The thing most people get wrong about static codes
The usual objection to a permanent QR code is that a menu changes and the code cannot. That misunderstands what the code holds.
The code contains a web address, not a menu. Point it at something stable —yourrestaurant.com/menu — and you can rewrite the page every morning. The address stays the same, so every printed code keeps working. You would only reprint if the address itself changed, and there is no reason to let it.
This is why paid dynamic codes are usually unnecessary here. They sell you the ability to change the destination; you already have it, because you own the destination.
Link a page, not a PDF
This is the difference between a menu code people use and one they resent. A PDF opens as a fixed-size document: the text is tiny, and reading it means pinching, dragging and losing your place. On a phone, at a table, in dim light, it is genuinely unpleasant.
A plain web page reflows to the screen. If you can only manage a PDF, at least:
- Lay it out in a single column at phone proportions, not A4.
- Set the body text around 16pt so it is readable without zooming.
- Keep it to one file — split menus mean back-and-forth navigation.
Printing and placement
Codes on tables live a harder life than codes anywhere else. They get splashed, wiped, leaned on and picked at.
- Print at 3 cm or larger. Scanning distance is roughly ten times the width, so 3 cm covers arm's length. Wall or window codes need far more.
- Laminate or seal it. Unprotected paper on a restaurant table stops scanning within weeks — oil and water are enough to defeat the contrast.
- Dark code on a light background. Printing onto dark wood, patterned card or a photograph is the most common reason a code fails.
- Keep the quiet zone. The blank margin is part of the code. Do not let a border or logo encroach on it.
- Put it where people sit. A code only on the door is useless once someone is at a table.
Say what it is
A bare square tells nobody anything. Two words — "Scan for menu" — measurably improves how many people use it. Add a short written address as a fallback for anyone whose camera will not cooperate.
Keep paper menus
Not everyone carries a phone, has battery left, has data, or can comfortably read a small screen. In several jurisdictions, offering no alternative creates accessibility problems. The code should be the fast path, not the only path.
Why not use a QR service that tracks scans
Because you can already see the numbers. The code sends people to your own page, so your existing website analytics counts every visit — with no third party in the middle that can rate-limit you, change the destination, or switch the code off when a subscription lapses.
Restaurants are the group hit hardest by expiring codes: the code is printed onto table tents, laminated menus and window decals, and reprinting all of it because a trial ended is a real cost for no benefit.