How to Create a QR Menu for a Restaurant: 5 Steps

PDF link or a QR menu with ordering?

The PDF route is simple: design the menu in Canva, upload it to Google Drive, turn the link into a QR code. Cost: zero. The downsides are just as clear. Every price change means re-uploading the file, a sold-out dish stays on the page, and the guest still waves at a waiter to order.

An ordering QR works differently. The guest scans, the menu opens, dishes go into a cart, the order lands at the till. The stop-list is live: when the plov runs out, it disappears from the menu. Waiter call, bill request and feedback sit on the same page.

When is a PDF enough? A four-table coffee shop where the menu changes once a year and one waiter can see every table. When is it not? Past 12 tables, with an outdoor area, or when the menu changes weekly.

Step 1: set up the structure — brand, branch, hall, table

In the laCafe admin panel (admin.lacafe.app) the structure has four levels: brand, branch, hall, table. Even a single choyxona follows it: brand 'Chorsu osh', one branch, two halls (indoor and topchan), tables 1 through 14.

Splitting tables into halls pays off later. Waiter Dilshod gets assigned only to the topchan hall, and Telegram alerts route by hall too. Ten minutes at the start saves rebuilding everything later.

Step 2: enter the menu — by hand or with AI

There are three ways to enter a menu. By hand: category, dish, price, photo. The menuPro table editor: 80 items on one screen, spreadsheet-style. Through AI: drop a photo of the paper menu into ChatGPT or Claude, and via MCP the categories and dishes appear on their own.

If you run iiko or r_keeper, the menu syncs from the POS: names, prices, stop-list. Nothing gets typed twice.

• Three languages per dish (uz/ru/en); in Tashkent a menu without Russian loses orders
• Modifiers: 'Plov' → extra meat, qazi, quail egg (min/max)
• Photo, GIF, gallery, video; smoke rising off the shashlik sells
• Nutrition (kcal, protein, fat, carbs, grams) for guests who ask

Step 3: generate the table QR — the slug is issued once

On the laQR page in the admin panel you generate a QR per table. The address looks like chorsu-osh.qr.lacafe.app/stol-7. The 'stol-7' part is the slug, and it is issued once. Rename the table or move it to another hall and the address stays the same.

Why does this matter? Because the QR is printed. You stuck stickers on 14 tables, and three months later the system changes the address: reprint everything. With laCafe a printed QR never breaks.

Pricing: 10 000 UZS a month per table with a generated QR. Tables without a QR are not billed. The branch base of 500 000 UZS is separate.

Step 4: print the QR menu — sticker, tent card, metal plate

Indoors, a 6×6 cm laminated sticker is enough. Put it in the middle of the table, not the edge, so a guest scanning it doesn't reach across the plates. On outdoor topchans a sticker peels in three weeks. Use a metal plate or an acrylic stand.

Test before printing: the iPhone camera, an Android camera, and the scanner inside Telegram. All three should open the page. Leave at least 5 mm of white margin around the code, or older phones will not read it.

• A short line under the code: 'Scan for menu and ordering'
• Print the table number beside the code so both guest and waiter see it
• Spares: print one extra sticker per table

Step 5: test the order flow — till, kitchen, waiter

On day one, be the guest yourself. Order a single tea from table 7. The order should show up on the laBoard till tablet or in iiko. Walk it through the kitchen statuses: sent, cooking, ready, served.

Then tap 'Call waiter'. Dilshod's laWaiter phone should get a push, and the Telegram group a message. Request the bill and close it as cash. Those ten minutes of testing save weeks of headaches.

Connect payments too: Payme, Click, UzQR or laPay. Behind one QR, laPay accepts Payme, Click, Paylov, Uzum and cards. Bank details are set per branch.