QR Code Menu

Static vs Dynamic QR Codes — The Only Decision That Really Matters

Every QR code menu is one of two things, and the difference is permanent. A static code has the destination baked into the pattern itself. Change the destination and you change the pattern, which means new codes, new table tents, new print run. A dynamic code stores a short redirect URL instead; the pattern stays identical forever while the page it resolves to is edited freely.

This matters more than any design decision on the page, because it is the difference between a menu you can correct on a Tuesday afternoon and one you are stuck with until the next print run. If you raise the price of a burger by fifty cents and your code is static, you either reprint or serve a wrong price.

Free QR code generators overwhelmingly hand you a static code. That is not deception — a static code costs the generator nothing to serve, because nothing has to stay online for it to keep working. Dynamic codes require somebody to keep a redirect alive indefinitely, which is a running cost, which is why it is almost always the paid tier. Read what you are being given before you print two hundred table cards.

Web Gerek menus are dynamic by construction. The code encodes your menu’s address on our servers; the menu behind it is a live page you edit. Print once, edit for as long as the venue exists.

Where the Code Goes, and How Big to Print It

A QR code that will not scan on the first try is worse than no code at all, because the guest has already committed to trying. Three things decide whether it scans: physical size, contrast, and how far away the phone is.

The practical floor for a code read from arm’s length at a table is about one inch square. Table tents and menu stands sit closer to the guest and can go smaller; a code in a window meant to be read from the sidewalk, or on a food truck service board read from a queue, needs to be considerably larger. The rough rule printers use is that scanning distance is roughly ten times the width of the code, so a one-inch code wants to be within ten inches of the camera.

Contrast is the other half. Dark code on a light background, always — inverted codes fail on a meaningful share of phone cameras. Leave the quiet zone, the empty margin around the pattern, clear of decoration. Do not print a code across a fold, a seam, or a laminate ridge.

On placement: one code per table beats one code per menu, because table cards do not walk out in a coat pocket. Add a second at the host stand for the queue, and if you have a window, put one there — people decide whether to come in from the sidewalk far more often than restaurateurs expect.

What a QR Menu Does Not Do

A QR code menu is a viewing surface. The guest reads it and then orders from a server exactly as before. It is not an ordering system, it does not take payment, and it does not talk to your POS. Web Gerek does not do any of those things and we would rather say so on the page than in a support email after you have signed up.

That distinction matters when comparing prices. Order-and-pay platforms charge a percentage of every check or a per-table monthly fee because they are moving money for you. A menu-viewing product has no such justification, which is why per-table pricing on a view-only menu is worth questioning when you see it.

The second thing it does not do is replace a printed price list where one is required. Some jurisdictions require prices to be displayed or available in a specific form; that is a question for your local authority, not for a menu vendor. A QR menu sits alongside whatever your city or state requires, it does not override it.

Frequently Asked Questions