The QR menu is the highest-traffic QR code most businesses will ever print — scanned by every customer, in every lighting condition, on every phone. Here is how to make one that doesn't embarrass you, and doesn't die when a subscription lapses.
Put the menu at yourrestaurant.com/menu — a page or PDF on your domain — and encode that as a static QR code. You get the headline benefit of dynamic codes (update the menu anytime by changing what the URL serves) with none of the dependency: no third-party redirect, no monthly fee, no mass die-off of printed table tents when a trial ends (the failure mode covered in do QR codes expire).
Table tents are scanned from 30–50 cm: make the code 4–5 cm square (the 10:1 distance rule), dark on light, with the full quiet zone. Matte lamination — glossy laminate under restaurant downlights is the #1 cause of "it won't scan, let me hold it at a weird angle" theatre. Add one line of text under the code ("Scan for menu") and the URL in small print as a fallback for the phoneless.
A fast, mobile-first HTML page beats a 10 MB scanned PDF that takes four pinch-zooms to read on cellular. Compress images, put today's specials at top, and keep a one-tap link to call or book. Test on a slow connection — your customers are on cellular indoors, not your office WiFi.
Keep a few physical menus — QR-only excludes guests without smartphones and many older or visually impaired diners, and several jurisdictions' accessibility guidance says the same. Launch checklist: ① page loads in under 3 s on cellular ② code ≥ 4 cm, matte, quiet zone intact ③ scanned with an old Android and an iPhone, day and evening lighting ④ URL printed as text fallback ⑤ physical menus available on request.