How do you build a QR menu that works for Saudi diners and your kitchen?
A good QR menu for a restaurant in Saudi Arabia is a digital menu guests open with their phone camera, with no app, in Arabic and English, with real photos, up-to-date prices and fields for calories and allergens. The best ones also let guests book a table and order from the table, feed the TV menu boards from the same source, and turn every scan into a reason to come back.
Why does a Saudi restaurant need a real QR menu, not a PDF?
Answer: a PDF is a frozen picture. It is hard to zoom on a phone, prices go stale, and there are no calories, no allergens and no ordering. A real digital menu is a fast web page the owner edits from a dashboard in seconds, and the change shows on every table and screen at once.
Saudi dining rooms are mixed. A Saudi family reads Arabic, an expat employee prefers English, and a visitor during Riyadh Season or a pilgrim in Makkah and Madinah wants to understand the dish before ordering. Health awareness is rising too, so more guests ask the waiter how many calories a dish has or whether it contains nuts. One menu that answers those questions takes pressure off the floor, especially during late dinner peaks and on Thursday and Friday nights.
If your restaurant is on the Jeddah Corniche or on Tahlia Street, you will find nearby examples on the Jeddah loyalty and growth page.
Which fields should every dish show?
Answer: the name in Arabic and English, a real photo, the price, calories, allergens and a short description. That is what a guest needs to decide quickly without calling anyone over.
Arabic and English from one place
You write each dish once in both languages (French is available too), and the guest switches language at the top of the page. No separate menus and no reprint every time a price changes. Watch the translation: lamb kabsa stays “Kabsa” with a short explanation rather than an odd literal translation.
Calories (kcal) and allergens
The Dawwerni menu has a kcal field and an allergens field for every dish, covering items such as wheat, milk, nuts, eggs and sesame. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) requires calorie information on food-outlet menus, and the details are updated from time to time, so check the current SFDA requirements before you publish. Take calorie figures from your recipes or a nutrition professional, never from guesswork.
Photos, prices and availability
Shoot dishes in daylight on a plain background: one honest photo beats a perfect picture that looks nothing like the plate. If an item sells out at midnight, hide it with one tap instead of letting the guest hear “it’s finished” after ordering.
How do booking and ordering work from the menu itself?
Answer: the guest opens the menu, taps “Book a table” and picks the date, time and party size. The request reaches you, you accept it, assign a table and mark the party as seated when they arrive. This is useful for weekend family dinners, Ramadan suhoor and big match nights.
Inside the restaurant, QR table ordering lets guests scan their table code and order themselves. The order reaches the till and appears on the kitchen display in clear states: New, In progress, Ready. Waiters focus on service instead of running between tables with a notepad. Till and table details are on the POS and selling page.
Paper menu, PDF or a connected digital menu?
Answer: paper looks nice but is expensive to update, a PDF is easy but silent, and a connected digital menu links the menu to bookings, orders, screens and loyalty. This table compares by category, not by brand.
| Item | Paper menu | PDF via QR | Connected digital menu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price update | New print run | Upload a new file | Seconds from the dashboard |
| Arabic and English | Two printed versions | Two files or long pages | A language switch |
| Calories and allergens | Limited space | Tiny, hard-to-read text | Dedicated fields per dish |
| Table booking | By phone only | Not available | Straight from the menu |
| Ordering from the table | Through the waiter | Not available | Reaches till and kitchen |
| TV menu boards | Fixed panels | Not connected | Fed by the same menu |
| Bringing guests back | Nothing | Nothing | “Play & win” banner, prize for next visit |
How does Dawwerni turn a menu scan into a return visit?
Answer: a “Play & win” banner sits at the top of the menu. While waiting for food, the guest taps it, plays a short game such as a spin wheel, mystery doors or a scratch card, and wins a prize you choose, with odds and quantities under your control: a free dessert or a Saudi coffee on the next visit, for example. They get a unique code that the cashier verifies by QR, and play limits block abuse.
After playing, the guest is invited, optionally, to follow you on Instagram and leave an honest Google review. The prize is for the visit and the game only and never depends on a review, and every guest sees the same invitation, with no filtering of happy customers. The guest profile (name, phone, birthday if given) is saved in your restaurant’s CRM for birthday offers and win-back campaigns. Module details are on the Dawwerni restaurant page, and for coffee shops on the Dawwerni café page.
Can the same menu run on TV screens?
Answer: yes. With Dawwerni Screens, any smart TV or HDMI stick becomes an animated menu board fed by the same digital menu, so a price change appears on phones and screens together. There are 13 menu-board styles and 16+ promo templates such as dish of the day, combo, Wi-Fi QR and follow us.
Dayparting matters in Saudi Arabia: breakfast, a lunch menu for office workers, late dinner, and a Ramadan schedule for iftar and suhoor. Put a QR code on the screen for people waiting at pickup, and the screen keeps playing even if the internet drops.
What does it cost, and what fits your restaurant?
Answer: Dawwerni in Saudi Arabia costs 750 SAR a year for Standard and 900 SAR for Premium, with a 7-day free trial; multi-branch chains get a quote. Modules are activated by business type and plan, so confirm which modules your plan includes on the call.
Illustrative example: a restaurant with an average bill of 90 SAR. If “Play & win” prizes bring back four extra tables a month, that is 360 SAR a month in sales that would not have happened, so under that assumption the plan pays for itself within a few months. Run your own figures with the lost-customers calculator, and see the bigger picture on the Dawwerni Saudi Arabia page.
A one-week QR menu launch plan
Answer: content first, then printing, then training, and never launch on a Thursday night.
- Collect dishes and prices in Arabic and English and check names with the chef.
- Enter calories and allergens for every dish after checking the current SFDA requirements.
- Photograph the best-sellers first, then complete the rest gradually.
- Turn on table booking and set available times and table count.
- Print a numbered QR code for each table if you use table ordering, plus one for the window and the takeaway bag.
- Switch on the “Play & win” banner and choose prizes with a known cost, valid on the next visit.
- Connect the TV to the menu and set breakfast, lunch and dinner schedules.
- Train cashiers and waiters on redeeming prizes and on one review invitation line said to every guest.
FAQ
Do guests need an app to open a QR menu?
No. They scan the code with the phone camera and the menu opens in the browser, with no app and no account. That suits visitors, families and older guests who do not want an app for every restaurant.
Is showing calories mandatory in Saudi Arabia?
The SFDA requires calorie information on food-outlet menus, but the details and the outlets covered can change. Check the current SFDA requirements before publishing; the menu already provides the kcal and allergen fields.
Can I change prices quickly?
Yes. Edit a price or hide an item in the dashboard and it updates within seconds on every table code and on connected menu screens, with no reprint.
Can I take table bookings from the menu?
Yes. Guests send a booking request with time and party size; you accept it, assign a table and mark them seated on arrival, which keeps weekend and Ramadan nights organised.
Is the prize linked to a Google review?
No. The prize is for the game and the visit only. The invitation to leave an honest review is optional and shown to every guest the same way, in line with Google’s policy against review incentives.
Turn visits into reviews, repeat visits and sales
Try Dawwerni free for 7 days. Setup takes about 10 minutes.