As restaurants and bars continue to resume dine-in service during the COVID-19 pandemic, extra precautions are being made in order to promote a safe customer experience. For example, most restaurants are using disposable paper menus instead of their traditional menus, so that they are only used once by the customer and thrown away. If still using traditional menus, staff will need to clean and sanitize those menus before reusing them.
However, a new trend is developing involving the use of QR Codes. In some establishments, each table has a QR code placed on it, where each diner simply has to use the camera on their smartphone, place it over the QR code, and a link pops up on the phone, taking them to the restaurant’s menu.
Why Use a QR Code Over a Disposable Menu?
Ultimately, creating disposable menus costs money to print. And if your menu frequently changes, that means more time and money. With QR codes, once you print them, any time you need to change your menu, you can simply change it on the URL you use to display your menu. No need to reprint or re-make a QR code.
In addition, QR codes are the ultimate hands-free solution to displaying your menu. And it is really easy to create, as well. We will walk you through how to create your own QR code so you can begin implementing it in your own restaurant or bar.
Steps to Creating a QR Code
- Find a QR Code Generator – There are a lot of options for finding a QR Code Generator online. Some, such as For QR Code, contain various features that allow you to add your restaurant’s logo to the middle of the code, as well as alter the overall design of the code.
- Assign a URL – Your menu will need to be online in some format, either as a webpage or a PDF. Once your menu is ready, you will assign the URL of the menu to the QR code.
- Print and Laminate – Once the code has been generated, you’ll want to print out enough codes to have on each table. Optionally, you should laminate the codes so that they can stay protected from any spills that may occur from diners.
Of course, not every diner may have a smartphone, or if they do, maybe their connection is not great, so they would not be able to look at the menu using a QR code. You should still have a small selection of disposable menus on hand in case this happens.
Cody Bell is a content specialist with Central Restaurant Products. With over 7 years of experience in the foodservice industry, Cody has developed knowledge on topics from all aspects of commercial foodservice, from the front of the house to back of the house. He is a NAFEM Certified Foodservice Professional. In his free time, Cody likes to spend time with his wife and puppy.
