How to create a digital menu for a restaurant: step by step

Setting up a digital menu is not a technical job. Most of the time goes into preparing the content, not the software. Here is what actually happens, in order.

Before you start: prepare three things

1. A list of products with prices. Excel or Word is ideal. If you only have it on paper, photograph it — that is enough to begin with, but entering it will take longer.

2. Categories. How you want the guest to see the menu: Breakfast, Salads, Mains, Drinks, Desserts. Don’t create too many — eight to twelve categories is enough for most venues. A menu with thirty categories is harder to browse than paper.

3. Photos, if you have them. You don’t need them for every product. Start with the items that get ordered most and the ones you want to sell more of.

Step 1: Entering the menu

Products go into the admin panel — name, price, category, a short description. With our digital menu we do the entry during setup; you send the list in whatever format you have.

A tip from practice: don’t transfer everything from paper mechanically. If you have an item nobody has ordered in six months, digitising is a good moment to drop it.

Step 2: Categories and order

The order of categories is not cosmetic. Whatever comes first gets seen most. If you want to sell more desserts, desserts must not be last in the list.

The same applies within a category — the item at the top gets the most opens.

Step 3: Descriptions and ingredients

A one-sentence description is enough. Ingredients matter for guests with allergies, and they also cut down the questions your waiters have to answer.

Step 4: QR codes

The code is generated by the system and printed. Three things people get wrong:

• Code too small. Below 3 cm, older phones struggle. Make it at least 4 cm.
• Bad placement. The code should be where the guest looks when they sit down — on the table, not on the wall behind them.
• No explanation. Add one line: “Scan for the menu.” Not every guest knows what it is.

A laminated card or a sticker on each table is the most practical option.

Step 5: Test before opening

Scan the code with two different phones — one Android and one iPhone. Check the prices are right and the photos are the correct way up.

How long it takes

• If the menu is in Excel: one working day.
• If it is on paper or an image: two to three days, depending on how many items you have.
• Printing and placing the codes: about an hour for a venue with twenty tables.

What changes once it is running

In the first week you will notice some guests still ask for a paper menu. That is normal and does not mean the decision was wrong — keep a few printed copies for them.

The second thing owners notice is that changing a price takes seconds instead of a reprint. That is the point at which the digital menu starts paying for itself.

If you would like to see how it looks with your own menu before deciding, get in touch — we will set up part of your menu so you can see it on a phone.