A QR drinks menu that keeps up with the bar

01

What a drinks menu needs that a food menu does not

The list changes far more often. A rotating tap line, a cocktail that runs out of an ingredient, a supplier price that moves mid-week — a printed card is out of date before the ink dries, and a static QR pointing at a fixed PDF is the same card with extra steps.

It is also read standing up, in low light, often after a drink. That rules out dense PDFs designed for A4: the destination has to be a page that opens fast, sets its own type large enough, and puts the thing people came for — what is on tap right now — above the fold.

And it is read at different moments. The same table is a coffee stop at four and a cocktail order at ten. One code, repointed on a schedule, serves both without printing anything twice.

02

Happy hour without reprinting anything

The practical version of this is a second page, not a second code. Keep the printed pattern fixed and move its destination between a normal list and a happy-hour list at the time the offer starts and ends.

• Prepare both pages before the shift, and open each on a phone to check the prices before pointing anything at them.
• Switch the destination at the start of the offer, and back at the end — a happy-hour page still live at midnight is a complaint at the bar.
• Change outside service where you can. A guest who scans mid-update gets a broken page and no explanation.
• If the offer runs daily, say so on the page rather than relying on whoever remembers to switch it.

03

One code per zone, not one per venue

A single code across the whole bar produces one number that rises on busy nights. Codes split by placement produce decisions: the terrace outperforms the tables in summer, the window sticker does nothing, the code on the beer mats is the one people actually use.

Split by the boundaries you would act on. Bar top, tables, terrace, beer mats, the board by the door. If you have more than one venue, split by venue too — comparing the same placement across two rooms is the fastest way to find out the problem is the room.

Watch the honest traps: staff testing codes inflates the first days, and a football night makes everything look like a success. Compare like with like — this Tuesday against last Tuesday.

04

Printing for a dark, wet room

A bar is the hardest room a QR code works in. Low light, lacquered or wet tables, candles, and people scanning at an angle while holding a glass. The size that works on an office desk is not the size that works here.

• Print larger than the table-card rule suggests: 4 cm rather than 3 for a table, more on a standing surface.
• Keep hard contrast — dark on light. A code printed in brand colours on a dark card is the most common failure in a dim room.
• Laminate or use coated stock. A beer mat that has absorbed a spill has lost its quiet zone.
• Test in the actual room, in the evening, on an older phone, at an angle. Not at the desk in daylight.