A menu in several languages for your foreign guests, without retyping it

A guest who does not read French orders what they recognise, or what the next table ordered. A menu they understand lets them really choose, and spares them ten questions to a waiter who is already busy. On paper, that means one more card per language, reprinted at every change. On a digital menu, it is the same menu, shown in the guest's language.

How a multilingual menu works

• You choose your menu's languages in your settings: French, English, Spanish and Arabic.
• You write each dish once, in your own language: its name, its description, its sizes, its extras.
• Translation happens by itself: each dish you save is translated into the languages you chose, a few moments later.
• You stay in charge: a translation you correct in the editor is kept, for as long as the text it translates does not change.
• The guest chooses their language on the menu, with one tap. The same QR code serves every language: one code per table.

What to check before the first guest

Automatic translation does most of the work, but a menu is made of words dictionaries know badly. A few minutes of reading are enough:

• The names that make your identity. A ratatouille or a crème brûlée does not need translating: keep the name, and let the description say what it is.
• Wordplay and house names. A dish called “Le Fermier” or “L'Assiette du marché” means nothing translated word for word; a clear description does better.
• Kitchen vocabulary. A cooking style, a garnish, a side: check that the translation says what your kitchen serves.
• Your best sellers first: they are the dishes your foreign guests will read most.

What does not get translated: allergens and prices

Allergens are entered dish by dish and follow the dish in every language; prices are the same everywhere. French law asks you to give every guest allergen information in writing; a translated menu makes it readable for the guest who does not read French too. The obligations are set out in what French law actually requires.

Tell the guest

A foreign guest does not guess that the menu exists in their language. One line under the QR code, in English, tells them: “Menu in English: scan me”. And your team can say it when bringing the water: that is when the question comes up.

If you are still weighing paper, PDF and a digital menu, here is what each one does.

A menu in several languages with ScanEat

With ScanEat, you write your menu once, in French, and your guests read it in English, Spanish or Arabic, from the QR code on their table. Create your menu and read it in another language tonight.