A QR menu your guests can actually order from
One code on the table. Guests browse in Arabic or English, customize, and order in seconds — and you keep 100% of the ticket.
What a QR menu actually is
A QR menu is your menu published as a web page, reached by pointing a phone camera at a printed code. The camera opens the link, the menu loads in the browser the guest already has, and nothing gets installed.
That is the whole mechanism — and it is why the format stuck around after the years that made it famous. The interesting question is not whether guests can read a menu on a phone. It is whether they can order from it.
Reading menu or ordering menu: pick the one that pays
Most QR codes on tables still point at a PDF. That solves printing costs and nothing else: the guest pinches and zooms, then waves at a member of staff anyway.
An ordering QR menu adds the part that makes money. Photos that make people hungry, item options and add-ons that quietly raise the average ticket, a cart, and a checkout. The guest goes from curious to ordered without anyone crossing the room.
- ✓Photos and descriptions instead of a wall of grey text
- ✓Item options and add-ons — the upsell happens without being asked for
- ✓A cart and checkout, so ordering never waits for staff to be free
- ✓Prices you change once, everywhere, without reprinting
- ✓Out-of-stock items hidden before a guest gets their hopes up
How it works, end to end
There are two sides to this, and both should be boring. The guest's side is a scan; your side is a notification.
- The guest scansCamera at the code on the table, menu opens in the browser. No app, no account, no wifi password negotiation.
- They browse and customizeIn Arabic or English, whichever they picked. Options, add-ons, notes for the kitchen, promo code if you're running one.
- They order and pay attention to the trackingDine-in, delivery, or pickup. Delivery orders get live tracking in their own language, so nobody phones to ask where the food is.
- You get it on WhatsApp and the dashboardInstantly, with the guest's name, number, items, options, and address. The counter works off the dashboard; the phone buzzes as a backup.
Why direct ordering beats renting your customers
Delivery apps taught your guests that ordering should take thirty seconds. That lesson was worth paying for — and you are still paying for it, on every order, forever.
Commissions on the marketplaces commonly run up to 30%. On $8,000 of monthly orders that is up to $2,400 leaving the kitchen. The Starter plan here is $15 a month, flat, no matter how many orders come through it.
We are not going to tell you to delete the apps tomorrow. They genuinely bring you strangers, and that is worth something. What they should not be is the only way your existing regulars can order, because on that path the guest who already loves you costs you a third of the ticket every time.
- ✓0% commission — a busy month is good news, not a bigger bill
- ✓The customer relationship is yours: names, numbers, order history
- ✓Your menu, your brand, no competitors listed beside it
- ✓Repeat customers order directly, where the margin lives
Setting yours up
The setup is short because the hard part — turning a menu into structured items, options, and prices in two languages — is the part we do for you.
- Send us your menuA PDF, a photo of the printed menu, or a spreadsheet. We build categories, items, options, and prices in Arabic and English.
- Add photos and set the detailsOpening hours, delivery zones and fees, pickup, and per-branch differences if you run more than one location.
- Test it like a guestOpen your own menu on your own phone and place a real order through it before anyone else does.
- Print the QR code and go liveWe give you the code files. Table tents first, then everything else on your normal print cycle.
Where to put the code
A QR menu earns its keep in proportion to how many places the link exists. The printed code is only the beginning — the same link belongs everywhere a hungry person might find you.
- ✓Table tents, and a sticker at the counter for takeaway queues
- ✓The window, so passers-by can read the menu before deciding
- ✓Receipt footers and delivery bags — that is your repeat-order channel
- ✓Instagram and TikTok bios, where the link matters more than the code
- ✓Your Google Business Profile menu link and your website's order button
What it costs
Starter is $15 a month, or $144 a year, for the QR menu and online ordering on one branch. Growth is $39 a month, or $375 a year, adding the AI assistant and unlimited branches.
Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial and no card, and no plan takes a commission on your orders. The full comparison, including the Scale plan, is on the pricing page.
QR menu questions, answered
What is a QR menu?
A QR menu is your restaurant's menu published as a web page, reached by scanning a QR code with a phone camera. The guest points the camera at the code on the table, the menu opens in their browser, and there is nothing to download. On an ordering QR menu — as opposed to a scanned PDF — the guest can also add items to a cart, choose options, and send the order straight to the kitchen.
Do guests need an app to use a QR menu?
No. Every modern phone camera reads QR codes natively, and the menu opens in the browser that is already on the phone. No download, no account, no app-store detour — which is exactly why QR menus convert better than asking a guest to install something.
How do I create a QR menu for my restaurant?
Build the menu once in a dashboard, generate the QR code that points at it, and print the code where guests sit and where they find you. With OrderScribe we build the menu for you from whatever you have — a PDF, a printed menu, or photos — in Arabic and English, then hand you the QR code files to print.
Is a QR menu better than a PDF menu?
For anything beyond reading, yes. A PDF is an image of a menu: guests pinch and zoom, you cannot change a price without re-exporting and reprinting, and nobody can order from it. A proper QR menu is a live page — you edit a price once and every code in the building shows the new one, and the guest can order in the same tap flow.
Does a QR menu work for delivery and pickup too?
Yes. The same menu link works on the table, in your Instagram bio, on your website's order button, and in a WhatsApp message. Dine-in guests scan it, delivery and pickup customers tap it, and every order arrives in the same dashboard.
How much does a QR menu cost?
On OrderScribe, Starter is $15 a month or $144 a year and covers the QR menu and online ordering for one branch. Growth is $39 a month or $375 a year and adds the AI assistant and unlimited branches. Every plan includes a 14-day free trial with no card, and there is no commission on orders at any tier.
Can a QR menu be in Arabic and English?
Yes. OrderScribe menus are fully bilingual with complete right-to-left layout, not a mirrored afterthought. The guest picks the language on their own phone, and the kitchen sees a single clear order either way.
What happens if I change a price or run out of an item?
You change it in the dashboard and every guest who scans after that sees the new version — no reprinting. Sold-out items can be marked out of stock so guests stop ordering them instead of calling you to be told no.
Put a real ordering menu on your tables
Start the 14-day free trial — no card — and we'll build your menu in Arabic and English while you get on with service.