In a pub, the queue at the bar costs rounds. A table of four who would have had another drink decide it isn't worth the wait. Table QR ordering lets them order that round from where they're sitting, and your staff take it over.
It works well in pubs, but a pub isn't a café, and a few things need thinking through first.
1. Age checks still happen at the table
Ordering from a phone doesn't change your licensing obligations. Your age verification policy, such as Challenge 25, still applies when the drinks are served. Brief staff to check ID at the table when they would have checked it at the bar, and make sure they're comfortable refusing a table order.
2. Every table needs its own number
Table ordering only works if staff know where to take the drinks. Give each table a clear name or number, print a code for each one, and make the number on the card match what staff see on the order. Beer gardens and snugs need codes too, and they're where numbering usually goes wrong.
3. Build the menu the way people order
Pubs sell by size and serve: pint or half, single or double, a mixer, ice or no ice. Set these up as options on each drink rather than as separate items, so the menu stays short and the order arrives unambiguous. Food can have its own extras and notes.
4. Decide how rounds and tabs work
With QR ordering, each order is placed and paid as it goes. That suits most tables: whoever orders the round pays for it. If your pub runs tabs, decide how that fits. Some pubs keep tabs at the bar and use table ordering for pay-as-you-go tables. Running tabs well is a job for the till itself; our guide to what a pub POS needs covers opening, moving and splitting them.
5. Keep the bar open
Some customers will always want to go to the bar. Regulars especially. QR ordering should take the pressure off the bar, not replace it. Staff shouldn't treat bar and table orders differently.
6. Get orders to the right place
Drinks and food often come from different places. A screen behind the bar can show the full queue, and a printer in the kitchen can print the food. Our comparison of kitchen screens and printed tickets covers the trade-offs.
7. Let tables call for help
A phone can't answer every question. Café QR's table page has Call staff and Request bill buttons that alert the team, so a table that wants something the menu doesn't cover isn't stuck.
8. Set ordering hours around last orders
Stop table ordering at last orders, and earlier for the kitchen if food stops first. Customers shouldn't be able to order a round you can't legally serve.
Where to put the codes
In a pub, codes get knocked off tables and soaked in drink. Use stands rather than stickers, put them upright where they won't end up under a glass, and keep spares behind the bar. Our guide to printing table QR codes covers size and materials, and where to put QR codes covers placement.
Ready to set it up? Follow our step-by-step pub setup guide, or see how it works for your venue on the pub and bar POS page. Café QR is a POS with QR ordering built in: Order & Pay is £9.99 per venue per month for table ordering on its own, and the POS plan, with the till, tabs, floor plan and waiter app, is £39. Your first month is free with no card needed.