QR menu vs interactive menu: which one helps you sell

During the pandemic nearly every restaurant put a QR code on the table. Most kept the exact same menu they always had, just as a PDF. It works, but it stops halfway.

What a regular QR menu does

It shows the same text as the printed menu, usually without photos, in small type that's hard to read on a phone. The guest zooms in, gives up and orders the usual.

• It looks like paper, only on a screen.
• It rarely has photos of the dishes.
• It doesn't show add-ons or extras.
• Changing one price means redoing the file.

What an interactive menu does

Here the goal changes: it isn't to display the menu, it's to help people decide. Every dish has a photo, a description and options. The guest sees what's going to land on the table.

A regular menu informs. An interactive menu sells.

And because it's built for a screen, the things that usually get forgotten at the end of service show up: desserts, drinks, add-ons, second rounds.

The dessert nobody ordered

A restaurant had a house pie that barely sold. Not because it wasn't good, but because the server didn't always get to offer it before the table asked for the check.

Once it had a photo and a description in the interactive menu, tables started ordering it on their own after the main course. Same recipe, same kitchen. It just became visible.

How to decide

If you only need guests to read the menu, a PDF behind a QR code does the job. If you also want them to add an extra, understand what they're ordering, and be able to order and pay without waiting, you need something else.

Nobody craves what they can't see.