Free QR Code Menu for UK Restaurants, Pubs and Cafés

A QR code menu is your menu on a web page. Guests open it by scanning a code on the table with their phone camera. With Menuthere you can make one for free. Upload your menu, download a code for each table and print it. Change prices or mark dishes sold out whenever you like, and the printed code keeps working.

There's no app for guests to download and no commission. The Free plan doesn't run out after a trial.

No card needed.

Create your free QR code menu

What is a QR code menu?

A QR code menu, also called a QR menu or digital menu, works like this:

• The code is a small square pattern. It holds a web address.
• The scan: the guest points their phone camera at it. iPhone and most Android cameras read QR codes without any extra app.
• The menu opens in the phone's web browser. Guests scroll your dishes, prices, photos and options.

That's it. The guest never downloads anything, and you never reprint when a price changes.

There are two kinds of QR menu:

Menuthere does both, and you can mix them. For example, you might put a view-only code at the counter and ordering codes on the tables. If you want guests to order from the table, read our guide to the QR code ordering system.

How to create a QR code for a menu in 5 steps

You can do this in one sitting. Have your current menu to hand: a photo or a PDF is fine.

1. Sign up free. Go to Menuthere's sign-up page and find your business on Google. Menuthere fills in your name, address and photos from the listing. Not on Google yet? Create it by hand.
2. Import your menu. Upload a photo or PDF of your menu (or import it from GloriaFood). The AI builds the menu for you. Check each item and fix anything it misread.
3. Add the details. Add dish photos, sizes (half or pint, small or large) and add-ons (extra cheese, a side of chips). Tag the 14 allergens, calories and a halal mark on each dish. Guests see them when they open the dish. Keep a full chart too, with our free allergen matrix maker.
4. Create your table codes. Add your tables and label them by number or name, such as "Table 4" or "Garden 2". Download a QR code for each one, or one code for the whole venue.
5. Print, place and test. Print the codes on table cards or stickers. Scan one with your own phone before service to check it opens the right menu.

Updating later: change a price, add a special or mark the fish pie sold out. The change shows up on every printed code straight away.

What you get free (and what costs extra)

The Free plan is free for as long as you use it. There's no trial clock. Here is how the plans compare for a QR menu.

About the 50-order limit on Free. It only counts orders placed through the menu. If you go over, your menu stays online and readable. Ordering switches off until the 1st of the next month, or until you upgrade. A view-only QR menu takes no orders, so it is not affected. There is no limit on scans or views.

Paid plans are billed in US dollars; your bank converts it. Lite and Pro come with a 7-day free trial. You add a card to start it, and nothing is charged until the trial ends. See all features on the pricing page.

QR code menu price: what it really costs in the UK

"Free" means different things on different sites. Here's what you may pay for when you set up a QR menu.

Watch out for expiring codes. Some "free" QR generators make a dynamic code, then switch it off when a trial ends. Others lock codes that haven't been scanned for a while. If that happens, every card on your tables stops working on a Friday night. A menu platform that owns both the code and the menu avoids this. Menuthere's Free plan never expires, so its codes keep working.

Static vs dynamic QR codes (and why PDF menus let you down)

• A static QR code points to one fixed address forever. If that address changes, you must reprint.
• A dynamic QR code points to an address you can update later.

A Menuthere table code points to your live menu, not to a file. So you never need to change the code. You only change the menu behind it.

Why not just link to a PDF? You can make a free QR code for a PDF menu. But PDFs are hard to read on a phone. Guests pinch and zoom around an A4 page. You also can't mark one dish sold out, and the link breaks if you rename the file.

Got a PDF already? Upload it to Menuthere and the AI turns it into a proper phone menu, with one item per line and tappable categories. Starting from scratch? Pick a design from our free menu templates first.

QR code menus for restaurants, pubs and cafés

Restaurants. Long menus work well on a phone when they're split into clear categories with photos. Schedule a lunch menu and a dinner menu so each shows only at the right time. Setting days and hours on a dish works on every plan, including Free.

Pubs. Put a code on every table in the bar and the beer garden, so guests can read the menu without queuing. Change guest ales and roasts on the day. When you're ready, switch the codes to ordering, so the garden can order without walking to the bar. See the pub ordering system.

Cafés. Menus change often, with specials, cakes of the day and seasonal drinks. Edit them from your phone between rushes. Many cafés use a view-only code on the counter and take payment at the till as usual.

UK rules to check before you print

A QR menu doesn't change your legal duties. It can make them easier to meet.

• Allergens. If you sell loose (non-prepacked) food, you must give allergen information for the 14 allergens. You can give it in writing, on a menu for example. Or you can give it verbally, with a clear written notice telling guests how to ask. The FSA says written information backed by a conversation works best. A QR menu can carry the written information. On every Menuthere plan, including Free, you tag the 14 allergens on each dish and guests see them when they open it. Keep a notice and train staff too. Need a matrix? Use our free allergen matrix maker.
• Calories. In England, businesses with 250 or more employees must show calories on menus, and that includes online menus. Most independents are not covered. If you do show calories, add the kcal to each dish's calorie field in Menuthere.
• Prices include VAT. Menu prices shown to guests must include VAT. Food and drink eaten on your premises is standard-rated (HMRC VAT Notice 709/1).
• Not everyone has a smartphone. Keep a few printed menus behind the bar for guests without a phone, with a flat battery or with poor eyesight.

Printing checklist for your table QR codes

• Print at least 3 × 3 cm. Go bigger for beer gardens and dim lighting.
• Use dark code on a light background, and leave a white margin around the code.
• Add a short line above it: "Scan for our menu, no app needed".
• Print the table name next to the code, such as "Table 7".
• Laminate, or use wipe-clean stickers or table tents. Wet glasses ruin paper.
• Stick ordering codes to the table itself, not to loose menus that move between tables.
• Test every code with an iPhone and an Android phone before you open.

Want ready-made table cards? Use the free table QR card maker.

Takes minutes, with 0% commission for good.

Create your free QR code menu

When you're ready to take orders from the table

A QR menu is step one. The same codes can take orders and payments when you switch them on:

• QR code ordering system: how the tech works, how to set it up, where to put codes, and what it costs.
• Table ordering system: how service changes for your staff and kitchen, including for independent pubs.
• Order and pay at the table: guests pay on their phone through your own Stripe account.