Step-by-Step Guide

How to Use GetFreeMenu

A complete walkthrough of every feature — from creating your account to managing orders. Follow these steps and your digital menu will be live in minutes.

1

Create Your Account

Sign up in seconds — no credit card, no subscription, free forever.

1

Go to the registration page

Click "Get Started Free" on the homepage or navigate to the sign-up page directly.

2

Sign up with email or Google

Enter your name, email, and password — or click "Continue with Google" for one-tap sign-up.

3

Create your first restaurant

After signing in you'll land on the dashboard. Tap "+ New Restaurant" and fill in the name, description, address, phone number, and upload your logo and cover image.

Your currency is auto-detected from your location, but you can change it to any ISO 4217 code (USD, EUR, THB, etc.) in the restaurant settings.

2

Build Your Menu

Add categories, items, photos, prices, and dietary tags — all from one editor.

1

Open the Menu editor

From your restaurant dashboard, click the "Menu" tab to open the visual menu editor.

2

Create categories

Tap "+ Add Category" to create sections like Appetizers, Main Courses, Drinks, or Desserts. You can reorder them with the sort field.

3

Add menu items

Inside each category, add items with a name, description, price, and a mouth-watering photo. Upload JPEG, PNG, or WebP images.

4

Tag dietary info

Toggle dietary badges like Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Halal, Keto, and more. Customers see these as colored badges on your menu.

5

Toggle availability

Sold out for the day? Flip the availability toggle and the item dims on the public menu — no need to delete it.

13 Dietary Tags Available

VegetarianVeganGluten-FreeSpicyHalalKosherDairy-FreeNut-FreeOrganicSeafoodSugar-FreeKetoPaleo

You can upload a logo and cover image for your restaurant. These appear on the public menu header and make your brand stand out.

3

Auto-Translate Your Menu

Reach international customers — translate your entire menu to 19 languages with one click.

1

Open the Translations panel

Edit any category or menu item and expand the "Translations" section at the bottom of the modal.

2

Click "Auto Translate All"

One click sends all text to our translation engine. A progress bar shows real-time status as each language completes.

3

Review and fine-tune

Translations are saved automatically. You can manually edit any language to perfect phrasing or add local slang.

19 Supported Languages

English
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Arabic
Hindi
Thai
Vietnamese
Turkish
Filipino
Indonesian
Urdu
Bengali

Translations are saved per item, so you only translate once. New customers see translated names and descriptions on the public menu page based on their selected language.

4

Generate & Print QR Codes

Give every table a scannable QR code so customers can browse your menu instantly.

1

Go to the QR Code tab

From your restaurant dashboard, click "QR Code" to see your unique menu QR code and shareable link.

2

Download the QR image

Click "Download QR Code" to save a high-resolution PNG. You can also copy the public menu link directly.

3

Print and place on tables

Print the QR code on table tents, menus, flyers, or stickers. Customers scan with their phone camera to view your menu.

Print at a minimum size of 2 x 2 inches for reliable scanning.

Use high contrast — dark code on a light background works best.

Test scanning with multiple phones before printing in bulk.

Place QR codes at eye level on tables for easy access.

5

Table Ordering System

Let customers order directly from their phone — no app download needed.

For Restaurant Owners

1

Create tables

Go to the "Tables" tab and tap "+ Add Table". Each table gets a unique secret code and QR link — you can have up to 30 tables per restaurant.

2

Print table QR codes

Each table card has a "Print QR" button that opens a print-ready page formatted for standard printers. Place one on each table.

3

Manage incoming orders

When orders come in, you'll see them on the table card. Confirm or cancel individual items with the checkmark and X buttons.

4

Checkout & print receipt

When a customer requests the check, a "Checkout" button appears. Click it to see the grand total and print an 80mm thermal receipt.

5

Reset the table

After checkout, "Reset Table" generates a new secret code — the old QR link stops working, so the next customer gets a fresh session.

For Customers

1

Scan the table QR code

Open your phone camera and scan the QR code on the table. No app needed — it opens a menu page in your browser.

2

Browse and add items to cart

Browse categories, view item details, and tap "Add to Order". Add special requests in the notes field.

3

Submit your order

Review your cart and tap "Submit Order". Track your order status in real-time across Submitted, Confirmed, and Cancelled tabs.

4

Request the check

When you're done, tap "Request Check". The restaurant owner will see a notification and process your bill.

Order Status Flow

PendingConfirmedCompleted

Order status updates automatically every 10 seconds on the customer page — no need to refresh.

6

Kitchen Display System

A dedicated screen for your kitchen — see all pending orders across every table in real time.

1

Open the Kitchen tab

From your restaurant dashboard, click the "Kitchen" tab (flame icon) to open the live kitchen display.

2

View all pending items

Every pending order item from all tables is listed in one place, sorted by waiting time — oldest items appear first so nothing gets forgotten.

3

Confirm or cancel items

Tap the checkmark to confirm an item is being prepared, or the X to cancel it. Items disappear from the list immediately.

4

Auto-refresh keeps it live

The kitchen display refreshes every 30 seconds automatically. A pulsing green dot shows the connection is active.

What each item shows

Waiting timeQuantity & nameTable namePriceOrder notes

Mount a tablet or old laptop in the kitchen and keep the Kitchen tab open — it works like a dedicated KDS (Kitchen Display System) at zero extra cost.

7

Manage Your Team

Invite staff and assign roles — everyone gets exactly the access they need.

1

Open the Team tab

From your restaurant dashboard, click "Team" to see current members and pending invitations.

2

Invite by email

Enter any email address and choose a role (Manager, Chef, Waiter, or Viewer). The invite works even if they haven't signed up yet — they'll see it when they log in.

3

Assign the right role

Each role has different permissions. Managers can edit menus and view analytics. Chefs manage kitchen orders. Waiters handle tables. Viewers have read-only access.

4

Team members accept the invite

Invited users see a banner at the top of their dashboard with Accept/Decline buttons. Once accepted, your restaurant appears in their sidebar.

5 Roles Available

Owner

Full access to everything

Manager

Menu, tables, analytics, QR codes

Chef

Kitchen view and order management

Waiter

Table orders, QR codes, menu view

Viewer

Read-only access to most areas

You can have up to 8 team members per restaurant (including the owner). Remove or re-invite members anytime from the Team tab.

8

Analytics & Sales Reports

Track menu views, monitor live sales, and download daily reports — all in one place.

Live Sales

1

Monitor today's sales in real time

The default Analytics sub-tab shows today's revenue, total orders, pending orders, and average order value in large KPI cards.

2

See recent orders feed

A live feed shows the last 15 orders with status dots (amber=pending, blue=confirmed, green=completed), amounts, and time-ago labels.

3

Auto-refreshes every 30 seconds

A pulsing green indicator shows the data is live. Revenue and order counts update automatically without refreshing the page.

$1,248

Revenue

42

Orders

3

Pending

$29.70

Avg. Order

View Tracking

1

Track menu page views

See total views, today's views, this week, and this month at a glance with four KPI cards.

2

Daily breakdown chart

A bar chart shows daily view counts over the past 30 days so you can spot trends and peak days.

Daily Sales Reports

1

Pick any date

Use the date picker to view a report for any past day. Reports are generated automatically at midnight in your restaurant's local timezone.

2

Review detailed metrics

Each report includes total revenue, order count, average order value, items sold, hourly sales breakdown, and a per-item revenue table.

3

Download as PDF

Click "Print Report" to open a print-ready A4 page with your full daily report — summary cards, item table, and order details.

9

Your Public Menu Page

A beautiful, mobile-first page your customers will love — with four layout modes.

List View

Classic scrollable menu with item images, descriptions, and prices in a clean list.

Grid View

Photo-forward card grid — great for visual menus with lots of food photography.

TV Display

Large-format layout designed for wall-mounted TVs and digital signage in your restaurant.

Slideshow

Fullscreen auto-advancing presentation — perfect for window displays or waiting areas.

1

Share your menu link

Your menu is live at getfreemenu.com/menu/your-slug. Share the link on social media, Google Maps, or your website.

2

Customers choose their language

A language dropdown in the menu header lets customers switch between any of the 19 translated languages on the fly.

The menu page works offline too! Images and API responses are cached by a service worker, so customers can browse even with a spotty connection.

10

Queue System (Dine-in & Takeaway)

Run a virtual queue from any phone, with GPS-gated reservations and a full takeaway order workflow.

1

Set your shop coordinates

Open Restaurant Details and use the 📍 'Use current location' button to capture latitude and longitude. The Queue System uses these coordinates to verify customers are physically at your shop before they can take a number.

2

Enable each queue + set max distance

In the Queue tab pick Dine-in or Takeaway. Toggle 'Queue enabled' on and use the slider to set how far away (default 5 km) customers can be when they reserve.

3

Share the public link or QR code

Each queue has its own customer URL — share it on social media, print as a QR sticker at your door, or paste it on Google Business. The page auto-refreshes every 15 seconds.

4

Customers reserve a number from their phone

When a customer is in range, they tap Reserve and immediately get a queue number plus an 8-character reference code (anti-cheat). They can save it as an image so they don't lose it.

5

Takeaway: customers build their order

On a takeaway queue, after reserving a number the customer can browse your menu (with optional separate takeaway prices), build a cart, and place the order. They then upload their bank-transfer payment slip.

6

You confirm payment, kitchen prepares

From your Queue dashboard tap View order to see the items + slip image, then tap Confirm payment received. The customer's status flips to 'Preparing your food' on their phone.

7

Call next + close out the queue

Tap Call next to advance the now-serving number. Mark each entry as Served when you hand them the food. The Takeaway History tab shows every served order grouped by date with daily revenue.

Use a separate DynamoDB table for the queue so high-frequency public polling doesn't slow down the rest of your dashboard.

Ready to get started?

Create your free digital menu in under 2 minutes. No credit card, no catch.

Create Your Free Menu

No credit card required. Free forever.