How to make a menu QR code
SmartQRCode editorial · Updated October 2026
How to make a menu QR code is the Menu type, not a photo of last year's card. Name the restaurant, fill four category slots, put one dish per line, optionally attach a PDF, then print. Prices can change after service. If the card never moves and you will not count scans, use Canva.
How to make a menu QR code
Menu is a landing-page type: Appearance, Restaurant Info (Restaurant Name required, optional tagline, optional header image in a video-shaped crop), then categories. Category 1 name is required. category1Items required: a textarea of dishes, one dish per line. Help text says add prices however you like. Categories 2 to 4 are optional as a whole, but if you name one, its items become required. optional menu PDF sits under Files. The modules encode a SmartQRCode URL. Tonight's prices do not need a reprint.
This page is the type. The restaurant workflow (tents, condiments, Wi-Fi on the same table) is restaurant menu QR code how to. Do not use Menu for a paragraph of house rules. That is Text. Do not use it for hours and a phone without dishes. That is Business. If the printed card is the product and will never be edited, photograph it and encode a static file in Canva. Paid options are $1.99, $29, $97, or $197. There is no unpaid tier.
Restaurant name, then category1 and its dishes
- Pick Menu in create. PDF type is a file viewer, not a dish list. Website URL is a hop to a page you host.
- Enter Restaurant Name. The placeholder is a sample restaurant. Use your name.
- Add Tagline if one line earns it. Upload Header Image only if you have a wide still. It is a video aspect crop.
- Name Category 1. Starters is the placeholder. Paste Items (one per line) with one dish per line. category1Items required. Write prices on the same line if you want them.
- Repeat for Category 2, 3, and 4 only if those sections exist. Do not name Desserts and leave the items blank. The form will stop you.
- Upload Full Menu PDF if you already have an InDesign card. This is extra, not a substitute for Category 1 dishes.
- Scan the paid code. The unpaid preview is /qr-preview. Confirm dishes, rather than stopping when a page merely opens.
- Export SVG or 300 dpi PNG or PDF of the symbol. Print at least 2 cm across for a phone at about 30 cm. Keep the quiet zone.
The menu generator is the tool. Industry copy lives at restaurant menus.
How do you write prices in the item list
how do you write prices in the item list is on the dish line. The help text example is a dish plus a price. There is no separate price column. There is no allergen certification. If you need allergen copy, write it on the line or in the tagline. We do not certify it.
Currency symbols in the textarea are your problem, not a QR problem. Write the price on the dish line however guests should read it. Edit after print when the supplier moves.
Four slots is the product. A fifth section belongs on the PDF upload or on a Website URL to a longer page. Do not invent a fifth category field.
What the optional PDF is for
what the optional PDF is for is a designed card you already have. Guests who want the familiar layout can open the file. Guests who want tonight's typed list use the categories. If you only have a PDF and never want typed dishes, the PDF type is a different type that shows a file. Menu still wants Category 1 filled. Do not ship a heading over blank dishes.
A 200MB catalogue is the wrong PDF. Keep the file small enough for a phone on restaurant Wi-Fi.
Headings with no items under them
That used to ship. Category 1 could be the word Starters over empty space. Items are now required there. Named optional categories also need items. The failure you still own is a live menu whose prices you forgot to edit after service. The QR will scan. The page will lie. Set a closing-time reminder.
Allergens missing from the line are a legal problem in the room, not a scan problem. The code will not save you.
Dark laminate on a black tent without invert, condiment smear, and a screenshot of the editor are print failures. They belong in the workflow sibling. Here, send the printer a vector or 300 dpi symbol file.
Menu type versus PDF type versus a site hop
The PDF type shows a file you can replace. Menu shows typed categories plus an optional menu PDF. If you already live in InDesign and never want line items, PDF type is the tool. If the destination is a CMS menu you already maintain, Website URL is the hop. Menu is the dish list with one dish per line and four category slots.
Scan totals, device, and country apply. They do not prove a diner ordered. Analytics cannot see a name. Pause stops the page. Archive keeps the tent working. A hosted menu lasts as long as we resolve it.
Export SVG or 300 dpi PDF of the symbol. Print at least 2 cm across at about 30 cm. Quiet zone of four modules. Error correction H if you add a logo. Do not plate /qr-preview.
When a photographed menu in Canva is enough
when a photographed menu in Canva is enough is a set card that will never be repriced and will never be counted. Photograph it, encode a static image or a URL in Canva, and live with a reprint when the soup changes.
Use the Menu type when dishes and prices move, when you want a scan total, or when you want typed categories plus an optional PDF. Export the symbol properly. Keep /qr-preview off the plate. For where the tent sits, read the restaurant workflow post, not this one.
Questions this raises
One dish per line, prices however you like, for example Bruschetta 6. Category 1 items are required.
A full menu PDF you upload if you already design in InDesign. The typed categories still need dishes. The PDF is extra.
When the card will never be repriced and you do not need scan counts. Encode a static image or URL.
Four slots. Category 1 is required. Naming category 2, 3, or 4 without items is blocked.
No. This is the Menu type and its fields. Table tents, wipe-down, and Wi-Fi pairing are the restaurant menu how-to sibling.
Keep going
The tools and playbooks this post refers to, one click away.
Make the code this post is about
$1.99 for 7 days, then a paid plan. Pick a type, brand it, and edit the destination whenever you like, even after it is printed.