and print the link under it.

• Skipping the test. Scan a real print on two phones in your own lighting before ordering a batch.

• A stale menu. The code is only as good as the page behind it. Update prices and mark sold-out dishes as they change.