How restaurant QR ordering works

What QR ordering is

Each table has a QR code that identifies it. Scanning it opens the restaurant’s digital menu in the browser — with photos, options and prices — and lets the guest order without waiting for a server. A QR menu stops at showing the menu; QR ordering carries the order through.

What happens after the scan

1. The scan is recorded, then the guest lands on the menu for that table.
2. They choose items and required options — a cooking temperature, a sauce, a size.
3. The order is placed against the table’s open dining session.
4. Each item is routed to the kitchen station that prepares it.
5. Staff see the items on the table’s ticket at the POS, alongside anything they rang in.
6. The table pays at the end, and the payment is recorded against the whole ticket.

That is the flow in Dinivoo: QR orders join the open table ticket and go straight to the kitchen display.

Types of QR code

• Table codes — tied to a specific table, for dine-in ordering.
• Takeaway codes — at the counter or in the window, for guests ordering to collect.
• General codes — open the menu without a table.
• Marketing codes — on flyers, packaging or posters, so you can see which placement brings orders.

Setup checklist

1. Clean up the menu: clear names, photos for best sellers, and required modifiers set as required.
2. Create your tables and zones so each code maps to a real table.
3. Decide which kitchen station cooks each category.
4. Print codes large enough to scan from a seat, on material that survives cleaning.
5. Brief staff: QR orders appear on the ticket, and the table still pays at the end.
6. Test one full order — scan, order, cook, serve, pay — before opening.

Common mistakes

• Optional modifiers that should be required, so the kitchen has to come back and ask.
• Sold-out items still showing because the QR menu is a separate system from the till.
• QR orders printing on a separate device that nobody watches.
• No way to tell which codes are actually used.

All four come from the QR menu being separate from the POS. In a connected system, the menu, availability, kitchen routing and scan tracking are one setup. You can try it on your own tables with a 30-day free trial.