QR Code Ordering System: How It Works, Setup and Costs

A QR code ordering system lets guests order from their phone by scanning a code on the table. The menu opens in their web browser. They pick dishes and send the order, and it reaches your kitchen with the table number on it. Nobody downloads an app. Menuthere gives you this for free to start, with 0% commission on every order.

This page explains the technology, the setup and the costs. If you want to know how it changes your service and staffing, read our table ordering system guide instead.

Set up QR ordering this afternoon.

Create your free ordering page

How QR code ordering works, step by step

Here is what happens between the scan and the plate.

1. The code. Each table has its own QR code. The code holds a web address that includes the table, such as "Table 6" or "Garden 2".
2. The scan. The guest opens their phone camera and points it at the code. iPhone and most Android phones read QR codes in the camera app. No extra app is needed.
3. The menu. Your menu opens in the browser, such as Safari or Chrome. Guests see photos, sizes, add-ons and what's sold out right now.
4. The order. The guest taps "order". The order goes to Menuthere with the table number attached.
5. The alert. Your dashboard and the Menuthere partner app (Android and iPhone) ring until a staff member accepts the order. This stops orders sitting unseen.
6. The ticket. Once accepted, the kitchen ticket prints. You can switch on auto-print, so a ticket prints the moment an order is accepted. Bills print separately.
7. The status. The guest sees a live order-status page on their phone.
8. The next round. If the same table orders again while its first order is still open, the new items join that order. The added lines are marked "ADDED" on the kitchen ticket.

What you need (less than you think)

How to set up a QR ordering system in 7 steps

1. Create your account. Sign up free and find your business on Google.
2. Build the menu. Import it from a photo or PDF. Then add photos, sizes, add-ons, and the allergens and calories for each dish.
3. Choose what can be ordered from the table. For example, you might leave off items that need a chat with staff, like a whole-table feast.
4. Add your tables. Name them the way your staff talk: "T1–T20", "Snug", "Garden 4".
5. Choose where orders ring. Pick the partner app on a phone, the dashboard on a tablet, a kitchen printer, or all three. Add staff logins. They're unlimited.
6. Switch on the location check (optional). Menuthere can ask for the guest's location at checkout. Switch on Geo-lock table orders and pick a distance (100 m to 1 km). It blocks orders from outside that radius, so someone can't order from home using a photo of your code. It's on every plan, including Free.
7. Print, place and test. Download the codes, print them and put them out. Then place one test order from each area of the venue.

Most venues can do steps 1–5 in one sitting. Leave time for checking the menu, because that's where mistakes hide.

Where to put QR codes (placement guide)

Where you put a code decides whether guests use it. Use this guide.

Make each code easy to scan:

• Print at least 3 × 3 cm. Bigger is better at a distance.
• Use a dark code on a light background, with a white border around it.
• Write what happens next: "Scan to order. No app needed."
• Print the table name beside the code, so staff can check it at a glance.
• Use the free table QR card maker for ready-to-print cards.

For more on table numbers, see how to stop QR orders landing on the wrong table.

Contactless ordering that works on any phone

Contactless ordering simply means guests order without touching a shared menu or waiting for staff. A QR system does this with the phone in their pocket.

• Any modern phone: iPhone and Android cameras scan QR codes directly.
• No account: guests don't sign up or set a password. Checkout asks for a phone number, and a name too if you switch that on.
• Any language: on Lite and above, the menu is translated for you, and guests switch language with one tap. Useful near tourist spots and universities.
• Sold out in real time: when the kitchen runs out of the lamb, mark it sold out. It disappears from every phone at once.
• Allergens on every dish: tag the 14 allergens and calories on each dish, on every plan including Free. Guests see them when they open a dish.

QR code payments for restaurants

You decide how guests pay:

• At the counter or at the table with your usual card machine. This works on every plan.
• Online, on their phone, with card payments through your own Stripe account, on Lite and above. Apple Pay and Google Pay are available if you switch them on in your own Stripe account.

Menuthere doesn't touch the money. Payments go into your Stripe account. For open bills and rounds, see our order and pay at the table page.

What a QR code ordering system costs in the UK

There are four cost lines. Here's how Menuthere handles each one.

Worked example: a 40-cover gastropub

Let's say the pub takes 500 QR orders a month with an average order of £30. That's £15,000 a month through the QR system.

• Menuthere commission: 0% = £0.
• Card fees (Stripe, standard UK cards): 1.5% of £30 is 45p, plus 20p, so 65p per order. Over 500 orders that's £325. Premium and business cards cost more.
• Subscription: Lite plan, US$17 a month.

Now compare a provider that charges a 5% per-order fee on top of card processing. 5% of £15,000 = £750 a month, or £9,000 a year. That's an illustrative figure only. Ask any provider for their full fee list before you sign.

Is there a free QR code ordering system?

Yes. Menuthere's Free plan includes table QR ordering, with up to 50 orders a month and 0% commission. On Free, guests pay at the table or at the counter, or by your own payment link. When you go over 50 orders, your menu stays online but ordering pauses until the 1st of the month. To keep ordering on, upgrade to Lite for unlimited orders and Stripe card payments.

Free is a good way to test QR ordering on a few tables, or in the garden, before you roll it out.

Who QR ordering suits

• Pubs with beer gardens: guests order without leaving their seat or their spot in the sun.
• Restaurants short on floor staff: staff stop running back and forth to take orders and spend the time serving instead.
• All-you-can-eat restaurants: guests order round after round from the table, and each round joins the same open order. There are no per-round item limits or timers, so staff keep an eye on the pace.
• Cafés with seating: guests order a second coffee without queuing again.
• Hotel bars and restaurants: name codes by area, such as "Lounge 3" or "Terrace 1".

QR ordering, tablets and kiosks compared