How to create a free QR code menu for your restaurant

A free QR code menu is useful when guests can read current dishes and prices without installing an app. Table ordering adds another step: each order must reach the right table, kitchen and bill. This guide walks through setting up both in GiveMyMenu, then testing the service before guests rely on it.

What you actually need first

Start with dish names, prices, categories and current availability. Add clear descriptions and useful dietary information from your own kitchen. Photos can follow later. Check the currency and tax settings for your location before entering the whole menu, so guests see the amounts you intended.

Step 1: Add your dishes and check the guest menu

Create an account and add a small, representative menu first: one main, one drink and one item you can mark unavailable. Give each item a category, price and preparation station. Open the guest view and check the description and price on a phone. An unavailable item should not be orderable; test that instead of relying only on what the owner dashboard shows.

Step 2: One QR code per table, not one for the whole restaurant

This is the part people skip and then wonder why a guest at table 3 is somehow ordering onto table 9’s bill. Each table gets its own code because each table gets its own bill and its own session. Generate them from the Tables & QR page — each one is a stand-alone PNG you can print at home or send to a local print shop.

Step 3: Decide what "printing" means for you this week

Print the table QR code on a clear stand or card. That does not require kitchen-ticket printing. GiveMyMenu offers browser print views for KOTs and receipts on eligible plans; the browser, operating system and printer still need to work together. Test the actual paper width, margins and printer before service. An unattended thermal-printer queue is not part of the current workflow.

Step 4: Choose whether you need table PIN protection

A photographed table QR code can travel outside the restaurant. On an eligible plan with PIN protection enabled, staff open the table session and share its PIN with seated guests. Browsing the menu does not grant ordering access. Repeated wrong guesses temporarily lock the device and rotate the PIN; staff may need to give other guests the new code. Closing a session ends access for the phones that joined it. PIN protection starts on Starter; it is not a permanent Free-plan feature.

Step 5: Run one real table through it before service

Run a full practice table: browse, enter the PIN if enabled, submit an order, find it on the kitchen display and ask for the bill. Add another item and check that it joins the same bill. Then record a payment only after receiving it, and settle and close the session. Keep a staff-assisted ordering option for a guest who cannot or does not want to use their phone.

What this does not do

It will not plate the food, split a check across six phones automatically, or sync with a property-management system. It puts the menu in front of the guest, takes the order to the kitchen, and keeps the bill with the table until someone closes it. For a single-location restaurant or cafe, that is most of the actual problem.

The honest cost question

The Free plan includes QR menus, ordering and a kitchen display for one location without an expiry date. New accounts currently receive a 14-day trial of Pro features. Trial access can make a paid feature appear available during setup, so check what remains on your chosen plan before the trial ends. PIN protection, printing and restaurant branding start on Starter. Use the current pricing page for the available features and amounts.