Why we’re building amenu: the menu deserves better than a PDF

You sit down at a restaurant and the menu is a laminated QR code taped to the table. You scan it and get a PDF, pinch-zoomed and slow to load, which was probably out of date the day it was uploaded. Restaurants went digital in a hurry, and most never got beyond that.

We’re building amenu to make the digital menu something a restaurant is proud of and a guest enjoys using.

The problem: a PDF is not a menu

Restaurants change their menus constantly. Specials change, prices move and dishes sell out. A PDF behind a QR code can’t keep up, and it looks nothing like the room it’s meant to represent. Proper digital-menu systems exist, but they’re often built for chains, with setup to match.

An independent restaurant should be able to get a live, beautiful menu without hiring anyone.

Think Shopify, for menus

amenu is a digital-menu platform. It’s built on the same idea as the storefront builders that let any shop get online in an afternoon. A restaurant signs up, brings in its menu, picks a look and prints a QR code. Guests scan it and the live menu opens in the browser. There’s no app to install.

Onboarding in minutes

We designed onboarding as one straight path:

• Find your restaurant. Search for it using Google Places and confirm the details instead of typing them in.
• Import your menu. Bring in what you already have instead of retyping it.
• Pick a theme. Choose from a theme store so the menu looks like your restaurant.
• Preview it the way guests will see it.
• Get your QR code, set up your profile, and you’re live.

A reason to come back

A menu is also the one screen every guest looks at, so amenu includes a loyalty passport. Regulars collect stamps as they return, without a punch card to lose.

Where it stands

amenu isn’t out yet. It’s in the green room, still getting ready, and will be released when it’s ready. If you run a restaurant and want to hear first, keep an eye on this journal.

Scan the table. Get the real menu.

Why it’s part of ONTOURAGE

Every night out ends up at a table. The other apps cover the party, the tour and the premiere. amenu is the maître d’ of the entourage, and it makes sure the menu is as good as the meal.