A QR code menu is a menu that lives at a web link. Guests scan a code on the table with their phone camera and the menu opens in the phone browser. They do not need an app. In the UAE you can run it in two ways: as a view-only menu that replaces the printed one, or as a table-ordering menu where guests send the order from the table. Setting one up takes five steps: choose the mode, build the menu (sections, dishes, prices, photos, choices), set prices so they show VAT included, print one QR code per table, and test it on a few phones before you open. This guide covers each step, the UAE price rules and what it costs. It is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm the rules for your licence with the FTA and your emirate's authorities.
What is a QR code menu and how does it work?
The QR code is only a pointer. It holds a link, for example
yourmenu.com/m/your-restaurantSo the code must point at a link that stays alive as long as the restaurant runs, and the page must load fast on mobile data, because many guests scan before joining the Wi-Fi.
View-only menu or table ordering: which should you choose?
Start by deciding what the QR code should do. Most restaurants in the UAE start with view-only and move to ordering later, or never.
| View-only menu | Table ordering | |
|---|---|---|
| What the guest does | Scans, reads the menu, orders with a waiter | Scans, adds dishes to a cart, sends the order from the table |
| Staff workflow | Unchanged; waiters take orders as before | Orders arrive on a screen; staff confirm, cook and serve |
| What you need | The menu link and the table codes | Menu, table codes, an orders screen, ideally a kitchen screen and a receipt printer |
| Payment | At the table or the counter, as today | At the table or the counter, staff mark the order paid |
| Best for | Fine dining, busy waiters who upsell, first-time QR users | Cafés, casual dining, food courts, short-staffed shifts |
| Main risk | Menu out of date if nobody owns it | Orders missed if nobody watches the screen |
Choose view-only when the waiter is part of the experience or you just want to stop reprinting menus. Choose table ordering when guests wait to order or the floor is short-staffed at peak hours, and put the orders screen where the pass or cashier can see and hear it. Either way, keep a few printed menus for guests who ask.
What should a restaurant put on a QR code menu?
Guests scan to answer three questions: what is there, what does it cost, and is the place open. Answer those first.
The basics on every menu
- Restaurant name, logo and cover image so the guest knows the code opened the right place.
- Opening hours and whether you are open now.
- Sections in the order guests eat: starters, mains, sides, desserts, drinks. Six to ten sections is plenty for most menus.
- Dish name, short description and price for every dish. One line of description is enough; say what is on the plate.
- Choices and add-ons with their extra price: size, sauce, extra protein, milk type. Mark which choices are required (a size) and which are optional (extra cheese) so guests cannot send an incomplete order.
- Sold-out status for anything you have run out of, so guests do not order it and wait to be told.
Allergens, calories and dietary notes
Put allergens and dietary notes (contains nuts, gluten-free, vegetarian, spicy) in the dish description in plain words. Dubai Municipality issued a circular in 2019 requiring food outlets to show calorie content on menus, later made optional for a transition period, and published a calorie-declaration guide for food establishments. Check the current position with Dubai Municipality or your emirate's food-safety authority before you decide what to print; if you do show calories, show them for every dish in a section, not only the healthy ones.
Photos
Shoot in daylight near a window, on a plain background, with the real portion. One to three photos per dish is enough. Start with best sellers and high-margin dishes; a bad photo sells worse than none.
Promotions and extras
Time-window discounts (happy hour, business lunch), a "was" price when you cut one, a highlights line at the top ("Kitchen open until 1am"), and social and Google Maps links.
How should menu prices show VAT in the UAE?
If your restaurant is VAT-registered, menu prices must show the price including VAT. Article 38 of Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on VAT and Article 27(1) of the VAT Executive Regulations (Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017) require prices of taxable supplies that are displayed, advertised or published to include VAT. A menu with "prices exclusive of VAT" in small print and 5% added on the bill does not meet that rule for guests.
Rule: Displayed prices for taxable supplies must include VAT. The fine for not displaying VAT-inclusive prices is AED 5,000 per violation, reduced from AED 15,000 by Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2021. Penalty tables were amended again by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 (in force 14 April 2026); law firms list the price-display fine at AED 5,000 after that change.
The exceptions written into the regulations (exports, and supplies to VAT-registered businesses where the exclusion is stated) do not fit a normal dine-in menu, so assume the rule applies to you.
Worked example. Your VAT-inclusive menu price is the number you print. To find the VAT inside it, divide by 1.05 to get the net price, and the rest is VAT.
| Dish | Menu price (incl. 5% VAT), AED | Net price, AED | VAT, AED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken shawarma plate | 42.00 | 40.00 | 2.00 |
| Halloumi salad | 36.75 | 35.00 | 1.75 |
| Fresh orange juice | 21.00 | 20.00 | 1.00 |
| Table total | 99.75 | 95.00 | 4.75 |
Moving from VAT-exclusive prices: multiply each net price by 1.05, round to a clean number if you like, and work the VAT backwards from the price you charge.
If your business is not VAT-registered, you do not charge VAT and should not show it on the menu or the bill. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 over 12 months; see UAE VAT registration for small businesses.
Can a UAE restaurant add a service charge or municipality fee to the bill?
This depends on your licence and emirate, and it is the area where restaurants most often get complaints. Here is what has been reported publicly; confirm your own position with your licensing authority before you set anything up.
- Service charge at standalone restaurants. Since 2010 the UAE Ministry of Economy has treated service charges at restaurants outside hotels as not allowed under consumer-protection law, with fines reported from AED 5,000. Officials also said restaurants could not raise menu prices to replace the lost charge. Restaurants and cafés inside hotels were exempted because they are classed as tourist establishments.
- Hotel restaurants in Dubai. Dubai's Department of Economic Development said a 10% service charge is allowed where the restaurant is part of hotel premises, under Dubai Municipality rules.
- Dubai municipality fee. In 2018 Dubai cut the municipality fee on sales at hotels and at restaurants permitted to sell alcohol from 10% to 7%. It does not apply to every restaurant.
- Abu Dhabi. From 1 September 2023 the Department of Culture and Tourism removed the 6% tourism fee and 4% municipality fee on hotel restaurants; a 4% municipality fee on the hotel invoice was reported to remain. Check the current rates with DCT Abu Dhabi.
- Other emirates set their own fees. Ask your licensing authority.
Rule of thumb: If your outlet is allowed to add charges, say so on the menu in plain words ("Prices include 5% VAT. A 10% service charge and 7% municipality fee are added to the bill") and show each charge as its own line on the bill. Many hotel outlets instead print all-inclusive prices, which is the safest reading of the VAT display rule. Service charges are generally part of the price for VAT purposes, so VAT usually applies to them as well; confirm the treatment of any fee with your tax adviser.
How do you print and place QR codes on the tables?
One code per table, not one code for the whole restaurant
With one shared code, a table-ordering menu cannot tell the kitchen where to send the food. Number each code to match the table numbers staff already use.
Size and material
- Print the code at least 3 x 3 cm, larger in low light, with a white border around it.
- Use a table tent, acrylic stand or laminated card that survives sanitiser; paper stickers peel.
- Add one line under the code: "Scan for the menu" or "Scan to order", plus the table number.
Test before opening
Scan every code with an iPhone and an Android phone, on mobile data, in service lighting, from a seated position. If you use ordering, send test orders from three tables at once and watch them reach the kitchen.
What does a QR code menu cost in the UAE?
There are three cost lines: the software, the printing, and the time to build and maintain the menu.
| Cost | What it covers | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Menu link, editing, ordering, staff screens | Free QR generators up to monthly subscriptions; ordering systems cost more than view-only |
| Printing | Table tents, stands, stickers, receipt cards | Depends on material and quantity; ask two or three local printers for quotes |
| Hardware (ordering only) | A tablet or screen for orders, a kitchen screen, a receipt printer | Many restaurants reuse an existing tablet and 80 mm receipt printer |
| Photos | Dish photography | DIY on a phone, or a photographer for a half-day shoot |
| Staff time | Building the menu, then keeping prices and sold-out status current | A few hours to build; a few minutes a day to maintain |
One hidden cost: some free QR generators put their own redirect link in your code and later charge to keep it working, so leaving means reprinting every code.
From the platform: Kartee by Staks is a digital menu and QR ordering system for restaurants and cafés. Your menu lives at its own link (/m/your-name) with dishes with up to 3 photos, required and optional choices with extra prices, time-window discounts, "was" prices, sold-out switches and opening hours. Each restaurant runs in view-only mode (the default) or table ordering, with one QR code per table. With ordering on, guests send the order from the table, see its status live, and can tap "Call waiter" or "Ask for the bill"; payment happens at the table and staff mark the order paid by cash or card (there is no online payment). Staff get a live orders board, a kitchen screen with wait timers, and ticket and bill printing on 58/80 mm receipt printers. You set the tax % (choose inclusive for UAE menus) and a service charge % if your licence allows one. Starter is $19/month (about AED 70) for one user and one branch; Growth is $49/month (about AED 180) and adds staff roles, stock and recipes, guest analytics, 10 users (then $4/month each) and 3 branches (then $15/month each). Both have a 14-day free trial. Details at staksai.com/kartee.
What are the common QR menu mistakes?
- Prices shown without VAT. Print the price the guest pays.
- No owner for the menu. Name one person who updates prices and sold-out items before each service.
- One code for all tables when you use ordering.
- Codes that fail in the room. Too small, no white border, glossy under spotlights.
- Heavy photos that will not load on 4G.
- Charges the licence does not allow, such as a service charge at a standalone restaurant.
Frequently asked questions
Is a QR code menu legal in the UAE?
Yes, and they are widely used across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The same rules apply as for any menu: VAT-inclusive prices if you are VAT-registered, only the charges your licence allows, and your emirate's food-labelling rules.
Do guests need to download an app to use a QR menu?
They should not. A good QR menu opens in the phone's browser straight from the camera. Asking guests to install an app at the table is the fastest way to lose them.
Does the bill printed from a QR ordering system count as a tax invoice?
Not automatically. A VAT-registered restaurant selling to guests who are not VAT-registered can usually issue a simplified tax invoice, but it must carry the fields set out in Article 59 of the VAT Executive Regulations, including your TRN. Check your printed bill against UAE tax invoice requirements and add any missing details to the receipt header or footer.
Can I change prices on a QR menu during the day?
Yes, and the change shows on the next scan. For happy hour or business lunch, use a time-window discount instead of editing prices by hand twice a day.
Next steps
Pick the mode, build your best-selling sections first, set VAT-inclusive prices, print one code per table, test each one in the room, and make one person responsible for keeping the menu current.
Related reading:
- UAE tax invoice requirements: the fields your guest bill or simplified tax invoice needs.
- UAE VAT registration for small businesses: when a café or restaurant must register.
- Food cost and menu engineering for Gulf restaurants: price each dish from its recipe cost.
- How to get more Google reviews for your restaurant: put a review link next to your menu.
- Inventory and COGS accounting for Gulf small businesses: how stock and food cost show up in the books.
- How to file a UAE VAT return (VAT201): where restaurant sales go on the quarterly return.
Set up your menu with Kartee: build the menu, print the table codes and choose view-only or table ordering. 14-day free trial, from $19/month. Start your free trial.