Blog / QR on the table
Restaurant QR code menu: digital, no app to download, on the table
A table QR code menu only works if it opens in the browser, fast, with no sign-up. How guests read it, how the restaurant sets it up, and why the code points at the house, not a dish.
Restaurants still search for a QR code menu. The table asks for paper again if the code opens an app, a heavy PDF or a sign-up.
This guide is for the owner: what a digital menu with a QR is, how guests read it, and how the code stays valid when the dish changes.
What a QR code menu is
A sticker or display in the middle of the table. The phone opens the digital menu in the browser. No App Store, no forced WhatsApp, no login.
PratoAI uses that path and can still show the dish in 3D, at real size. The QR itself is the same: a house link.
How to read the QR code menu
What the guest does, in four steps:
- Open the iPhone or Android camera.
- Point at the QR code on the table.
- Safari or Chrome opens.
- Tap the dish.
If the code asks for a download, an email or a 20 MB PDF, the table asks for paper. The bar is the demo menu: 3D opens in the browser itself.
A table QR that points at the restaurant
Every table should open `/r/your-restaurant`, not a specific dish. Then you can:
- change the daily special without reprinting a plate;
- publish a new dish in the studio and the old QR still works;
- measure one link, not 40 stickers.
In PratoAI the table QR is exactly that. In Metrics the house copies the link and downloads the QR.
How to set up a digital QR code menu
- Register the restaurant and publish 3 high-margin dishes.
- Print the QR once, on a table display — in the middle, not the corner.
- Have the team test it on the house iPhone and Android.
- Train waiters to say: “you can see the size on the table, on your phone”.
No app. No reprinting. The VIP form books the first dish scan.
What kills adoption
- Asking for login, email or WhatsApp before showing the dish.
- Opening a heavy PDF.
- Sending people to the App Store.
iOS already has Quick Look. Android already has Scene Viewer. Both are on the phone.
QR code menu vs PDF
Both can use the same sticker. The difference is the URL: one opens a file, the other opens a live menu. A PDF does not show height or portion. AR puts the dish on the tablecloth at 1:1.
Also read the augmented-reality menu and PDF vs AR.
Next step
Try it on your phone, on your table, in the demo menu. Then book the VIP session.
See the dish on the table, at real size:
