AR menus for cafés and bakeries in London
Cakes, pastries and brunch plates, shown at real size from a QR code at the counter or on the table.
Quick answer
In a café, an AR menu helps customers decide quickly and shows off the items that sell on looks: layer cakes, pastries and brunch plates. VR Express scans your own bakes and dishes, cleans them up in our studio and publishes them behind QR codes on the counter, the table or your delivery listing link. Customers see each item at real size through their phone camera, with no app.
What works best in a café
Cafés sell a lot on looks. A customer in a queue who can see the slice of cake at its true size, or the brunch plate they are about to order, decides faster and is more likely to add the item they did not know they wanted.
Start with the hero items: the cakes and pastries in the window, the signature brunch plates and anything seasonal. A short AR menu that is kept current beats a long one that goes stale.
Scanning bakes
Pastries and cakes scan well, which keeps the cost per item down. Fine sugar work and glossy glazes need the manual clean-up our team does on every model, and each file is kept small so it opens quickly on 4G.
Where the QR codes go
- On the counter next to the display, for customers in the queue.
- On table cards, for brunch and sit-down orders.
- On your social and delivery links, so people see the item before they come in.
How it works
- Onboarding call and capture kit: guide, matte mat, turntable and your own upload code.
- Dishes are scanned freshly plated in quiet hours, by your team with the kit or by us on site in London.
- Every model gets a quality pass by our 3D team (holes, glare, scale, file size), with a retake note within a day if a capture can't be saved.
- Your menu page goes live with sections, prices and allergens, plus a print-ready QR code per dish. A typical menu takes about two weeks.
See it and read the case study
Try it on your phone: open the demo menu and tap “See it on your table”. VR Express has built AR, VR and WebXR since 2015, including the AR Menu platform for restaurants and bars. Start with the overview of AR menus for London restaurants, see what an AR menu costs in the UK or compare AR and QR menus.
Frequently asked questions
Is an AR menu worth it for a small café?
It is worth it for the items that sell on looks. Most cafés start with a small set of hero bakes and brunch plates rather than the whole menu, which keeps the set-up and per-item cost down.
Can we add new bakes ourselves?
Yes. You scan new items with the kit and your own upload code, and our team does the quality pass before they go live.
Does it work without an app?
Yes, on iPhone through AR Quick Look and on Android through Scene Viewer, both from the browser.