Pub ordering system for independent pubs

A pub ordering system lets guests order drinks and food from their table or bench on their own phone, so the bar queue shrinks and rounds keep coming. Menuthere gives independent UK pubs QR codes for every table, one menu for pints and plates, and new rounds that join the table's open order. Guests don't download an app. QR table ordering is on the Free plan, with 0% commission.

Create your free ordering pageHow table ordering works

Order-to-table without a chain's budget

Guests already know order-to-table from the big pub chains' apps. Those chains built their own. An independent pub doesn't need to.

With Menuthere, the menu opens in the phone's browser under your pub's name. There's nothing to download, no account to make and no build cost. You keep the bar, the banter and the regulars who'd rather order face to face.

How it works in a pub

1. Guests scan the code on their table or bench, such as "Snug 3" or "Garden 14".
2. They order pints, wine, soft drinks and food from one menu, with sizes and options.
3. The order rings on the bar phone or tablet until someone accepts it. Food prints on the kitchen printer, and drinks can print on a separate bar printer.
4. Staff serve it and check ID for drinks, just as they would at the bar.
5. The next round joins the same open order when it comes from the same phone and the table hasn't paid yet. New lines are tagged "Added" on the order, so reprint the kitchen ticket for them. A friend ordering on their own phone gets a separate order.
6. Guests pay at the bar at the end, or pay online for each round through your own Stripe account (Lite and above). A round paid online goes through as its own order. Apple Pay and Google Pay work if you switch them on in your Stripe account.

Three pub set-ups

Most pubs start with one area. If it works, roll it out.

Number your pub so orders find the right table

• Name areas the way staff talk: Bar, Snug, Dining room, Garden.
• Number benches in the garden. Paint the number on the bench, not just on the code.
• Print codes large, at 5 cm or more, on waterproof stickers for outside.
• Add a "Scan to order" sign at the door and the bar, so new guests know it's an option.

Set up your drinks menu properly

Drinks are where a pub menu differs most from a restaurant's.

• Sizes as options. Half, ⅔ pint and pint for beer and cider. 25ml or 35ml for spirits. 125ml, 175ml and 250ml for wine, plus the bottle.
• Show the small measures. In England and Wales, your licence's mandatory conditions say half pints, 25ml or 35ml spirits and 125ml glasses of still wine must be available. They must be listed on a menu or price list, and guests who don't ask for a size must be told about them. Put them on the QR menu as well as the board.
• Mixers and garnishes as add-ons. "Gin and tonic, Fever-Tree or house tonic."
• Prices include VAT. Drinks served in the pub are standard-rated at 20%.
• Check your margins before you print the menu. Use our free drinks GP calculator.
• Mark a keg off the moment it runs out, so nobody orders it.

Food: roasts, specials and allergens

• Sunday roast sold out? Switch it off in one tap. Guests see it before they order, not after.
• Specials board. Add the pie of the day from your phone.
• Allergens and calories. Tag each dish with any of the 14 UK allergens, its calories and a halal mark, on every plan including Free. Guests see them when they open the dish, before they order. Keep a chart at the bar too, made with our allergen matrix maker; it can load your dish allergens from Menuthere.
• Kids' menu and dogs' treats. Add them as their own sections.

Bookings and pre-orders for Sunday lunch and Christmas

Pubs book differently. Sunday lunch sells out. Christmas parties book months ahead.

On Lite and above (US$17 a month, with a 7-day free trial; a card is needed to start, and nothing is charged until the trial ends), guests can book a table for a date and time from your menu. You get an alert an hour before each booked slot. They can also pre-order chosen dishes with the booking, such as the roast or a set Christmas menu. See pre-orders and table booking.

The honest bit: Menuthere doesn't take booking deposits. If you need one, send a payment link from your own Stripe account. If you need card guarantees, a table plan and SMS reminders, compare options in our restaurant booking system guide.

Your licensing duties don't change

Table ordering moves the order onto a phone. Your duties stay with your staff.

• Age checks. Your premises must have an age verification policy. Many pubs use Challenge 21 or Challenge 25. Staff check ID when they take drinks to the table.
• Refusing service. Staff can still refuse to serve someone who is drunk. Don't let the phone become a way round that. Keep auto-accept off in the bar, so staff see each order before it's poured.
• Promotions. Irresponsible drinks promotions are banned in England and Wales. In Scotland, a drinks price must stay the same for at least 72 hours, which rules out happy hours.
• Free tap water must be given on request, where it's reasonably available.
• Tips. Since 1 October 2024, the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 says all tips must go to staff in full.

New to running a pub? Read how to open a pub in the UK and our pub licence guide.

Working alongside your till

Menuthere isn't a pub EPOS, and it doesn't replace your till's back-office reports. It doesn't link to Zonal, Tabology or any other UK till. If you want orders and bills in one place, counter billing is a paid add-on at US$10 a month.

Most pubs run it next to their till. Table orders come through Menuthere, and staff ring them into the till, or settle the table at the bar and mark the order as paid by cash or card. If you're choosing a till, read pub EPOS systems compared.

What it costs

Plans are billed in US dollars; your bank converts it. There's 0% commission on every plan. Lite and Pro have a 7-day free trial: a card is needed to start, and nothing is charged until the trial ends. Run several pubs from one head-office login on Pro. Counter billing (POS) is an add-on at US$10 a month, so Lite plus counter billing is US$27 a month.

Worked example: one extra round

A pub has 20 tables on a Friday night. If one table in four orders one extra round because nobody has to queue, at £16 a round, that's £80 a night. Over 52 Fridays, it's £4,160 a year [illustrative; use your own figures]. Fifty orders a month is enough to test it on Free. Most pubs will move to Lite once it works.

Print QR codes for the garden and try it this weekend.

Create your free ordering pageBook a demo (opens in a new tab)

Roll it out over one weekend

• Friday: import your menu, add drinks sizes and allergens, check prices include VAT.
• Friday: print codes for one area only, such as the garden.
• Saturday: brief staff for 10 minutes. Who accepts orders? Where do tickets print? Who checks ID?
• Saturday: run it. Keep paper menus and the bar open as normal.
• Sunday: ask five tables what they thought. Fix the menu wording.
• Next week: add more areas if it worked.