# How do I put my menu on a QR code without it looking like a PDF? > What sets a digital menu apart from a PDF behind a QR code, how to meet the allergen rules and how to set it up without losing a weekend. - URL: https://waitry.net/en-gb/blog/digital-menu-qr-code-restaurant - Date: 2026-11-19 - Author: Natalia Rodriguez - Categories: Tools A PDF behind a QR code isn’t a digital menu. What changes, how to meet the allergen rules and how to set it up without losing a weekend. Putting a PDF behind a QR code isn’t a digital menu. It’s a paper menu you have to zoom in on. A real digital menu reads well on a phone, can be changed in seconds, shows the allergens the law requires and translates itself. And the difference between the two shows up in what you sell. ## Why a PDF doesn’t work It’s what everyone did in 2020, and it stuck. It half works, and it fails in four places. **It’s hard to read.** An A4 page on a six-inch screen means zooming in and scrolling around. People put up with it for a few seconds and then order what they always have. **It can’t be changed.** If the price of fish goes up, someone has to redo the PDF and upload it again. So nobody does, and you end up with an out-of-date menu. **It doesn’t know what’s happening.** You can’t remove a dish that has sold out, you don’t know what people look at and what they skip, and there’s no way for it to lead to an order. **It makes it hard to get allergens right**, which is the serious part. ## Allergen information isn’t optional This is worth knowing before anything else, because it’s a legal obligation and it gets inspected. Since 13 December 2014, any business that serves food has had to give information about the allergens listed in Regulation (EU) 1169/2011. In Spain, it’s implemented by [Royal Decree 126/2015](https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/2015/BOE-A-2015-2293-consolidado.pdf), in force since 5 March 2015. According to the [Community of Madrid’s guide](https://www.comunidad.madrid/file/113332/download), the information can be given in writing on the menu or on a nearby notice, and also verbally if certain conditions are met and there’s a notice saying where to find it. And there’s one detail almost nobody follows: **any recipe change that affects allergens has to be reflected immediately** in the information you give. With a PDF, “immediately” means someone redoing the file. With a digital menu, it means two taps. That’s the real reason to make the switch, and it isn’t a sales argument: with paper, falling out of compliance is only a matter of time. ## What makes a digital menu different What you need PDF behind a QR code Digital menu Reading it on a phone You have to zoom in Designed for the screen Changing a price or marking a dish as sold out Redo and re-upload the file One tap, from your phone Up-to-date allergens Depends on someone redoing the PDF Updated when you change the dish Photos and modifiers No Yes Other languages One PDF per language Automatic translation Ordering and paying No With the same QR code, if you want **It changes in seconds, from your phone.** A dish that runs out is marked as sold out with one tap and stops being offered, instead of explaining it table by table. **It has photos, and photos sell.** A dish with a good photo gets ordered. The same dish on line twelve of a PDF, much less. **It has proper modifiers.** How the meat is cooked, no onion, size, extras. On paper, that’s a pencil note the kitchen has to interpret. **It translates.** If you serve tourists, a menu in their language takes away the fear of ordering, and that fear costs you in average spend. **It can lead to an order.** The same QR code works for browsing and, if you want, for ordering and paying without waiting for anyone. ## How to set it up without losing a weekend The real work is organising the menu, not the technology. 1. **Start from what you already have.** A photo or a PDF of your current menu is a starting point, and you correct it from there. 2. **Order it by how people order, not by how you think of it.** Long categories get abandoned: if one has twenty dishes, split it. 3. **Mark allergens dish by dish.** It’s the slow part, and the one you can’t skip. 4. **Add photos only where they help.** Half a menu with good photos sells more than a whole menu with average ones. 5. **Test it on your own phone**, standing up, in your venue’s light. It’s a different thing from a computer screen. ## Where to put the QR code It matters more than it seems. On the table, where people already look when they sit down. On the printed menu, if you keep one. In the window, for passers-by who want to see prices before they come in. And on the receipt, so the QR code keeps working afterwards. What doesn’t work is a single QR code on the bar, because it makes people get up. > **How we do it** > The [digital menu](/es/productos/carta-digital) is the same everywhere: at the table, on the QR code, on the [self-service kiosk](/es/productos/kioscos) and on your [delivery](/es/productos/delivery) channel. You change it once and the change appears in all four at the same time, which is what stops menus from not matching. > Translation is automatic into the languages you serve, and it **keeps allergens and modifiers**, which is where hand-made translations go wrong. > And if you want the QR code to do more than show the menu, with [order and pay at table](/es/productos/pedido-y-pago-en-mesa) the same menu takes the order and the payment. > The Lite plan includes the digital menu and is free. What each plan includes is on our [pricing](/es/precios) page. ## Shall we set it up with your menu in front of us? In a 15-minute demo we upload your current menu and you see it working on your phone, with allergens and translation. You come away knowing how much work it really is, which is usually less than people fear. → [**Book a 15-minute demo**](/es/demo) ## Frequently asked questions **Is a PDF behind a QR code good enough?** It’s hard to read, it can’t be changed and it makes allergen compliance harder. It only half works. **Is allergen information mandatory?** Yes, since 13 December 2014, under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011. In Spain, also under Royal Decree 126/2015. **Can I give it verbally only?** Only if the conditions set by the rules are met and there’s a notice saying where to find the information. In writing is safer. **What happens if I change a recipe?** It has to be reflected immediately in the allergen information. That’s exactly where paper fails. **Does it translate itself?** Yes, into the languages you serve, keeping allergens and modifiers. **How long does it take to set up?** The slow part is organising the menu and marking allergens. Set-up starts from a photo or a PDF of the menu you already have. **Can the same QR code be used to order?** It can. The same menu can stay view-only or take the order and the payment. ## Where to start → [Create my free account](https://appia.waitry.net/signup) → [Book a 15-minute demo](/es/demo) ## Sources **Obligation to provide allergen information, accepted formats and immediate updates after recipe changes:** [Royal Decree 126/2015, consolidated text in the BOE](https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/2015/BOE-A-2015-2293-consolidado.pdf) and the [Community of Madrid’s food information guide](https://www.comunidad.madrid/file/113332/download). **Plans and what each one includes:** [Waitry pricing page](/es/precios). **Translation, modifiers and syncing across channels:** Waitry product documentation.