QR vs NFC: which to choose for your restaurant's menu
If you're thinking about digitising the menu of your bar, restaurant or café, you've almost certainly come across two options: the classic QR code on a sign or sticker, and the NFC chip the customer just has to tap. They look similar from the outside — both avoid the paper menu — but they work very differently inside. This is what actually changes.
The technical difference, in one sentence
A QR code is an image: if you want it to point somewhere else, you have to print a new QR. An NFC chip is a reprogrammable electronic component: the URL it points to lives on a server, so you can change it as many times as you want without touching the physical chip.
Comparison table
| QR code | NFC chip | |
|---|---|---|
| How it's used | Open the camera and focus | Bring the phone close, no apps |
| If you change the menu | Reprint the sign | Change the destination online, the chip is untouched |
| Wear over time | Gets stained, peels off, stops scanning | Durable chip, no parts that wear out |
| Works with a broken or dirty camera | No | Yes, it doesn't use the camera |
| Initial cost | Free (you generate it yourself) | Requires a physical chip |
| Managing several destinations (menu, reviews, WiFi) | One QR per destination, clutters the table | Several discreet chips, or one editable |
When does QR still make sense?
If you only need something one-off and free — a sign for a weekend promotion, for example — a QR generated on any website is still valid. NFC wins when the destination is permanent but changing: a restaurant menu that updates prices, changes the daily menu or rotates promotions without reprinting anything each time.
The real hidden cost of QR
It's not the price of printing it — it's the time. Every time you change something (a price, a dish, the seasonal menu) someone has to design the new QR, print it, laminate it and place it on every table. With a reprogrammable NFC chip that work disappears: you change the destination URL from your phone and every chip points to the new place instantly.
How TapMallorca does it
Each venue has a fixed URL per function (menu, Google reviews, WiFi, social…), written on a physical NFC chip. You manage where each one points from your panel, at any time. If the customer's phone has no NFC (increasingly rare), the same chip carries a printed backup QR that leads to the same place.
Try NFC in your venue
We visit you, set up the chips, and within a week your customers are tapping to see your menu.
Start now