Test your first digital menu

A menu is not finished when it looks right on your screen. It is finished when a guest sitting at a table, using their own phone and the restaurant's connection, scans a code and reads it comfortably.

This test rehearses that moment before any code is printed. It proves four separate things: the public menu works while signed out, the QR code points at the right address, the printed file is scannable, and the menu is usable on a phone in the dining room.

Before you start

• One menu type published, with at least one full category of items.
• The QR codes generator tool enabled under Settings → Restaurant settings → Enabled tools.
• A phone that is not signed in to the site.

1. Confirm the destination first

Open a private browser window and visit the public menu you intend to link to. Copy that address.

Decide deliberately what the code should open:

Generating a code for a page you have not opened yourself is the most common cause of reprinting.

2. Generate the code

1. Open QR generator in the sidebar.
2. Tick the destinations you want. Home Page is ticked by default; untick it if you do not need it.
3. Menu archives are listed first, category archives after them, with the menu type they belong to shown in brackets.
4. To add a destination that is not on the list, paste it into Custom URL. Include https://.
5. Select Generate Codes.

The results appear grouped. On a multilingual site there is one group per language, each labelled with the language, so a Spanish code and an English code are never confused with each other.

3. Download the right file

Each result offers two downloads:

• PNG — an image, right for a quick screen preview, a slide, or a social post.
• SVG — a vector file that stays sharp at any size. Use this one for anything a printer will produce: table tents, posters, coasters, menus.

Download the SVG for print and keep the PNG for digital use. Send the SVG to the print shop; do not let anyone enlarge the PNG instead.

4. Scan it before printing

1. Open the downloaded file on a computer screen.
2. Scan it with a phone that is signed out of the site.
3. Confirm the address that opens is exactly the one you copied in step 1 — the right site, the right menu, the right language.
4. Confirm the page loads without a login prompt.

If the code opens an unexpected page, do not adjust the printed material. Fix the destination and generate the code again.

5. Read the menu as a guest would

Still on the phone, with the menu open:

• Scroll the whole menu. Every category should be reachable.
• Use the category navigation to jump between sections.
• Check that prices are legible without zooming.
• Open an item and expand its long description.
• If the archive offers the allergen filter, the favorites view or the language switcher, try each one.
• Check the contact dock: every link in it should open something real.
• Confirm no draft or unfinished item is visible.

Then repeat the scan in the dining room itself, on the restaurant's own connection and under its own lighting. A menu that reads well at a desk can be unreadable at a candlelit table.

6. Print a single proof

Print one code at its final size before ordering the full run.

• Keep a clear margin of quiet space around the code; artwork pressed against its edges breaks the scan.
• Do not print the code in a color with poor contrast against its background.
• Do not stretch it out of square.
• Do not laminate a proof before scanning it; glossy finishes can defeat some cameras under direct light.

Scan the printed proof at the distance a seated guest would hold their phone. Only then order the rest.

7. Plan for change

The code encodes an address, not the menu content. That has a practical consequence worth deciding once:

• Changing a dish, a price or a photo does not require reprinting anything.
• Changing the address — renaming a category, restructuring the menus, moving to a new domain — breaks every printed code that pointed at the old address.

So point table codes at stable destinations: the home page or a menu archive rather than a seasonal category. Keep the generated SVG files in a shared folder with the date and the destination in the file name, so a reprint never means guessing which file was used.

If the code does not work

When the code, the phone and the dining-room test all agree, work through the Restaurant menu launch checklist before the menu goes live for real.