ENGUARUDE
Log In
Sign Up

Home › Insights ›

How restaurants and hotels can show every guest the menu in their language with one QR code

Use-case playbook

How restaurants and hotels can show every guest the menu in their language with one QR code

One smart QR code on table tents and room cards. Every guest gets the menu in their phone’s language, and festive menus start and stop by themselves.

Get Started
Book Demo
Scan for the menu
MenuFestive menuGerman phone → German menuSpanish phone → Spanish menu20 Dec – 6 Jan → Christmas menu

Best for

Restaurants, cafés and bars in tourist areas, hotel restaurants, hotels with a guest guide or room-service menu

Languages

Your local language and English, plus a menu page for each tourist language

You can track

Scans per placement and by day and hour, menu visits by language with UTM tags

The problem with flags and PDFs

Many restaurants print a row of flags with a QR code under each, or one code that opens a long PDF in the local language. Guests scan the wrong flag, zoom around the PDF or ask staff to translate.

When prices or dishes change, the PDF link often changes too, and festive menus need their own printed cards that go in the bin after a few weeks.

How it works

One smart QR code, five rules

Each rule is a Smart Redirect on the same code. TOL checks them in the order you created them, so the dated rules go first. Example: a restaurant in Spain with a Christmas menu.

Use the phone’s language (Locale), not location: location depends on the guest’s Wi-Fi or roaming, so it can’t tell tourists apart.

  1. Spanish or Catalan phone, 20 Dec – 6 Jan → Christmas menu in SpanishLocal guests see the festive menu in their language.
  2. Everyone else, 20 Dec – 6 Jan → Christmas menu in EnglishEveryone else sees the festive menu too.
  3. Spanish or Catalan phone → regular menu in SpanishLocal guests read the menu in the local language.
  4. Tourist language, e.g. German → the menu in that languageAdd one rule per tourist menu.
  5. Everyone else → English menuThe fallback: guests whose language you don’t cover still get a menu they can read.

Step by step

Set it up in TOL

  1. Stage 1 · Prepare
  2. Build a menu page for each language, each with its own UTM tags (for example utm_content=de).
  3. Set your TOL time zone to the restaurant’s or hotel’s local time.
  4. Connect your own domain, such as menu.yourrestaurant.com, before you create any codes. Premium
  5. Stage 2 · Build in TOL
  6. Create the code with the English menu as its standard link (the fallback).
  7. Add the dated rules first, even if the next festive menu is months away.
  8. Add the language rules: the local language first, then one per tourist menu.
  9. Test on a separate code: switch a phone between languages and add a dated rule that starts now.
  10. Stage 3 · Launch and look after it
  11. Print the code with a two-language caption, such as “Escanea para ver la carta · Scan for the menu”.
  12. Each new season, change the dates and links of the same dated rules. Printed codes stay the same.
  13. Check your menu pages after every change, and keep your plan paid while codes are on the tables.

Breakfast, lunch and dinnerDated rules don’t repeat daily, so put all three meals on each menu page with serving times, or place a separate code on the breakfast buffet.

HotelsThe same setup opens the room-card guest guide in each guest’s language. Keep the Wi-Fi password on the printed card.

Change the rule, not the table tents

You print once. What you save is the second print run every time the menu changes.

Static codeOne code per language (flags)One TOL smart QR code
Menu in the guest’s languageNo, one menu for everyoneOnly if guests pick the right flagYes, automatically
Festive menu for set datesNoNoYes, starts and stops by itself
Space on the tableSmallA row of codesSmall
Change destination after printingNoNoYes, in seconds
Scan reports by day, hour and deviceNoneExtra toolsBuilt in
Cost of a changeNew table tents and room cardsThe same, per languageYour plan: Pro €9 or Premium €19/mo

What to measure

Scans per placement

Compare tables, window, bar and rooms. A busy window code means people read the menu before coming in.

Scans by day and hour

Shows which meal brings the most scans and when to have extra staff.

Scans during each dated menu

Compare the festive dates with the same period before.

Menu visits by language

Counted with UTM tags on each menu page: shows which translation to add next.

FAQ

How do I make a multilingual QR code menu?

Create a menu page for each language and one TOL smart QR code with a phone-language rule for each. Everyone else gets the English menu set as the standard link.

Can a QR code show a different menu at breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Not on a daily schedule. Date rules cover one period, so they suit festive and seasonal menus; put daily meals on one page with serving times.

Does a QR code menu use the phone’s language or the country?

The phone’s language. Location depends on the guest’s Wi-Fi or roaming data, so it can’t tell tourists apart.

How do I update a QR code menu without reprinting?

Edit the menu page or change the matching rule in TOL. Every printed code opens the new menu as soon as you save.

Print one smart QR code that opens your menu in every guest’s language

Set your rules once and change them any time, without reprinting.

Get Started
Book a 15-min demo

Keep reading: How smart routing works · QR codes for app downloads · QR codes for real estate signs · Plans