A QR code is only a way to reach a link

A QR code does not contain the menu. It is an image with a web address stored in it. When the guest points their phone camera at it, the phone recognises the address and offers to open it. Everything else — the categories, the prices, the photos — is loaded from that web page, as on any other website.

Two practical things follow. First, no app is needed: the page opens in the phone's ordinary browser. Second, the QR code can be replaced with a link, without changing anything in the menu itself.

What the guest sees

After scanning, the guest sees the menu. On the paid plans it is arranged by category, so the guest can get quickly to the drinks or the main dishes. If you have added photos, they appear with the dishes. Depending on the settings, each dish shows a name, a short description and a price.

Depending on the venue's settings, the guest can change the menu language: the menu opens in Bulgarian, and the language is changed from the language button, which lists only the languages that are switched on. If the venue offers a lunch menu, the guest sees it for the current day. Allergens are marked on the dish itself, in the same place where the price and description are edited, so they are shown together with it — on every plan, unless you switch their display off yourself.

What exactly must be stated about allergens is set by food rules. Check them for your venue.

How to print and place the code

A few things decide whether the code will scan easily.

  • Contrast: a dark code on a light background. Avoid a code on a photo, a coloured background or a glossy surface that reflects light.
  • Size: large enough to scan from the usual distance at which the guest sits or stands. A small code with a long link is harder to read.
  • Place: on the table, on a stand, at the entrance or at the till. The place must be lit and it must be clear that the code is for the menu — add a short caption.
  • Test: before printing a large batch, scan the code with several phones — old and new, with different cameras. Do it on the spot too, in evening lighting.

It is also good to have a short caption with the link next to the code. That way a guest whose phone does not scan can type it in.

The link works without a QR code too

The menu has its own link. You can put it on your website, in the venue's profile on Google and Facebook, in a message to a guest who is booking, or in an email after an enquiry. A guest who has not yet arrived can see the menu this way before their stay or dinner. That is why the QR code is not required — see also the answer to the question of whether a QR code is needed.

What happens when prices change

The menu link is permanent. When you change a price or an item, you change neither the link nor the QR code. The change is a draft until you publish it. After publishing, the new version is shown the next time the menu is opened; if the guest opened it a few minutes earlier, their phone may briefly show the old version. That is why the code printed on the table does not go out of date. The only thing that goes out of date is paper on which you have printed the prices, and the code gets around it. For how the menu is arranged and how items are changed, see the digital menu guide.

Honest limits

A QR menu needs internet on the guest's phone. Where mobile coverage is poor, it is good to have a paper menu or Wi-Fi for guests. Some guests prefer paper, and you do not need to remove it.

The digital menu shows the menu. It is not a till, does not accept payment and does not replace the fiscal receipt. Ordering from the table and calling a waiter are a different function and are not part of the ordinary QR menu.

How it works in ISKA Menu

In ISKA Menu the free plan has no QR code, but the menu has a link and works with it. The Plus plan includes one QR code for the menu, photos, a lunch menu, up to four languages (Bulgarian is one of them) and a print menu. The print menu is a PDF file (A4) that ISKA Menu creates from the published menu: you choose the language, black-and-white or colour, and a theme, download it and print it. A QR code for every table is available in ISKA Restaurant · Pro, which is a separate product on request. The menu is edited from the portal and from a phone; prices are on the pricing page.