Restaurant Google review QR codes and NFC cards: a practical guide
A QR code or NFC card on the table is one of the simplest ways to make it easy for a guest to leave a review while the meal is still fresh in their mind. It is also easy to set up in a way that breaks Google's policies. This guide covers what the cards actually do, how to set one up correctly, and where the honest line sits between inviting a review and manufacturing one.
A link is not a review — the difference matters
A QR code or NFC card carries a link, nothing more. Tapping or scanning opens a page on the guest's phone. Nothing is written, submitted or published by that action. A public review only exists once the guest, signed into their own Google account, types it and presses post on Google. No tool can post on their behalf, and any service claiming it can produce reviews for you is describing something Google treats as fake content.
This distinction is the whole basis for doing it properly: your job is to remove friction from finding the review box, not to influence what goes in it.
Setting up your Google review link
Google publishes its own guidance on getting a short review link and a ready-made review QR code from your Business Profile. Use that as your source of truth rather than a third-party link generator, because a link taken from the official profile always resolves to the right listing:
Google's official guidance on review links and QR codes for your Business Profile
Keep a copy of that link somewhere safe. It is what you paste into any feedback tool, print on a card, or write onto an NFC tag.
Practical setup advice for the table
- Test on a real phone first. Scan and tap the finished card on both an iPhone and an Android handset before you order fifty of them.
- Print the QR large enough. Roughly 2.5 cm (one inch) square is the practical minimum on a table talker, with quiet space around it and good contrast.
- Say what the tap does. A single line such as "Tell us how it went" sets expectations. Vague cards get ignored.
- Include both QR and NFC. Older phones and cases sometimes fail to tap; the printed code is the fallback.
- Pick the moment. Cards presented with the bill get far more use than cards sitting under a condiment tray all service.
- Brief the staff honestly. "There's a card on the table if you'd like to leave feedback" is fine. Asking only the guests who seemed happy is not.
What to avoid: incentives and selective review paths
Also avoid writing the review text for the guest, asking staff or family to post, or bulk-requesting reviews from people who were never served. We are describing Google's published guidance here, not giving legal advice — read the policy on the official pages linked above and follow that.
Where private feedback fits in
Private feedback and public reviews solve different problems. A private comment tells you the mains took twenty-five minutes on Friday, in time to fix the pass. A public review tells people who have never eaten with you whether to book. You want both, and you should not trade one for the other.
That is how TableReview works. The guest taps the card, rates the visit and can write a private comment that goes only to your dashboard. Where you have added your Google listing link, that link is offered in the same way to every guest at every rating, one star through five — nobody is filtered out, and nothing is posted for them. Sample wording is offered as an optional starting point the guest can rewrite word for word or ignore entirely.