QR code menus spark love-hate row in Rio, and beyond

Rio state adopted a law requiring restaurants and bars to offer physical menus for clients who lack smartphones, have technological troubles or simply want to ignore their devices and enjoy a meal with family and friends. — AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO: Leafing through the leather-bound menu at a classic Rio de Janeiro restaurant, the tile-floored, wood-panelled Armazem Sao Thiago, 28-year-old Paula Cardoso says something that amounts to heresy in this establishment: "I prefer QR code menus."

Founded in 1919 and owned by the same family for three generations, Armazem Sao Thiago is a place that frowns on QR codes, those newfangled hieroglyphs that surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, letting contact-wary diners access digital menus on their cell phones.