Digital restaurant menu: everything you need to have a digital restaurant menu

With the integration of technology in daily activities, the hospitality business has not been left behind and has begun to promote innovative solutions in their services, one of the most prominent is: the digital restaurant menu.

The use of the digital menu in restaurants and other hospitality businesses is conceived as an improvement in customer service management. Just by scanning a QR code or logging into the restaurant’s website, it is possible to do a wide range of actions: access the menu and place your order, call the waiter and have him or her take your order.

Continue reading about what you need to have a digital restaurant menu, here you will find some pages so you can design your own digital menu and the keys to know how to implement the QR code in restaurants.

Virtual restaurant menu

The menu is a must-have element in your restaurant. Otherwise, it would make it difficult for your customers to order the dishes and drinks you serve.

Making a physical restaurant menu requires time and attention to detail, ensuring that the content and presentation is as good as possible.

Another important aspect is that physical menus generate costs for the restaurant in printing and binding.

With the advent of digitalisation, restaurants and other hospitality businesses began to implement a lower cost and more versatile tool: the digital menu.

By having a digital restaurant menu, customers have access to it from the establishment or wherever they are, through your restaurant’s website or QR code reading applications.

If you don’t know how to create a restaurant menu, on the Internet you can easily find websites with pre-designed templates, ready to add the content of your menu and customise it with the colours or type of font that characterises the image of your business.

Wewill mention some of the most versatile ones later on, but before that, here are some tips to make the creation of your digital menu simple and quick.

Digital menu with multiple sheets

If your restaurant’s digital menu covers more than one sheet, design each of the sheets separately and unify them into a PDF.

In this format, customers won’t accidentally edit the menu content and will be able to view it page by page on their mobile device.

Nowadays, most image editing programs and word processors provide the option to save a file as a PDF, so you don’t have to do any additional steps.

Update digital restaurant menu

When using a physical menu in your restaurant, updating relevant data -such as prices or dishes- is torture. Not to mention that it will generate more costs for the business.

Instead, you can edit on your restaurant’s digital menu, which will save you time and money. Just make the changes to the original digital menu design and allow the new version to be visible to customers.

Another alternative is to design secondary menus that allude to the dishes of each season of the year, apart from the main menu of the restaurant. This saves time by not having to make changes fromtime to time.

Make your digital restaurant menu public

This is one of the most important points to have a digital menu and you should define it in advance so that you don’t improvise later.

Having a virtual restaurant menu allows customers to have access to it through different platforms, for example, you can place the restaurant’s digital menu on your website and on each of your social networks. You can also send them in your email marketing campaigns or via messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp or Telegram.

That way, customers will have no problem finding out about the products you serve in the establishment and ordering.

How to create a restaurant menu

If you don’t have any ideas on how to create a virtual restaurant menu, there are different websites that can be of great help.

Each of the sites has tools to make it easier for you to customise your menu, based on formats or programmes for making an online restaurant menu.

The best thing is that these websites have the option to create a QR code . With this option, your customers will have access to your menu just by using the camera of their mobile phone.

Horecarta.com

This site offers a free service to create a virtual restaurant menu.

In addition to being a simple platform to use for the design of your restaurant menu, it allows you to generate QR codes in which they can be displayed.

If you need to make any last minute changes or your restaurant menu has changed due to the season, you can edit it without any problems.

Website: https://horecarta.com/

Bakarta

This platform created in Spain is free and you only have to log in with a user to start designing the digital menu.

This page allows that, in addition to the name of the dish and its description, you can add images to give a visual reference to the customer about what he/she wants to order.

For the page to generate a QR code with the menu, you must indicate a URL where it will appear to the customer and they will have access to the menu.

Web address: https://bakarta.com/

Uqr.me

This cloud application has several tools, but it is not free. Membership costs approximately €5 per month.

Unlike the other sites, this one does not require manual data entry. Simply uploading a file containing all the information in PDF format is enough to generate the QR code.

Once the QR code associated with your digital menu is created, it will always be assigned to you and you will not need to create another one . This app also allows you to customise the QR code.

Page: https://uqr.me/qr-code-generator/

Emenuk.co.uk

This site is paid, but it is ideal if you don’t have time to create the restaurant’s digital menu.

By simply attaching the physical menu to the platform, the Emenuk team will digitise it and generate the QR code so that customers can access it.

To find out the rates, you must enter the website and request information through the very simple form.

Web: https://emenuk.es/

Menupop

Menupop is another website to create the digital menu of your restaurant and you can use it in its free or premium version.

With the free version you can choose the format to make a menu and customise the categories and products. It also generates the QR code to access the file.

As for the paid version, it has the aforementioned functions, but stands out for having the ability for customers to place orders through the same platform, for the time being, while they are in your business.

Please note that the monthly fee for this app is 29 €.

Site: https://emenuk.es/

QR code use in restaurants

The use of QR codes in restaurants has been booming for years and is here to stay, especially in what we know as the “new normal”.

By simply scanning the QR code, diners can look at the menu options without contacting the waiters.

If you place it on the restaurant’s website, customers can scan it at home to order delivery service.

In case your digital menu is interactive, customers can order from their seat and you further restrict the contact between waiters and diners.

QR reader apps

There are countless applications for reading QR codes in mobile shops, but you should always download safe and properly functioning options.

Here are the three best QR code reader apps for you to test with your restaurant’s QR code and to recommend to your customers.

Some mobile phones already have a built-in QR code reader in the camera, you only have to test if yours allows it. If not, here are some apps to help you solve the problem.

QR Droid Code Scanner

The first is QR Droid Code Scanner, a code reader with tools that make the process easier.

This app can read QR codes with the help of the rear camera and the front camera. It not only reads the codes, but also their URLs.

If the lights in the restaurant are dim and the camera can’t focus on the QR code, just turn on the flash.

If you don’t want to lose the digital menu, it can be saved as an exportable file.

Neo Reader QR & Barcode Scanner

Another option is the Neo Reader QR & Barcode Scanner, a versatile application for any operating system that puts the security of your devices as its priority.

It automatically detects QR codes, without having to focus on them carefully, and can read them with both the front and rear camera.

In terms of security, it will always ask you to confirm whether you want to enter the website it points to and saves them in a history.

It has a free version with advertisements and a premium version that you can purchase for 99 cents.

Zapper

Zapper is a free application that is available for Android and iOS devices.

Although its main function is to read QR codes, this app allows you to make payments in record time

Due to its versatility, it is widely used and recommended by users from different countries.

Monouso: The shop your restaurant needs

A good service management -with the use of the digital menu- is not complete if you don’t have quality products.

In our online shop, Monouso, you will find a variety of products for the catering industry that will add value to the service you offer.

Cups, plates, cutlery, glasses, jugs, trays and take-away containers are some of the products you can find in our catalogue.

They are manufactured with disposable, reusable and biodegradable materials, so you can choose the ones that best suit your business style

Visit us and be surprised by the number of options, materials and prices in our online shop.