Digital menu board, QR menu or tablet? Which digital menu do you need?

“Digital menu” means four different things, and vendors use the phrase for all of them. A digital menu board is a screen on the wall that guests read while they queue. A QR menu shows the menu on the guest’s own phone. QR ordering also lets the guest send the order to staff. A table tablet puts a device on each table that guests order from. Counter-service venues usually want a board; table-service restaurants usually want QR ordering or tablets, alongside a printed menu.

We make WaiterPilot, an AI waiter by BroadNet.AI. It is QR ordering by chat on the guest’s phone, so it sits in one of the four boxes. We don’t sell screens, menu boards or tablets, and if a board is what your venue needs, this guide says so.

What are the four kinds of digital menu?

Short answer: a wall screen, a menu on the guest’s phone, ordering from the guest’s phone, and a device on each table.

The four kinds side by side. Example prices are as published on vendors’ own pages on 15 October 2026.

Self-order kiosks are a fifth option, usually for counter service: Square lists its Kiosk at $99 a month per device. We compare kiosks, tablets and phones in detail in kiosk vs tablet vs QR ordering.

How do digital menu boards work?

Short answer: screens connected to software that you edit from a browser; they display the menu but don’t take orders.

A digital menu board is a set of screens, usually commercial displays or TVs, each driven by a small media player or a built-in app. You change prices, photos and dishes in the vendor’s software, and the screens update. Most boards let you schedule menus by time of day, so breakfast switches to lunch on its own, and some can show a dish as sold out.

Boards are built for one moment: a guest standing in line deciding what to order before they reach the till. That’s why they suit cafés with a counter, quick-service restaurants and food halls. In a dining room where guests sit down and wait to order, a board on the wall doesn’t help them order. They still need a server, a phone or a tablet.

Boards also need ordering and payment somewhere else, usually a till or a kiosk. A board is a display, not an ordering system.

What is the difference between a QR menu and QR ordering?

Short answer: a QR menu lets guests read the menu on their phone; QR ordering lets them send the order too.

With a QR menu, the guest scans a code and reads the menu, often a web page or a PDF. A server still comes to take the order. It saves printing costs and makes changes easy, but it doesn’t cut the wait to order.

With QR ordering, the guest picks dishes and sends the order to staff from the phone. Most systems do this with a tap-to-add menu and a cart. Square’s self-serve ordering, for example, opens the restaurant’s Square Online ordering page from per-table QR codes and sends orders to the POS and kitchen printers. A few systems, including WaiterPilot, let the guest order by chat instead: they ask questions in their own words and the order is built from the conversation.

Our post on QR menu vs QR ordering vs order-and-pay shows what the guest sees in each case, with screenshots.

When does a tablet on every table make sense?

Short answer: when many of your guests don’t use smartphones at the table, and you’re ready to look after one device per table.

Tablets give every table the same screen, whether or not guests have a phone or want to use it. Guests are open to them: in a 2024 survey, 60% of full-service diners said they would place an order on a tablet at the table, and 65% would pay the check on one (NRA, 2024). In Korea, the table-tablet company T-order reported more than 320,000 installed tablets in January 2026 (Byline Network, 2026).

The costs are practical ones: buying the devices, charging them every night, cleaning them between guests, replacing broken ones and keeping them on your Wi-Fi. Where most guests carry a phone, QR ordering does the same job with no devices to manage.

What do guests prefer?

Short answer: about half of sit-down diners are happy to use their phone, and older guests far less, so no digital menu should be the only menu.

Whatever you choose, keep a printed menu on hand and a server who will take an order the old way.

Which digital menu fits your venue?

Short answer: queues want boards, seated guests want something at the table, and every venue should keep a paper fallback.

Our judgment, by venue type:

For fine dining specifically, see fine dining and AI ordering.

How do you create a digital menu?

Short answer: get the menu itself right first; the screen or QR code is the easy part.

1. Write the menu cleanly. Dish names, prices, sizes, sides and the choices each dish needs. Note allergens only where your kitchen has confirmed them.
2. Pick the kind from the venue table above.
3. Add photos for the dishes guests ask about most.
4. Place the QR codes or screens where guests can see them, and test each one with three different phones.
5. Keep a printed menu for guests who don’t want a screen.
6. Decide who marks dishes sold out during service, and how fast.

Our checklist for preparing your menu for digital ordering goes through each step.

What would each option cost Casa Olivo?

Short answer: from about €15 a month for a QR menu to $200 a month for chat ordering, and more for hardware.

Casa Olivo is a fictional restaurant (an example, not a customer): 14 tables, table service, one location. Prices are as published on 15 October 2026; payment processing and hardware are left out unless stated.

Where does WaiterPilot fit?

Short answer: in the QR ordering box, for seated guests, with no hardware.

Guests scan the QR code on their table and the menu opens in their phone’s browser, with no app. They ask and order by chat in their own words, and dish names in the chat open the dish photo. Answers come from your menu; when the menu doesn’t say, WaiterPilot tells the guest to ask a staff member. The chat answers in the guest’s language, tested in English, Arabic dialects and Spanish, and the guest buttons are in English or Arabic. The first order at each table waits for staff to confirm it, and owners mark a dish sold out from their phone.

Staff use screens on phones or tablets you already have. You get QR table cards to print in three sizes, and WaiterPilot works alongside your printed menu. It is not a menu board, doesn’t connect to your POS or printer, and takes no payment. It costs $200 per location per month after 30 days free, with free setup, 0% commission and no contract.

What to do next

Stand where your guests stand when they decide what to eat: in a queue or at a table. If it’s a queue, look at menu boards. If it’s a table, compare options on the QR table ordering page, check pricing and the comparison page, and try a sample order to see chat ordering from the guest’s side.