Animated Menu: Let a Chef or a Bartender Present Every Dish

The animated menu turns every dish on your QR menu into a small scene. As your guest scrolls, a character (cute 3D chefs, a real-looking chef or a bartender) turns to the guest and holds out the dish, while the name, price and description sit in the corner of the card. It replaces your theme's layout on the guest's phone; prices, sizes, allergens and ordering stay exactly as they are.

It is free on every plan, including the free plan, and switching it on or off takes one click. This guide shows where the switch is, what each choice does and when the menu falls back to your plain theme.

How Do I Turn On the Animated Menu?

1. Open QR Menu Design. In the admin panel, open the QR Menu Design section. At the top it asks: How should your menu look?
2. Choose Animated menu. Two cards sit one under the other: Plain menu and Animated menu. Click the title of the Animated menu card (Click to choose). The other card stays visible but locked.
3. Pick a look. Under 1. Look, choose Warm (cream tones, a different colour on every card) or Modern (light, black and white, like the Modern theme).
4. Pick a character. Under 2. Character, choose Cute 3D chefs, Real chef or Bartender. Every choice is saved the moment you click it, and the card shows On your menu now.

Open your menu on your phone to check the result. Guests see the animated menu the next time they open or refresh the menu.

What Do Guests See?

• One card per dish. Each dish is a full-width card: a scene with the character and the dish photo on a plate, with the dish name, price, full description, calories and allergen tags in the top corner. Dishes with several sizes show every size with its own price.
• The character presents the dish. As a card scrolls in, the character turns to the guest and holds out the plate, and the photo grows as it is presented. The card in the middle of the screen is full size; the cards above and below are a little smaller.
• Ordering works as usual. The add button sits in the corner next to the plate. Table ordering, the cart, the category bar and the language switch work exactly as with your theme.
• Right-to-left menus are mirrored. On an Arabic menu every card is mirrored automatically.

Which Character Should I Choose?

• Cute 3D chefs. Three cartoon chefs take turns on neighbouring cards. A friendly fit for cafés, family restaurants and fast casual menus, and the lightest to download.
• Real chef. A real-looking chef presents each dish with his hand. The character was created from AI-generated video.
• Bartender. Made for pubs and bars. She presents drinks and plates the same way.

The look applies to every character: Warm gives each card its own soft colour, while Modern keeps every card white on a light grey page, like the Modern theme.

When Is the Plain Theme Shown Instead?

The animated menu never shows an error card. In these cases the guest simply sees your selected theme:

• Display Mode is Text Only. The characters present dish photos, so a menu without images is shown with the theme.
• The guest's browser saves data. With data saver on, the theme is shown and the character files are not downloaded.
• The phone cannot draw it. If the browser has no 3D graphics support (WebGL) or a file fails to load, the theme is shown.

Guests who turned on reduced motion in their phone settings see the characters as still pictures, already presenting the dish.

Tips for a Good Animated Menu

• Add a photo to every dish. The character holds the dish photo on the plate; a dish without a photo is presented on an empty plate.
• Lean on the category bar. Every dish is a card, so a long menu becomes a long page. Guests jump between categories with the bar at the top.
• Compare both looks. Switching is instant: open your menu on a phone, try Warm and Modern, and keep the one that suits your room.

How Do I Switch Back to the Plain Menu?

Open QR Menu Design and click the title of the Plain menu card. Your theme is back on the menu straight away; your theme and design settings were never removed.

Why restaurants use it and what it costs the guest's phone: read Animated QR Menu: How a Chef Presents Every Dish.

Where to Go Next

• QR menu: QR Menu Setup and Table Codes
• First steps: Getting Started with RestaurantManage
• AI assistant: Set Your Menu Up in ChatGPT or Claude