QR code ordering for restaurants, cafés and bars: the complete guide

QR menu vs QR ordering vs QR order-and-pay

There are three levels of QR code at the table, and they solve different problems: a QR menu only shows the menu, QR ordering sends the order to the kitchen, and QR order-and-pay also takes the payment on the guest's phone.

A view-only QR menu is cheap to set up but saves little staff time, because every order still goes through a waiter. The real time savings come from ordering and payment, because those are the steps that make guests wait.

How QR ordering works, step by step

In a QR order-and-pay system the guest does the ordering and paying on their own phone, and staff receive a complete, paid order with the table number already attached.

For the guest:

1. Scans the QR code on the table with the phone camera. A good system opens in the browser, so no app download is needed.
2. The menu opens with the table number already known. The guest can switch language, filter on allergens and look at photos.
3. Chooses dishes, options and add-ons (size, sauce, extra topping) and adds notes if needed.
4. Pays with a method such as card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or iDEAL, depending on your payment provider.
5. Sees a confirmation screen, and can order another round later from the same code.

For staff:

1. The order appears on a kitchen display or prints on the kitchen/bar printer, split by station if set up that way.
2. The kitchen prepares it and marks it ready.
3. A runner brings it to the table number on the ticket.
4. At the end of the day the orders and payments appear in your reports, ready to reconcile with your payouts from the payment provider.

Staff don't disappear in this flow. Their time moves from typing orders and walking card machines around to serving, clearing tables, helping guests who prefer to order in person, and hospitality.

When QR ordering fits, and when it doesn't

QR ordering fits venues where guests want speed and control, and fits badly where the personal service is the product.

Guest attitudes are mixed. In a 2024 survey by POS provider Lightspeed and Medallia among more than 7,500 restaurant guests in seven countries, German respondents reported that about 44% use QR menus when offered, but 35% would ask for a printed menu if only QR codes were offered and 90% prefer printed menus in upscale restaurants, as reported by trade publication Tageskarte. The practical lesson: offer QR as a choice, not as the only way.

What QR code ordering costs

You pay in two places: the ordering software (subscription, per-order fee or commission) and the payment provider (a fee per transaction). Always add both together when you compare offers.

As an example of payment fees: Mollie's published standard rates (checked October 2026) are €0.32 per iDEAL payment in the Netherlands and 1.80% + €0.25 for EEA consumer cards, with no monthly fee for online payments (Mollie pricing). Other providers publish their own rates; compare them on your real payment mix.

Worked example (assumptions: 800 QR orders a month, average order €25, all paid via Mollie). If every guest paid by EEA consumer card, the payment fee is 1.80% × €25 + €0.25 = €0.70 per order, or about €560 a month. If every guest paid with iDEAL, it is 800 × €0.32 = €256. The real figure sits somewhere in between, depending on your mix. On top of that comes the software cost under whichever model you choose.

For reference, Restaurant by DTS publishes its own prices per venue, excluding VAT: Free at €0/month, where the guest pays a small service fee per order by default (€0.30 under €10, €0.50 from €10 to €30, €0.99 over €30); Pro at €89/month with no service fee; and Pro + Website at €149/month. There is no commission on sales, and payment provider fees come on top. In the example above, the Free plan costs the venue nothing in software but guests pay €0.50 per order (€400 in total), while Pro costs €89 a month with no surcharge for guests. See pricing for details.

Pros and cons at a glance

QR ordering mainly saves time and errors at busy moments; the trade-offs are less personal contact and dependence on guests' phones and mobile data.

Setup checklist

Most of the work in setting up QR ordering is getting the menu, the table numbers and the kitchen flow right; the QR codes themselves are the easy part.

1. Menu: clear categories, short descriptions, correct prices, and options/add-ons set up as choices rather than free text.
2. Allergens: record allergens per dish. Under EU Regulation 1169/2011, allergen information must be available for non-prepacked food such as restaurant dishes; a digital menu is a good place to show it, but staff must still be able to answer questions. See our guide on allergen information rules.
3. Table numbers: one unique code per table (or per sunbed, room or bar section), and a numbering system your runners already know.
4. QR cards: place them where guests look when they sit down, at eye level on stands or stuck to the table edge. Use high contrast (dark code on a light background), keep a white margin around the code, and test scanning from a seated position, in low evening light and with older phones. Laminated or engraved cards survive terraces and cleaning.
5. Payment provider: open or connect an account (for example Mollie, Stripe or PayPal), check which methods your guests use, and test a real payment and a refund.
6. Kitchen printing or display: decide which items go to the bar and which to the kitchen, and test with a full rush of test orders.
7. Staff briefing: who watches incoming orders, who runs food, how to help a guest who can't scan, how to handle a refund or a forgotten item.
8. Fallback: keep paper menus and table service available, and know what to do if the internet drops.

Practical ways to raise order value

The digital menu does the selling that a waiter normally does, so build it the way a good waiter talks: show the food, suggest the obvious extra and speak the guest's language.

• Use real photos of your bestsellers and high-margin dishes. Take them in daylight, on your own plates.
• Set up add-ons where they make sense: extra cheese, a side, a larger size, a matching drink. Keep the list short so it helps rather than annoys.
• Offer the menu in your guests' languages. In tourist areas a translated menu helps guests order with confidence instead of picking only what they recognise.
• Put drinks and desserts in easy reach so a second round is two taps away.
• Mark sold-out items immediately so guests don't order something you can't serve.
• Keep descriptions short and concrete: ingredients and preparation, not marketing language.

Privacy and GDPR: what to get right

Under the GDPR, collect only the guest data you actually need to fulfil the order, explain what you do with it, and make sure your software supplier is bound by a data processing agreement.

• Data minimisation: the GDPR requires personal data to be "adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary" (Article 5(1)(c)). Ordering at a table doesn't require an account, a phone number or a date of birth.
• Purpose and retention: use data only for the purpose you stated and don't keep it longer than necessary (Article 5(1)(b) and (e)).
• Marketing is separate: if you want to send newsletters or offers, ask for that separately and clearly; don't make it a condition for ordering.
• Privacy notice: link to a short, readable privacy notice from the ordering page.
• Processor agreement: your QR ordering supplier processes data on your behalf, and Article 28(3) GDPR requires a contract for that. Ask for it.

The UK regulator put it plainly in 2021: "You shouldn't have to give up too much of your personal data to order a pizza or a pint," said ICO deputy chief executive Paul Arnold, who also urged venues to offer alternatives to app ordering (LBC).

Accessibility: always keep a paper menu option

QR ordering should be an extra option, never the only way to order, because some guests have no smartphone, have a visual impairment or simply find it difficult.

• Keep printed menus (including a large-print version) and normal table service.
• Put a short line on the QR card: "Prefer to order with us? Just ask."
• Choose an ordering page that works with phone zoom and screen readers, with readable font sizes and good contrast.
• In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 places a duty to make reasonable adjustments on service providers (section 29(7)), which is another reason to keep a non-digital route.
• In the EU, the European Accessibility Act covers e-commerce services provided to consumers after 28 June 2025, but microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 staff and annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million) are exempt (Directive 2019/882, Articles 2, 3 and 4(5)). How it applies to table ordering depends on national implementation; check with your trade association if you are above that size.

Common mistakes

Most QR ordering problems come from rushed setup, not from the technology itself.

• Uploading a PDF of the paper menu and calling it digital ordering. It is slow to load and hard to read on a phone.
• Removing all paper menus and table service, which shuts out guests and creates irritation at the table.
• One QR code for the whole venue, so staff don't know where to bring the order.
• Codes that are too small, glossy or placed in shadow, or that point to a URL you later can't change.
• Forcing guests to create an account or install an app before they can order.
• No kitchen routing test, so drinks print in the kitchen and food at the bar on the first busy night.
• Forgetting allergens and options, leading to free-text notes the kitchen has to interpret.
• Not telling staff who owns the incoming orders, so paid orders sit unnoticed.

How Restaurant by DTS handles QR ordering

Restaurant by DTS is a web-based platform where guests scan, order and pay on their own phone without an app. You can import a photo of your paper menu (AI reads dishes and prices, you check them), set allergens and add-ons per dish, and show the menu in 8 languages. Orders go to a kitchen display or printer, and payments go straight to your own Mollie, Stripe, PayPal or Paystack account.

Frequently asked questions