QR code menus for restaurants: how they work and what they must include
A QR code on the table, the menu on the customer’s phone: what it takes to make it really work, from allergens to translations.
In just a few years the QR code menu has gone from emergency stopgap to everyday tool, especially in places with lots of tourists. It works when customers find what they are looking for in ten seconds: what is available, how much it costs, what it contains.
How it works
There is a QR code on the table, on the counter or under the beach umbrella. The customer scans it with their phone camera and a web page opens with the menu: no app to download, no sign-up. Behind it is a dashboard where the restaurant updates dishes and prices, and the page changes immediately.
What it must include
- Clear categories, in the order people order: starters, first courses, pizzas, fried dishes, desserts, drinks, wines;
- prices that are always up to date: the number one reason to go digital;
- short descriptions that state ingredients and preparation;
- photos of the main dishes, especially useful for those who don’t read Italian;
- allergens dish by dish.
Allergens: what the EU rules say
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lists in Annex II the substances or products causing allergies or intolerances: among others, gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin and molluscs. Information on their presence is mandatory for non-prepacked food too, such as dishes served in restaurants; the way it must be provided is governed at national level.
A digital menu helps because it lets you flag the allergens on every dish and update them when a recipe changes. It does not, however, replace a conversation with the person serving: for serious allergies customers must always be able to ask the staff, and it is worth saying so in the menu.
Foreign customers
On the Lazio coast in summer, a large share of tables speak another language. A menu that can be read in English, German or French cuts down on repeated questions and dishes ordered by mistake. Better still if the translation doesn’t have to be redone by hand every time the menu changes.
Mistakes to avoid
- a QR code that leads to a PDF you have to zoom into;
- a digital menu that is different from the paper one;
- a damaged QR code, or one printed too small;
- no alternative for people whose phone has run out of battery: keep a few paper copies.
Two pizzerias in Gaeta, Antica Pizzeria Ciro 1923 and Da Carrettella, use a digital menu divided into categories: you will find them in our real cases.
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Sources
Article written with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited, under the editorial responsibility of ENEA Cloud. Rules, timetables and prices can change: always check the source.
