Digital menus for restaurants: the complete 2026 guide

The digital menu is the fastest-moving change in restaurants right now, from paper that's stale in three days to a live surface on the screens in your room, editable in real time. This guide covers what it is, what it costs, how it's installed, and what actually changes once it's running.

What a digital menu actually is

A digital menu is a representation of your restaurant's menu shown on a screen, a TV, a monitor, a tablet, or on the customer's phone through a QR code. It's edited from a web dashboard, synced in real time, and can connect to ordering, payment and inventory.

The point isn't the screen. It's that the menu becomes software: one change propagates everywhere, instantly, with no reprint and no version drift between rooms or locations.

What a digital menu costs

A software-as-a-service digital menu starts at roughly €40-50/month for a base plan with one screen. Advanced plans with multiple coordinated screens plus extras (integrated payment, multilingual, table ordering) run to €100-150/month.

Hardware is cheap and optional to buy new: reuse a smart TV you already have, or add a €40 streaming stick to an older set. Crubby's plans are Essential (€49), Pro (€99) and Premium (€149), see pricing.

How it works, end to end

1. 01

   Design the menu

   Your dishes, categories, photos and prices are laid out on a board, Crubby designs it like a branding studio, not a template.
2. 02

   Connect a screen

   Open the TV's browser, go to your screen URL, set it as the start page. The menu lives there permanently.
3. 03

   Edit from anywhere

   Change a price or 86 a dish from the web dashboard or your phone; every screen updates within seconds.

The hardware you need

Any modern smart TV (2018+) with a web browser works, Samsung Tizen, LG webOS, Android TV, Fire TV. There's no proprietary box. As a fallback, a €100-200 mini-PC behind any monitor does the job.

• 32-43", bar top or window, read up close.
• 50-55", dining room, read from 3-4 metres.
• 65-75", entrance or large rooms.

Allergens and compliance

EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires restaurants to communicate the 14 allergens clearly and accessibly. A digital menu is better than paper for this: allergens are structured metadata, visible chips next to each dish, editable in seconds when a recipe changes.

Compliance stops being a laminated afterthought and becomes a feature your guests actually use.

How to choose a provider

1. 1.Custom or template? Crubby designs your menu like an agency would.
2. 2.Hardware lock-in or web-based? Web-based means no lock-in.
3. 3.Multi-screen rules? Essential if you run more than one display.
4. 4.Multilingual? Critical if you get tourists.
5. 5.Transparent pricing? The plans should be public.