A code nobody scans is a menu nobody reads. Where it sits and what is written beside it changes how many people bother, and both are decided in the ten minutes before you print.

Put it where the eye lands, not where there is room

People look at the middle of the table when they sit down, then at whatever is in front of them. A code taped flat to the far corner is out of that path. A tent card in the middle of the table is in it.

• Tent card in the centre: the default, and the easiest to replace when it gets sticky.
• Sticker on the table edge nearest the chair: survives busy tables and wind, harder to change later.
• On the check holder or the cutlery roll: good for bars and counters, where there is no middle of the table.
• Outside tables: a sticker under a laminate, or a card heavy enough to sit still — a light tent card ends up under the next table by nine.

One code per table, and keep the number visible

The code carries the table number, which is what puts the order on the right ticket and the check on the right table. Print the table name large on the card as well — staff use these to find a table across a room as often as guests use them to scan.

If you take a table out of service for good, retire its number rather than reusing it. The old card stops working, which is the correct outcome: a code that used to be table 12 should not silently become table 9.

Write one line, not a paragraph

The words next to the code do more work than the code. "Scan to see the menu" tells someone what happens. "Scan to see the menu and order from your table" tells them they do not have to wave at anybody, which is the part that changes behaviour.

Leave off the app store logos, the wifi password and the promotions. Every extra line lowers the chance the first one is read.

Print more than you need

Cards go missing, get wet, and get taken home by children. Print a spare set the day you print the first one and keep them where the printed reservation book lives. The alternative is a table with no menu on a Saturday.

Keep the paper menu for a fortnight

Some guests will not scan anything, and some phones are dead by dinner. Two weeks of both, and you will know exactly how many paper copies you actually need to keep — usually a handful behind the bar rather than one per table.