5 Free Restaurant Menu Maker Tools
These days, running a successful restaurant isn’t just about serving great meals and having excellent customer service. If your goal is to expand your customer base and turn first-time diners into loyal patrons, you’ll need a striking menu that highlights what your restaurant has to offer.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ve compiled the top free restaurant menu maker tools that can help you get started. Whether your goal is to give your old menu a new look or start over from scratch, these are the best menu maker tools you can find online.
The Top Menu Creators for Businesses
If you have the extra budget, hiring a graphic design artist can be a great way to come up with a new menu design. But if you want to save on costs while still getting a professionally designed output to list your meals, below are the top menu maker tools you should definitely check out.
1. Canva
Pricing per month
- Free
- Pro ($15)
Key features
- Drag-and-drop editor
- 3M+ free stock photos and graphics
- Design collaboration
- AI content generation
- Mobile support
Pros
Canva can be a great tool for making restaurant menus due to its wide variety of templates and design tools. Aside from having a free version with limited design elements, Canva also offers a mobile-friendly app for designing on the go.
Cons
While it remains one of the more popular online design tools in the market, Canva can also be limiting for those in need of a more customized restaurant menu. Although the tool offers some menu templates, some designs can have a tendency to appear repetitive and generic without further customization.
2. Adobe Express
Pricing per month
- Free
- Premium ($9.99)
Key features
- Adobe Stock integration
- Extensive font selection
- QR code generation
- Generative AI
Pros
If you’re already familiar with the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, Adobe Express may be a good option for you. Adobe Express offers a variety of design templates, as well as seamless integration with other Adobe apps for additional customization needs.
Cons
While it offers a variety of app integrations for more advanced menu designs, Adobe Express generally offers fewer built-in menu templates. This can make it difficult for users with limited design experience looking to create their first restaurant menu.
3. Visme
Pricing per month
- Free
- Starter ($29)
- Pro (Starts at $59)
Key features
- Customizable templates
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Asset library
- AI tools
- Print and digital sharing
Pros
If you’re looking to make your new restaurant menu design more dynamic, Visme can be a good tool to consider. Due to its various customization tools, users can easily integrate different kinds of animations and interactive elements, especially for digital menus.
Cons
While it offers a variety of advanced customization tools, the main drawback to using Visme is its pricey subscription plans. Although the app offers a free version, most of Visme’s customization tools are only accessible on the paid plans.
4. Menuzen
Pricing per month
- Free
- Grow ($10)
Key features
- Live menu management
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Menu templates
- Contactless ordering
- QR code generator
Pros
Menuzen is an online platform specifically made for designing restaurant menus. Because of this, the tool offers a wide variety of ready-made menu templates as well as additional features for order processing and restaurant management.
Cons
Although it can be a useful tool to help build a restaurant menu, Menuzen remains quite limited in terms of overall marketing features. In particular, users interested in paying for Menuzen’s paid tiers may find more useful features in other tools such as PosterMyWall.
5. PosterMyWall
Pricing per month
- Free
- Premium ($13)
- Premium Plus ($30)
Key features
- 1M+ design templates
- AI text-to-image generator
- AI Background Remover
- AI writer
- Resizing tool
- Brand Kits
Pros
PosterMyWall is one of the best online design tools recommended for designing menus due to its user-friendly interface and extensive features. With PosterMyWall, users can select from a wide variety of free menu templates and customize designs with its various AI-powered tools.
Cons
PosterMyWall offers one of the easiest-to-navigate and most affordable online design features in the market. While its extensive library of 1M+ free templates may be overwhelming to new designers, its interface is completely beginner-friendly and recommended for every type of user.
Tips for Designing Your Own Menu
If you want to take your design skills to the next level, we’ve rounded up the best design tips to keep in mind when creating your new restaurant menu.
1. Use High-Quality Images
When designing your restaurant menu, you can’t just recycle old low-resolution photos or scour the internet in search of some free stock photos. To ensure that your design is striking to customers, make sure to incorporate actual high-quality photos of your menu items.
To take it a step further, you can even use a handy AI Background Remover tool to help you automatically remove unnecessary background items and better incorporate photos into your menu layout.
2. Add Good Descriptions
Aside from high-quality photos of your menu items, diners also rely on food descriptions to finalize their orders. While there’s no set word count for how you should describe your menu items, making it short and sweet is a good rule of thumb to follow.
3. Incorporate Your Brand Identity
If your restaurant uses a specific mix of colors and font styles, it’s a good idea to also incorporate those into your menu design. Not only does it keep your branding consistent, but it’ll also make things easier when designing your new menu.
4. Keep Your Design Consistent
If you choose to add a photo for every menu item, it’s best to do the same throughout your whole menu. While you can always experiment with how you want your restaurant menu to look, keeping your font styles, image quality, and colors consistent makes it easier for your customers to navigate through your items.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should I add a QR code to my menu?
Yes! QR codes are a great way to improve customer convenience when attached directly to your menu. While a QR code can be used for a variety of purposes, some common uses include setting up a QR code for direct orders, payments, and online reviews. Alternatively, some restaurants also opt to exclusively use digital-only menus, which can be accessed via QR codes spread inside the restaurant.
How do I post my menu on social media?
If you want to increase digital orders and boost your online visibility, posting your menu on social media is a must. If you designed your menu using an online menu maker like PosterMyWall, you can easily use a one-click resizing tool, which can automatically resize your menu to fit various social media platforms.
What is the best menu maker tool?
While there are a variety of menu maker tools you can find online, PosterMyWall remains one of the best options due to its accessibility in terms of both interface and pricing. Not only does PosterMyWall offer dynamic subscription plans for restaurant owners, but it also offers an extensive list of beginner-friendly design tools that can help you customize your ideal menu.
Set to Design Your Own Menu?
If your goal is to reduce unnecessary costs while still achieving a professionally designed menu for your restaurant, using an online menu maker tool is the way to go. Not only will you be able to design according to your vision, but you can even make changes yourself without the need for a professional to rework your design.
So, get started today—try out one of these free menu maker tools, select a menu design template, and start highlighting your signature dishes before lunch rush.
