Updated 19 October 2026
Restaurant website design with ordering built in
Platform or agency: be clear about what you are buying
If you search for "restaurant website design" you will find two very different things, and it helps to know which one you need.
A design agency or freelancer builds a website just for you. You get a unique look, custom pages and someone to make changes, usually for an upfront fee and often a monthly retainer for hosting and updates. Online ordering is normally added through a third-party system, which may charge its own fees.
A restaurant website platform like Chefzi gives you a proven website that is already built for food businesses, with ordering as the core of it. You do not pay for design time. You get a clean, mobile-friendly site with your menu, hours and ordering, and you keep it up to date yourself.
Chefzi is the second kind. We help you set up and we are there when you need us, but we do not design bespoke, one-off websites, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Which is right for your restaurant?
| You want… | Better fit |
|---|---|
| A unique, fully custom design and brand story | A design agency or freelancer |
| Reservations, gift cards or an events calendar | An agency, or a specialist tool for each |
| A branded app in the App Store and Google Play | A provider that builds apps (Chefzi does not) |
| To take collection and delivery orders online with 0% commission | Chefzi |
| To be live quickly without a design fee | Chefzi |
| To edit your own menu, prices and hours without paying anyone | Chefzi |
| To keep an agency-built site and add ordering to it | Chefzi with the embed widget |
Many restaurants combine the two: an agency site for the brand, with Chefzi ordering embedded on the "Order online" page.
What good restaurant website design actually needs
Whoever builds your website, judge it on what customers are trying to do. Most visitors to a takeaway or restaurant site want one of four things, and good design puts them within a thumb's reach on a phone:
- The menu, as real text rather than a PDF or photo, so it loads fast, reads well on a small screen and can be found by Google.
- A way to order, ideally without ringing up.
- Opening hours, including when delivery starts and when you are closed for holidays.
- Where you are and whether you deliver to them.
Beautiful photography and clever animation are welcome, but not if they push the order button off the screen or make the page slow. Our post on what a restaurant website needs to take the order goes through each element with examples of what to avoid.
There are also a few UK-specific points worth getting right. Allergen information should be easy for customers to find before they order, and food businesses in Wales and Northern Ireland must display their food hygiene rating at the premises; check the current guidance from your local council on showing it online too. In England display is voluntary, but many owners show a good score.
What the Chefzi website gives you
Designed around ordering
Your restaurant website puts the menu and the order button first. Customers choose dishes, pick required options such as size or base, add extras from multi-select lists, and check out for collection or delivery.
Run it yourself
Change prices, add a special, update collection and delivery hours separately or add holiday closures, all without emailing a designer and waiting for an invoice.
Orders ahead and orders now
Pre-orders with a lead time you set sit alongside ASAP orders, so lunch and party orders arrive in good time.
Payments and the kitchen
Restaurants on the £19 plan take cash orders, including cash on delivery and cash on collection. Online card payments through Stripe are on the £29 plan. Standard Stripe card processing fees apply. Orders reach the kitchen app, which keeps alerting until someone accepts them.
Help customers find you
Menu pages are proper web pages that search engines can read. Add your ordering link to your Google Business Profile with our guide to the order online link.
QR codes on the table
QR table ordering puts a code on each table. The guest orders on their phone and the ticket reaches the kitchen app. Chefzi still has no till and no kiosk.
What it does not include
No till or EPOS, no self-service kiosk, no branded app-store app, no loyalty points scheme and no courier integrations.
Cost: agency build vs Chefzi
Agency prices vary so widely that any single figure would mislead, so we have not quoted one. Ask any agency you speak to for three numbers: the upfront build cost, the monthly hosting and maintenance fee, and what the ordering system charges per order. Then compare the total over a year with Chefzi:
| Typical agency route | Chefzi | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront design or build fee | Quoted per project | None |
| Setup fee | Often included in the build | None |
| Hosting and updates | Often a monthly retainer | Included in the monthly fee |
| Online ordering | Usually a separate system with its own fees | Built in, 0% commission |
| Monthly fee | Varies | £0 for 3 months, then £19, or £29 with online card payments |
| Menu and price changes | Often done by the agency | Done by you, any time |
For a worked comparison with published prices from other ordering platforms, see pricing and our guide to the best online ordering systems in the UK (prices checked 19 October 2026).
Built for independent UK food businesses
Chefzi is set up for menus with lots of options: pizza, Indian, Chinese takeaways, Turkish grills, burger and chicken shops, and cafés and bakeries. See all industries.
If your current website runs on GloriaFood's ordering, which closes on 30 April 2027, the GloriaFood alternative page explains how to switch without losing your menu.
No design fee. No setup fee. 0% commission. 3 months free, then £19 a month, or £29 with online card payments.
Questions
Is Chefzi a restaurant website design agency?
No. Chefzi is a platform that gives each restaurant its own ready-made website with online ordering built in. We set it up with you, but we do not design bespoke, one-off websites.
How much does a restaurant website cost with Chefzi?
There is no setup fee and 0% commission. It is free for 3 months, then £19 a month without online card payments or £29 a month with them. Standard Stripe card processing fees apply.
When should I hire a design agency instead?
If you want a completely custom look, brand storytelling, reservations or features Chefzi does not offer, an agency or developer is the better route. You can still add Chefzi ordering to an agency-built site with the embed widget.
Can I change my menu and prices myself?
Yes. You can edit dishes, prices, options, opening hours and holiday closures yourself at any time, without paying a designer.
Do I need to pay for hosting separately?
No. Your Chefzi website is hosted as part of the monthly fee.
Does Chefzi build mobile apps?
No. Chefzi does not build branded app-store apps. Your website and ordering work in any phone browser, so customers do not need to download anything.