QR menu and booking system FAQ
Questions, answered honestly: what AlaMenu does, what it costs, and how it fits your front of house — no more, no less.
About AlaMenu
What is AlaMenu?
AlaMenu (alamenu.io) is a bilingual Arabic–English QR menu and table booking system for restaurants and cafés in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, with a free plan and paid plans from $4.99 a month.
Read more: About AlaMenu
Who makes AlaMenu and where is it based?
AlaMenu is built and run in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is a brand of EPOCH AI APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES CO. L.L.C.
Does AlaMenu charge a commission on bookings?
No. Bookings carry 0% commission on every plan, including Free.
Does AlaMenu take online orders or payments?
No. AlaMenu is a QR menu and a table booking system. There is no cart, online ordering or payment today.
Does AlaMenu take booking deposits?
No. Guests book a table without a deposit or a card.
Which countries does AlaMenu serve?
Restaurants and cafés in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Jordan. Menu prices show in your local currency.
Menus & QR codes
How does the QR menu work?
You build your menu in the AlaMenu dashboard — categories, dishes, photos, prices — and get your own menu page with a QR code. Guests scan the code at the table and the menu opens straight away.
Read more: How a free QR menu works
Is a digital menu the same as a QR menu?
Yes: they are different names for the same thing. A digital menu, or QR menu, is a web page your guests open by scanning a code, unlike a PDF they have to download and zoom into.
Read more: The AlaMenu QR menu
Do my guests need to download an app?
No. The menu opens in the browser guests already have, on any phone. No downloads, no accounts, nothing to install for you or for them.
Can I change prices and dishes after printing the QR code?
Yes — that's the point. Edit a price, add a dish, or hide what ran out, and the change is live the moment you save. The QR code itself never changes, so you never reprint it.
Can dishes be in both English and Arabic?
Yes. Every dish can carry its name and description in English and Arabic, and guests read the menu in either language — the Arabic side renders properly right-to-left.
Read more: Writing a menu in Arabic and English
Do you have a free QR code generator?
Yes. It makes a print-ready QR code for your menu link, in your colours, as a PNG or an SVG. It runs in your browser and needs no sign-up. If you want a menu behind the code, the Free plan gives you one.
Read more: Free QR code generator
Can my menu show calories and allergens for Saudi rules?
Yes, as text. You write the calorie, allergen and caffeine lines into each dish's English and Arabic description. AlaMenu has no dedicated fields or icons for them yet. The free label generator writes those lines for you in the form the rules ask.
Read more: Free menu label generator
Bookings & WhatsApp
Is AlaMenu an app or a booking system?
A web-based QR menu and booking system. Guests use it in their browser with nothing to install, and you manage it from the AlaMenu dashboard on your phone or computer.
Read more: How the booking system works
How do table bookings work?
Guests book a table from your menu page — date, time, and party size — and you confirm or decline each request from your dashboard. Bookings sit on your floor plan, so you always see which tables are taken and when.
Read more: Choosing a restaurant booking system
What is the floor plan?
A drawing of your actual room: sections and tables you lay out yourself in the dashboard. Reservations attach to real tables, and the same table can't be double-booked for overlapping times.
How do guests hear back about their booking?
When you confirm or cancel a booking, the guest gets a WhatsApp message — and if they left an email address, an email as well. On the Premium plan, WhatsApp messages go out from your restaurant's own number.
Read more: Fewer no-shows, in practice
Can I record walk-ins and phone reservations?
Yes. Your team can add a walk-in or phone reservation from the dashboard in a few taps — it's confirmed immediately and takes its table on the floor plan, so the room stays accurate.
Plans & setup
How much does AlaMenu cost?
There's a Free plan, forever — your QR menu, table bookings, and your own page. Pro is $4.99/month and Premium is $7.99/month, each with a 14-day free trial. No charge today, cancel anytime.
Read more: QR menu prices compared
How long does setup take?
It's self-serve, in three steps: register your restaurant, build your bilingual menu, then print the QR code and open. No sales call and no one to wait for — you do it yourself, at your pace.
What are the Free plan's limits?
One location and up to 10 menu items per category. Bookings, the floor plan, and bilingual menus are all included — and you can move to a paid plan whenever you're ready.
Can I run more than one location?
Yes — under one account. Free covers 1 location, Pro covers up to 2, and Premium has no limit. Each location gets its own page, menu, and QR code.
Didn't find your answer?
Compare the plans on the pricing page, or write to us — a person reads every message.