Websites for restaurants and cafés: menus, bookings, and mobile

Why this matters

People look up restaurants and cafés on their phone, often when they are hungry or in a hurry. If your site is slow, confusing, or hides key information, they go somewhere else.

Hospitality sites that work do three things well: menus, bookings, and mobile.

1) Menus that load and read properly

Menus are the most looked-at content on a hospitality site. Most get it wrong.

What to avoid

• Menus as huge PDFs: Slow to load, impossible to read on small screens, often inaccessible.
• Menus as image dumps: Same problems: slow, unreadable when zoomed, no structure for screen readers [3]Source 3 .
• Menus buried in downloads: People want to see the menu now, not download it.
• Out-of-date menus: Wrong prices or items frustrate visitors and damage trust.

What to do instead

• HTML menus: Real text, fast to load, readable on any device, accessible.
• Simple structure: Sections (Starters, Mains, Drinks), items, prices. No need for fancy design.
• Allergen and dietary info: Clear, easy to find. Important for accessibility and trust.
• Keep images light if you use them: Optimise size and format. See image and video performance.

Fast, readable menus improve experience and help your site perform better in search [4]Source 4 .

2) Booking links that work

If you take bookings, the link to book should be obvious and work on mobile.

What to include

• Clear booking call-to-action: "Book a table" or "Reserve" - same place on every page, usually in the header.
• One tap to book on mobile: Button or link that goes straight to your booking system.
• Opening times next to booking: So people know when you are open before they try to book.
• Consistent info: Same opening times and booking link on your site, Google, and socials.

What to avoid

• Burying the booking link in the footer or on a separate "Contact" page.
• Multiple competing links (e.g. "Book now", "Reserve", "OpenTable") with no clear primary action.
• Booking systems that are slow or broken on mobile.

3) Mobile-first layout

Most hospitality site traffic is mobile. Your site must work on a phone first.

What to include

• Fast load times: Menus and key info should appear quickly. Slow pages lose visitors [1]Source 1 .
• Readable text: No tiny font sizes. Good contrast. No horizontal scrolling.
• Tap-friendly buttons: Booking, phone, map - big enough to tap easily.
• Location and map: Address, postcode, link to Google Maps or similar. Easy to find.
• Opening times: Visible without digging. Update them when they change.

What to avoid

• Heavy animations or video that slow the page and distract from the basics.
• Pop-ups that block content, especially on mobile.
• Inconsistent opening times across the site.

4) Accessibility matters

Accessible menus and clear structure help everyone: people with disabilities, people on slow connections, and people in a hurry.

• Text-based menus: Screen readers can read them. People can resize text.
• Headings and structure: Clear sections (Starters, Mains) help people navigate.
• Allergen information: Critical for some users. Make it easy to find.
• Contrast and font size: Readable for as many people as possible.

For more, see what accessibility means.

5) Keep it simple to update

Menus and opening times change. You need a way to update them without waiting for a developer.

• Simple CMS or editing workflow: So you can update the menu when items or prices change.
• One source of truth: Update in one place, and it appears everywhere (site, Google, etc.) where possible.
• No PDFs to re-upload: Edit text, not documents.

Summary

Hospitality sites that work have: HTML menus that load fast and read well, obvious booking links that work on all devices, responsive layout with fast load times, accessible structure and allergen info, and a simple way to update menus and opening times.

If you need a site that does this properly, see websites for hospitality or website build services. For performance, see fast websites: what fast means. For accessibility, see accessibility services. You can also get in touch to discuss your project.