QR code menus: how to set one up, and what should stay on paper

Updated October 31, 2026

A QR code menu is a web page your guests open by scanning a printed code. This guide covers setting one up, what stays on paper, the allergen caveats, and table-tent wording you can copy.

A QR code menu is your menu on a web page, opened by scanning a printed code on the table. To set one up, build the menu as a real web page, get a QR code that points to it, print the code on a table tent, test it on a few phones, and keep some paper menus behind the counter. The code stays the same while the page behind it changes, so a sold-out dish or a new price never means a reprint.

What a QR menu must not do is replace the things guests depend on. Paper copies still matter for anyone who can't or won't use a phone. Allergen information needs more care than a tag on a dish. The rest of this guide goes through the setup, the legal checks and the wording.

How to set one up

1. Write the menu out first. Sections, dishes, a short description, prices, and allergen notes. Keep the working copy in one place, because every version you print or publish comes from it.
2. Publish it as a web page, not a PDF. A PDF of your print menu makes people pinch and drag on a small screen. A web page reflows to fit the phone and can be edited in seconds.
3. Get a code that points at an address you control. Some free generators route your code through their own short link, and if that service closes or starts charging, every printed code can stop working. Check where the code really goes before you print 30 of them.
4. Print dark on light, large enough to scan from a seat. Put the web address in small type under the code as a fallback.
5. Test it where it will be used. Try an iPhone and an Android, at the table, in evening light, on the guest wifi and on mobile data.
6. Brief the staff. Everyone should know where the paper menus are and what to say when a guest asks.

What stays on paper

The short answer: anything a guest has to be able to reach if their phone is flat. Treat this as a working checklist, and check your local rules.

There is an access reason as well as a courtesy reason. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act places responsibility for effective communication on the business, and the Justice Department's own example is a restaurant reading the menu to a person who is blind. A QR code doesn't remove that duty. Train staff to read the menu or hand over a large-print copy without any fuss.

Allergen information: the caveats

This is the part to get right. It is general guidance, not legal advice, and food rules vary by state, county and country. Your local health department has the final word.

United States

The federal allergen labelling law is aimed at packaged food. The FDA says it exempts most foods sold at retail or food service establishments that aren't pre-packaged with a label. So the labelling law itself doesn't cover a plated dish. That is not the end of it.

The FDA's 2022 Food Code added section 3-602.12(C), which says the permit holder must give written notification of major food allergens as ingredients in unpackaged food. The FDA says that notification can take physical or electronic means, including menu notices, table tents and placards. An electronic menu can therefore be part of how you do it.

Two limits matter. The Food Code is a model, and the FDA says it is neither federal law nor regulation, so it applies only where your jurisdiction has adopted that edition. Ask your health department which version it enforces. And the nine major allergens are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame, which is longer than the list most menus show.

The same Food Code has a consumer advisory rule, section 3-603.11, for raw or undercooked animal foods. It calls for a disclosure and a reminder, using brochures, menu advisories, table tents, placards or other effective written means. If you serve rare burgers, raw oysters or runny eggs, check whether your local code applies this, and put the wording on both the page and the paper menu.

Chains are a separate case. FDA calorie labelling rules cover chains with 20 or more locations. The FDA page doesn't address QR menus directly, so a covered chain should get specific advice.

United Kingdom

The rules are firmer. The Food Standards Agency's allergen guidance says businesses selling non-prepacked food must supply allergen information for every item containing any of the 14 regulated allergens. It can be given in writing, or verbally with a clearly visible written notice saying how to get it. The 14 include celery, lupin, mollusc, mustard and sulphites as well as the more familiar ones. For food ordered online or by phone, information is needed before purchase and at delivery.

Whatever your location

• A tag is not a promise. "GF" on a dish tells the guest nothing about the shared fryer. Mention cross-contact if there's a real risk.
• Short tags don't cover everything. V, VG, GF, DF and a nut marker cover a few cases. They say nothing about sesame, shellfish, eggs or soy. Add a line to each dish or link to a full allergen table.
• Update the allergens when you update the dish. Editing a menu in seconds is a benefit until the supplier changes the pesto and the note stays the same. Make it one job.
• Always send people to staff. Serious allergies need a conversation, and the UK guidance also advises written information supported by a conversation.
• Keep ingredient records. Recipes and supplier specification sheets should be current and easy to reach during service.

Table-tent wording to copy

Keep it short. People read a table tent for about as long as it takes to pick up their phone.

Standard:

Scan for tonight's menu. Prefer paper? Just ask, we're happy to bring one.

With allergens:

Scan for our menu and allergen information. Food allergy or intolerance? Please tell your server before you order. Our kitchen handles nuts, gluten, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy and sesame, so we can't guarantee any dish is free of them.

Only use that second list if it is true of your kitchen, and edit it to match.

Raw or undercooked note, from the Food Code's reminder options:

*Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.

Security line, for the small print under the code:

Our menu is at [yourname.example/menu]. If the address looks different, ask a member of staff.

That last one is more than decoration. The FTC has reported scammers covering QR codes on parking meters with their own, and it advises people to check a link before opening it. A printed address gives them something to compare, and a quick look over the tents at opening catches any stickers.

A worked example

Say you run a 14-table neighbourhood restaurant. Your menu has 22 dishes and you run two specials a night.

1. You publish the menu and print 16 table tents, two spare, plus eight paper menus for the host stand.
2. At 4pm the fish delivery comes in short, so you change the special to the hake at $26. Every open page and every later scan shows the new dish. The tents don't change.
3. At 8:30pm the lamb ragu at $19 sells out. You take it off the page before the next table asks.
4. A guest asks about sesame. The server checks the allergen table, then asks the kitchen, because the page is only the starting point.
5. An older couple prefers paper. The host brings the printed menu, dated this week, with the specials on a card.

Print the paper version from the same source, and write the date on it, so nobody is reading last month's prices.

Common mistakes

• QR only, no paper at all. You lose the guest whose phone died, and you give staff an awkward conversation.
• A menu that takes an age to load. Large photos on restaurant wifi are a slow way to start a meal. Test it.
• Forcing a sign-up. Nobody wants to enter an email address to read the soup of the day.
• Prices that don't match. If the page, the paper and the till disagree, the guest will assume the highest one is the mistake.
• A code printed too small or on a glossy curve. Test the printed tent, not the file on your screen.
• Linking your Google profile to a delivery app. Google says menu URLs can't be direct links to third-party ordering or delivery services.

On Programmable, the menu page has sections, prices and dietary tags, and you can change tonight's specials by text while the QR code on the table stays the same. Pages are private by default, so make a menu public if you want people to find it, not just the guests at your tables. If you take bookings or need a place for your hours as well, see what you can do without a website.

Questions

Are QR code menus legal?

Nothing on the FDA or ADA pages cited here bans them, but you still have to communicate with every guest and meet your local food rules. Keep paper copies, and ask your health department what it expects for allergen information.

Can a QR code menu replace allergen information on paper?

Be careful. The FDA says written allergen notification under the 2022 Food Code can be physical or electronic, but that code only applies where it has been adopted. Keep a paper version so the information is available without a phone.

Does a QR code need to be changed when the menu changes?

No, as long as the code points to a web page and that address stays the same. You edit the page and the printed code keeps working.

Do I need an app for a QR code menu?

No. Most phone cameras read QR codes and open the page in a browser. Guests should not need to install anything or sign up to read a menu.