How to Add Your Menu to Your Restaurant Website
When people look a restaurant up online, the menu is usually the first thing they want to see. The simplest way to add your menu to your restaurant website is not to copy it there at all: keep the menu in MenuForma and give the website a button that opens it. Change a price in MenuForma and the website shows the new price, because both lead to the same page.
This guide covers which MenuForma link belongs on a website and which one does not, how to add the button in any website builder, when embedding the menu inside a page makes sense, what search engines can read, and how to retire the old PDF. Everything here works on Free Forever unless it says Regular.
Link to the menu instead of copying it
A menu typed into a website page, or uploaded as an image or a PDF, is a second copy. Every price change, new dish or seasonal special then has to be made twice, and the website copy is the one that gets forgotten. Guests notice when the website says one thing and the table says another.
With MenuForma the menu has one public address, such as menuforma.com/m/the-corner-kitchen. The QR codes in your venue open it, and your website can open it too. You edit dishes, prices and photos in Menu Manager, and every place that links to that address shows the change, without anyone logging in to the website.
Which link belongs on your website
Open QR Codes & Links and choose the Display Only tab. Under the code you will find the display-only link with a copy button next to it (Copy display-only link). It looks like menuforma.com/m/the-corner-kitchen?mode=display.
Display-only means visitors can read the whole menu, with descriptions, prices, photos and allergen icons, but cannot add anything to a basket or send an order. That is what a website visitor needs: someone deciding where to eat tonight, not someone already at table 12.
Keep the ordering links from the Per-Table and Unified tabs off your website. They are made for guests inside the venue, and an order placed from them goes straight to the kitchen as a dine-in order, even if the person is at home.
If you want people to order from the website for collection or delivery, use the Delivery tab, available on Regular. Its link has the form menuforma.com/delivery/the-corner-kitchen. Guests choose home delivery or store pickup, add an address for delivery, and pay online or in cash, depending on the methods you switch on in Delivery Management. Online payment runs through Stripe: MenuForma takes no commission on Stripe payments, but Stripe processing fees still apply.
- A "Menu" button: the display-only link, on Free Forever and Regular.
- An "Order for delivery or pickup" button: the Delivery link, on Regular.
- Codes on tables and the counter: keep those inside the venue.
Adding the menu to your restaurant website in any builder
Every common website builder, from WordPress and Wix to Squarespace, Webflow, Jimdo and Shopify, has a button or link element with a field for a web address. Paste the display-only link there and give the button a plain label such as "Menu" or "See our menu". If the builder offers to open the link in a new tab, either choice works. If someone else looks after your site, sending them the link is enough: there is no code to install.
Where the button earns its place:
- In the main navigation, as a "Menu" item, so it is on every page.
- On the first screen of the home page, next to your address and phone number, visible on a phone without scrolling.
- On the opening hours or contact page, where people decide whether to come, and again in the footer.
Retire the PDF menu
Many restaurant websites still link to a PDF. On a phone it opens as a tiny page that has to be pinched and zoomed, and every price change means exporting and uploading a new file. Skip one update and the PDF shows last season's prices.
That PDF is still useful: it can become your MenuForma menu. In Menu Manager, AI Import reads photos, PDF, Excel and Word files and turns them into categories, dishes and prices for you to check. New accounts receive 30 welcome credits, usable for 30 days, and each import uses 5; typing the menu in by hand uses none. When the menu is ready, replace the PDF link on your website with the display-only link. Our page on turning a PDF menu into a QR code walks through the import in more detail.
Embedding the menu inside a page with an iframe
Some owners would rather show the menu inside their own page. MenuForma allows this: menu pages can load in a frame, an iframe, on another website, and if a guest pays online from an embedded menu on Regular, the Stripe payment page opens in the full browser window, as Stripe requires. There is no separate embed code to request; use your builder's embed or HTML element with the display-only link.
Weigh the trade-offs first. A frame has a fixed height, so on a phone the guest scrolls inside a box inside a page. The menu is laid out for a phone-width screen, which looks narrow in a wide desktop column. And search engines treat the dishes inside the frame as part of the MenuForma page, not of the page around it.
For most restaurants a button is the cleaner choice. If you do embed, use the display-only link, give the frame a generous height, and put a plain "Open the menu" link next to it.
What search engines and link previews see
The MenuForma menu is a normal web page built on the server, so the dishes, descriptions and prices are in the page itself rather than locked in an image. Search engines are allowed to index it, and its main (canonical) address is the display-only link, the same one you put on your website. It also carries structured data in the schema.org format: the restaurant's name, phone, address and cuisine, and the menu with its sections, dishes, prices and sold-out status.
Close the loop from the other side. In Menu Manager, open the Information tab and fill in Website in the General Information card; the same field is in Settings. Your menu then shows a tappable link back to your website, and the structured data names it as the restaurant's own site.
One honest caveat: a link to the menu does not replace your own content. Keep a few lines on your website about what you cook, two or three signature dishes, your opening hours and your address. The dishes on the MenuForma page count for that page, not for yours.
When someone shares your menu link in WhatsApp or Facebook, the preview shows your restaurant's name, a short description and your cover image, logo or a dish photo. On Regular you can set your own share title, subtitle and image in the Share Preview card in Menu Manager.
No DNS changes and no subdomain
A common question is whether the menu can live at an address such as menu.yourrestaurant.com. With MenuForma there is no need: the menu stays at its own MenuForma address, so there is nothing to change in your domain settings, hosting or security certificates.
What does matter is the last part of the address. You choose it in Settings under Menu URL, the public address of your menu. Settle it before you put the link on your website and print QR codes, because changing it later means updating both. Editing dishes, prices or photos never changes it.
One link for your website, your profiles and your messages
The same display-only link belongs in your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio, your newsletter and your replies in messaging apps; the Display Only tab also has buttons to share it on X and WhatsApp. All of them open the same menu as your QR codes, so keeping it current is one job: edit in Menu Manager. When a dish runs out, Mark Sold Out keeps it visible with a sold-out badge so nobody can order it. On Regular, Scheduled Menus show different dishes at breakfast, lunch and dinner on an automatic schedule, behind the same link.
If your website has several languages, your menu can have them too on Regular, with automatic translation. Link each language version of your site to the matching menu language by adding the language code to the display-only link, for example &lang=fr for French or &lang=de for German. Guests can still switch language on the menu itself.
Check the button before you announce it
- Tap the button on a phone and on a computer. It should open the display-only menu: no add buttons and no basket.
- Check prices, photos and the menu language. If you used
&lang=, open each language version. - Look for the link back to your website on the menu, and send the menu link to yourself in a chat to see the preview.
- Ask someone who has never seen your site to find the menu from the home page.
Free Forever and Regular for a website menu
Everything a website menu needs is on the free plan. Regular adds ordering from home, more languages and more control over how the menu looks and is shared.
| Free Forever | Regular | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 a month, no end date | Optional paid plan |
| Display-only link for your website | Included | Included |
| Embedding in a page (iframe) | Possible | Possible |
| Structured menu data (schema.org) | Included | Included |
| Link back to your website on the menu | Included | Included |
| Menu languages | 1 | Several, with automatic translation |
| Delivery and pickup orders from your website | Not included | Included |
| Pay Online through Stripe | Not included | Included |
| Your own share title, subtitle and image | Not included | Included |
| Scheduled Menus | Not included | Included |
| MenuForma credit on the menu | Shown | Can be removed |
| Fee per order from MenuForma | None | None |
Questions owners ask about the menu on their website
Can I embed my MenuForma menu directly in my website?
Yes. Menu pages can load in an iframe through your builder's embed or HTML element. A button that opens the display-only link usually works better on phones, so if you embed, add a plain link next to the frame as well.
Will my website show new prices when I change them?
Yes. Your website links to the menu itself, so every edit you make in Menu Manager appears there. The link stays the same when you edit dishes, prices or photos.
Can guests order from my website?
On Free Forever the website link is for reading the menu, and ordering happens in the venue through your table and counter codes. On Regular, the Delivery link lets guests order for delivery or pickup and pay online through Stripe or in cash. MenuForma takes no commission on Stripe payments, but Stripe processing fees still apply.
Will linking the menu help my website in search results?
Nobody can promise rankings. The menu page is readable by search engines and carries structured menu data, and the Website field links it back to you. Your own pages still need their own text about your restaurant.
Is it really free?
Yes. Free Forever costs $0 a month with no end date and needs no card. It includes the display-only link, every free QR code type and ordering inside the venue.
Adding your menu to your restaurant website takes one link and one button, and from then on the website keeps itself up to date. Create your free MenuForma account, build the menu with AI Import or by hand, copy the display-only link and paste it into your site.
If you have not made your table codes yet, our step-by-step guide to a free QR menu covers tables, the counter and hotel rooms, and the free QR menu generator page sums up what the free plan includes.