--- title: "Create a Free Restaurant Website" description: "Create a free restaurant website with menu, hours, location, and ordering links. Understand subdomains, ads, hosting, payments, and later costs." canonical: https://www.ordering.co/blog/free-restaurant-website/ --- # How to create a free restaurant website—and know its limits Build a useful restaurant site with a readable menu, hours, location, and a clear ordering route, then identify which costs belong to the website and the order. 5 min read· Ordering.co· Guides ## Begin with the job a free website can do A free restaurant website can publish a menu, explain where you are, show hours, and direct customers to a working ordering channel. That is a useful first presence. It is different from operating a checkout that validates options, collects payment, routes orders to kitchen, and coordinates delivery. Decide whether the first version is informational, takes manually confirmed requests, or links to an existing ordering service. Give the visitor a truthful next step: “View menu,” “Call to order,” or “Order online” should describe what actually happens. ## Understand the free hosting arrangement [WordPress.com's free offer](https://wordpress.com/free/) includes a hosted site on a WordPress.com subdomain, with paid options for a custom domain and additional capabilities. Free sites display WordPress.com advertising. A free builder is a workable starting point when those boundaries fit the restaurant's needs. [Wix's free-site guidance](https://support.wix.com/en/article/building-a-website-for-free) likewise describes publication on a Wix URL. Its [upgrade comparison](https://support.wix.com/en/article/opgrader-din-hjemmeside-til-premium) separates the free site's branding and domain from upgraded features, including online payments in eligible plans. Do not treat a free design editor as evidence that a full restaurant checkout is free. These are examples of different plans, not a ranking. Read the current publication, domain, branding, storage, payment, and cancellation conditions for the account you create. Installing open-source software on your own server is another route, but free code still needs hosting, updates, backups, and someone responsible for it. ## Prepare the content before opening the editor Gather the restaurant name, address, phone, accurate service hours, menu, current prices, permitted photographs, and the actual ordering or reservation destination. Assign one person to keep the menu and hours current. Use a small content structure: - Home: what the restaurant serves and the main action. - Menu: categories, portions, included items, options, and prices as readable text. - Visit or location: address, directions, hours, and service information. - Ordering or contact: the working route and what customers should expect after using it. A single well-organized page may cover those jobs for a small café. Separate pages help when several locations have different hours or menus. Keep images useful and compressed; a scanned menu alone is difficult to read and update on a phone. ## Create the first version step by step 1. Create the site in an account the restaurant controls, using the standard free-publication path if that is the intended plan. 2. Choose a simple layout with a visible menu and next action; remove empty sections that do not serve the business. 3. Add the prepared content and real photographs. Write meaningful page titles and image descriptions. 4. Add navigation for menu, location, and the selected ordering/contact route. A button must point to the real destination, not an unconfigured cart. 5. Review on a phone and with a keyboard. Increase text size, read options, and confirm that banners do not cover important information. 6. Use the preview and the provider's free address to inspect the complete public journey before promoting the link. For an illustrative café, the useful test is a guest finding a drink's size and price, checking today's hours, and reaching the correct pickup-order route. Visual polish matters after those tasks are understandable. ## Choose how orders will work **Manual requests** can start with a phone or messaging contact, but state that staff must confirm availability, price, fulfillment, and acceptance. A sent message is not proof of a paid order. **A link to an existing ordering site** keeps the informational website simple. Explain the transition and preserve the restaurant identity. Confirm the selected location, menu, fees, and payment flow at the destination. **An embedded or native checkout** needs its own configuration and commercial scope. Required options, taxes and charges, payment outcomes, kitchen acceptance, and delivery cannot be replaced by a contact form. Verify that the selected website plan supports the intended integration rather than assuming every theme or plugin can be installed. Never ask customers to type card details into an ordinary message or a homemade contact field. Use the payment provider's configured checkout. ## List the costs that appear after the first page Budget separately for a custom domain and renewal, upgraded hosting or builder access, email, paid extensions, payment processing, messaging, order handling, delivery, and ongoing maintenance. Distinguish a permanent free tier from a trial, a temporary promotion, or a domain included only for an initial period. If you retain a provider subdomain, consider what happens when you later change tools: printed QR codes, social links, and customer bookmarks may need updating. Keep copies of your text, original photos, menu identifiers, and the exports your account permits. A free website should not leave the restaurant unable to recover its own content. Compare total effort as well as subscription. Re-entering orders, correcting unavailable items, and updating several menus may become more expensive in staff time than a connected ordering workflow. ## Know when a connected platform becomes useful Consider moving beyond an informational site when you need several stores, structured modifiers, reliable payment and acceptance, kitchen routing, delivery coordination, or a consistent menu across channels. The trigger should be a demonstrated operating gap rather than the existence of another theme. The [Ordering.co restaurant website](https://www.ordering.co/platform/restaurant-website/) connects a branded site and domain with catalog, payment, and order operations. It is a product to evaluate under its current commercial terms, not a promise of a permanently free ordering service. Use the [guide to adding online ordering](https://www.ordering.co/blog/how-to-add-online-ordering-to-your-restaurant-website/) to map the connection, and [explore the demos](https://www.ordering.co/demo/) with one real order. Keep the free website if it solves the current job; invest in connected operations when that is the problem you need to resolve. ## Keep reading. - ## [Free restaurant reservation systems: compare the real limits](https://www.ordering.co/blog/free-restaurant-reservation-systems/) Compare free booking tools against the host team's workload, including booking caps, seating, confirmations, cancellations, messaging, and data access. - ## [Restaurant website builders: compare the site and the order flow](https://www.ordering.co/blog/best-restaurant-website-builders/) Compare Ordering.co, Wix and Squarespace for restaurant websites, menus, domains, free or trial limits, payments and the work after checkout. - ## [Restaurant website examples: what operators can learn](https://www.ordering.co/blog/restaurant-website-examples/) Study real restaurant, café, bar, and fast-food websites to improve menus, mobile journeys, ordering, payment handoffs, and accessibility. ## See it running on your own menu. The shortest way to understand any of this is to watch an order go from a storefront to a store to a driver, on your locations. [Book a demo](https://www.ordering.co/contact/?meeting=demo#book)[See a live demo](https://www.ordering.co/demo/)