How to create a digital menu for your restaurant, step by step

What a digital menu is and what you need

It's the same menu you have on the table, read on the guest's phone. No app needed: guests scan the QR code with the camera, or open the link from your Google business profile or social media, and the menu opens in the browser.

Digital menu, online menu and QR menu are the same thing seen from different sides. What matters is having one menu, always up to date, reachable from all these places.

What to prepare before you start

Ten minutes of preparation save you an hour in front of the screen.

• Your current menu, on paper, as a PDF or a photo: you copy names, descriptions and prices from it.
• The order of your categories: starters, pasta, pizzas, desserts, drinks. It's the order guests scroll through.
• The allergens of each dish, among the 14 required by law. If you don't have a list yet, now is the time.
• The dish photos you already have. You don't need all of them at once: a few good photos beat many crooked ones.
• Your venue's logo and colours, if you have them.

The steps, in order

• Create your account and first menu, with your venue's name.
• Add the categories in the order you want them shown.
• Enter the dishes: name, short description, price and allergens. Variants, like small and large, go on the same dish with two prices.
• Add photos, starting with your best sellers.
• Open the menu on your own phone, as guests will see it, and fix whatever looks off.
• Download the QR code and print it for tables, counter and window.
• Copy the menu link into your Google business profile, your Instagram bio and your Facebook page.

The QR code: how to make it and where to put it

The QR code is just a shortcut to your menu's address. What matters is that the address never changes: if the QR leads to a PDF file uploaded somewhere, every menu change means uploading the file again or reprinting the QR codes.

Put it where guests look as soon as they sit down: on the table, on a table card or a sticker. At the counter and in the window it helps people who want to check the menu before coming in.

• Print it at least 3 centimetres wide: smaller, cameras struggle.
• Dark on a light background, never the other way round.
• Write what it opens next to it: "Menu and allergens", not just the QR pattern.
• Test it with two or three different phones before printing fifty.

The most common mistakes

• The PDF of the paper menu behind the QR: on a phone it's hard to read and needs zooming and scrolling.
• Descriptions as long as a novel: on a phone one or two lines are enough.
• Allergens left for later. The law requires them on digital menus too.
• The digital menu says one thing and the blackboard another: when you change a price, change it in one place only.
• The QR in a dark corner or under a glass.

How to do it with Platevo, even for free

With Platevo you follow exactly these steps from the dashboard, even on your phone. The menu has an address that never changes and the QR code is ready to download.

• The Free plan includes the menu, QR code and allergens with a filter for guests with allergies, free forever.
• From the Starter plan you get unlimited dishes, your own colours and the menu in several languages.
• From the Pro plan you upload the PDF or photo of your current menu and dishes and prices are read automatically.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a digital menu cost?

You can start for free. With Platevo the Free plan includes a menu with QR code and allergens, with no expiry. Paid plans add unlimited dishes, colours, languages and other features.

Do guests need to download an app?

No. They scan the QR code with their phone camera and the menu opens in the browser.

How long does it take?

For a menu of 40 or 50 dishes, plan an afternoon, photos excluded. If you already have the menu as a PDF and use automatic import, much less.

Can I use a free QR code generator?

Yes, as long as the QR leads to your online menu's address and not to a file. You can also use our free generator: the QR never expires and doesn't go through us.

Should I keep a paper menu too?

It's worth keeping at least one copy: for guests who don't use their phone, and for allergens, because with a digital menu Italian rules also require written documentation that's easy to find.