QR table ordering for beer gardens

How does QR ordering work in a beer garden?

Every outdoor table gets a QR code card. A guest scans it with their phone camera, the menu opens in the browser, and they order without giving up a hard-won table in the sun. The order lands on the bar screen with a chime and the table name in big type, someone makes it, and a runner carries it out with the card machine. Guests pay at the table by card, contactless or cash.

There’s no app and no account, which matters outdoors: nobody wants to download something while squinting at a screen in bright sunlight. The bar screen itself runs in a browser, so it can sit on a tablet at the main bar or at a hatch facing the garden.

Name zones so staff find the table first time

Indoors, “Table 14” is usually enough. In a garden with a lawn, a terrace, a marquee and a row of benches by the river, it isn’t. Because tables can have any name, you can build the zone into it so the runner knows which way to walk before leaving the bar.

• By area: “Terrace 2”, “Lawn 12”, “Marquee 3”, “Riverside 5”.
• By landmark: “Big Umbrella”, “By the Oak”, “Play Area 1” for the tables families pick.
• Number within each zone, left to right from the bar door, so new staff learn the layout in one shift.

Put the same name in large print on the card itself, so a runner can match the ticket to the table at a glance.

Cut the walking, not the service

In a big garden, staff can spend much of a shift walking: out to take an order, back to the bar, out with the drinks, back for the card machine. QR ordering removes the first trip. The order is already on the screen when the guest presses send, so the only walk is out with a full tray and the card machine, and back again.

That trip is also the moment for hospitality: clearing glasses, checking whether the table wants food, offering water to the table that has been in the sun since noon. Each ticket has a timer that turns orange after five minutes and pink after ten, so the bar can see when an outdoor order has been sitting too long. Alcohol tickets show “Check ID”, which helps when a garden fills with groups of mixed ages.

Weatherproof QR cards for outdoor tables

Outdoor cards get rain, spilt cider, wasps and sun. DrinksQR prints A6 table cards four to an A4 sheet, which is fine for a first test, but for a full season most gardens are better off with the SVG download sent to a print shop. SVG stays sharp at any size, so you can have codes printed on rigid plastic, laminated, or as stickers for bench ends.

A few practical points: put the code where a phone can scan it without shade or glare falling straight across it, keep it big enough to scan from a seat, and fix cards down so they don’t blow away. Each table has its own code, so check cards end up on the right tables. Our guide to printing table QR codes goes into materials and placement.

Getting ready for summer peaks

The first warm Saturday is when a garden is tested. A few things help:

• Run a second screen. If you have a garden bar or a hatch, the Large plan lets you run a second bar screen or service point there, so the main bar isn’t making every jug.
• Use sold-out toggles. When the jugs of Pimm’s or the frozen drinks run out, one tap stops them being ordered.
• Set stock counts on limited lines, such as a short run of a summer beer, so they mark themselves sold out at zero.
• Plan your deals. A jug-and-nibbles bundle or an early-evening happy hour can be priced on the server. See deals and happy hour.

One honest caveat: guests need a phone with signal or Wi-Fi. If the far end of your garden is a dead spot, offer guest Wi-Fi there, and keep staff on hand for anyone without a phone.

What does it cost for a beer garden?

Gardens add tables quickly. If the whole site, inside and out, is 20 tables or fewer, the Standard plan at £69 a month covers it with one bar screen. Most venues with a sizeable garden choose the Large plan at £99 a month, which has up to 100 tables and multiple bar screens or service points. Both are 12-month rolling, billed monthly. See the pricing page, and for the indoor side of things, QR ordering for pubs.