[Food] So far this year we have served more free tap waters than any other drink…..

Herr Tubthumper · 2025-03-02T12:46:36+0000

I was in a craft beer bar last night, and the table of 3 sat next to us had a bottle of sparkling water shared between the 3, plus one other drink, and played cards. This was over the course of at least 2 and three quarter hours.

I woke this morning, and read a social media post from a restaurant I like, which is now closing. They said average daily income had dropped but the thing which caught my eye was “So far this year we have served more free tap waters than any other drink”

No wonder restaurants are struggling if this is happening. I have nothing against people who don’t want to drink alcohol, but give your head a wobble and buy a soft drink or two at least.

Buy more drinks!

Littlemo · 2025-03-02T12:52:23+0000

Herr Tubthumper said:
I was in a craft beer bar last night, and the table of 3 sat next to us had a bottle of sparkling water shared between the 3, plus one other drink, and played cards. This was over the course of at least 2 and three quarter hours.

I woke this morning, and read a social media post from a restaurant I like, which is now closing. They said average daily income had dropped but the thing which caught my eye was “So far this year we have served more free tap waters than any other drink”

No wonder restaurants are struggling if this is happening. I have nothing against people who don’t want to drink alcohol, but give your head a wobble and buy a soft drink or two at least.

Buy more drinks!

Tbh if they made more effort to have decent soft drinks available I would. Ask for a coke and often you get the disgusting watered down draught stuff, or orange juice which is the cheapest concentrate one they can find. There’s usually very little variety or options as well.

There’s no reason to put as little effort into the soft drinks as they do, if you go to all that effort to have decent food and alcoholic drinks available, I’ll never understand why soft drinks are such an afterthought.

Brian Fantana · 2025-03-02T12:54:46+0000

Littlemo said:
Tbh if they made more effort to have decent soft drinks available I would. Ask for a coke and often you get the disgusting watered down draught stuff, or orange juice which is the cheapest concentrate one they can find. There’s usually very little variety or options as well.

There’s no reason to put as little effort into the soft drinks as they do, if you go to all that effort to have decent food and alcoholic drinks available, I’ll never understand why soft drinks are such an afterthought.

This. Far too many restaurants are still providing a really shitty range of soft drink options.

Chicken Run · 2025-03-02T12:56:36+0000

Herr Tubthumper said:
I was in a craft beer bar last night, and the table of 3 sat next to us had a bottle of sparkling water shared between the 3, plus one other drink, and played cards. This was over the course of at least 2 and three quarter hours.

I woke this morning, and read a social media post from a restaurant I like, which is now closing. They said average daily income had dropped but the thing which caught my eye was “So far this year we have served more free tap waters than any other drink”

No wonder restaurants are struggling if this is happening. I have nothing against people who don’t want to drink alcohol, but give your head a wobble and buy a soft drink or two at least.

Buy more drinks!

And they are blocking up real estate that could be utilised by full fare paying customers….

father_and_son · 2025-03-02T13:02:05+0000

My challenge would be that soft drinks in restaurants are a complete rip off - the mark up is crazy. Whilst I'm lucky enough to be in a position not to worry too much, when I'm buying a diet coke in a restaurant at £3 for a tiny 250ml bottle and comparing that to my 2L bottle for less than £2 at home, I definitely feel a bit of a gut punch. Crafting good food is a skill that I am willing to pay for, so have no qualms about supporting good restaurants at a premium price for good food, but taking the top off a barely chilled bottle at 10+ times the price of the ingredient is not reasonable.

It's part of a general feeling that companies try so so hard to rip us off that I get why people are pushing back and voting with their feet. If I can't buy a ticket without a booking fee or a flight without a surcharge for seat allocation then I stop believing the headline price and start to boycott the brand.

Herr Tubthumper · 2025-03-02T13:02:12+0000

Littlemo said:
Tbh if they made more effort to have decent soft drinks available I would. Ask for a coke and often you get the disgusting watered down draught stuff, or orange juice which is the cheapest concentrate one they can find. There’s usually very little variety or options as well.

There’s no reason to put as little effort into the soft drinks as they do, if you go to all that effort to have decent food and alcoholic drinks available, I’ll never understand why soft drinks are such an afterthought.

I hear what you’re saying, and agree. But, I know the restaurant I referred to, their soft drinks list is more than acceptable.

Cordwainer · 2025-03-02T13:03:09+0000

Herr Tubthumper said:
I was in a craft beer bar last night, and the table of 3 sat next to us had a bottle of sparkling water shared between the 3, plus one other drink, and played cards. This was over the course of at least 2 and three quarter hours.

I woke this morning, and read a social media post from a restaurant I like, which is now closing. They said average daily income had dropped but the thing which caught my eye was “So far this year we have served more free tap waters than any other drink”

No wonder restaurants are struggling if this is happening. I have nothing against people who don’t want to drink alcohol, but give your head a wobble and buy a soft drink or two at least.

Buy more drinks!

Was in Berlin just before Christmas and loved it. In one Pho restaurant we ordered beer, wine, coke and lots of food. Also asked for tap water and they gave us one tiny glass each and then had to buy anymore! Also stumbled across a great pub one night where pretty much everyone other than us were smoking inside..had to check there wasn’t some sort of exemption in place! Ending up smelling like a night out 20 years ago..

JJ McClure · 2025-03-02T13:05:32+0000

Littlemo said:
Tbh if they made more effort to have decent soft drinks available I would. Ask for a coke and often you get the disgusting watered down draught stuff, or orange juice which is the cheapest concentrate one they can find. There’s usually very little variety or options as well.

There’s no reason to put as little effort into the soft drinks as they do, if you go to all that effort to have decent food and alcoholic drinks available, I’ll never understand why soft drinks are such an afterthought.

Most pubs I know normally stock bottled and pump so it depends on what you ask for. Ask for a pint and yeah it'll probably come out the gun, ask for a bottle and you'll get a proper glass bottle of coca-cola out the fridge.

tstanbur · 2025-03-02T13:05:54+0000

father_and_son said:
My challenge would be that soft drinks in restaurants are a complete rip off - the mark up is crazy. Whilst I'm lucky enough to be in a position not to worry too much, when I'm buying a diet coke in a restaurant at £3 for a tiny 250ml bottle and comparing that to my 2L bottle for less than £2 at home, I definitely feel a bit of a gut punch. Crafting good food is a skill that I am willing to pay for, so have no qualms about supporting good restaurants at a premium price for good food, but taking the top off a barely chilled bottle at 10+ times the price of the ingredient is not reasonable.

It's part of a general feeling that companies try so so hard to rip us off that I get why people are pushing back and voting with their feet. If I can't buy a ticket without a booking fee or a flight without a surcharge for seat allocation then I stop believing the headline price and start to boycott the brand.

Exactly this. I’d rather they put the price of food up and kept the drinks reasonable.

I don’t mind paying good money for great food from highly skilled chefs which is impossible to recreate at home.

I do mind paying £30 for a bottle of wine that costs £6 in Tesco. I’m pretty sure I can pour it into a glass just as well as the restaurant staff!

hart's shirt · 2025-03-02T13:06:50+0000

If people don't think they're getting value for money for soft drinks, they won't buy them if they're a free option available.

And why should they? Restaurants are predominantly for-profit businesses, not charities. The onus to adapt lies with them, not the public.

Make the customer buying proposition more attractive by including a free drink or bottomless refills into the cost of a meal.

I'm not going to buy anything that I consider overpriced just because someone who may be better off than me feels I should.

Herr Tubthumper · 2025-03-02T13:06:55+0000

father_and_son said:
My challenge would be that soft drinks in restaurants are a complete rip off - the mark up is crazy. Whilst I'm lucky enough to be in a position not to worry too much, when I'm buying a diet coke in a restaurant at £3 for a tiny 250ml bottle and comparing that to my 2L bottle for less than £2 at home, I definitely feel a bit of a gut punch. Crafting good food is a skill that I am willing to pay for, so have no qualms about supporting good restaurants at a premium price for good food, but taking the top off a barely chilled bottle at 10+ times the price of the ingredient is not reasonable.

It's part of a general feeling that companies try so so hard to rip us off that I get why people are pushing back and voting with their feet. If I can't buy a ticket without a booking fee or a flight without a surcharge for seat allocation then I stop believing the headline price and start to boycott the brand.

Clearly a bottle of coke in a restaurant or cafe is going to cost more than the same bottle bought from a supermarket let alone a 2L bottle. It’s a crazy expectation to think anything else.

The Fits · 2025-03-02T13:10:40+0000

As someone who works in the industry it’s a very tricky balance. We’re all aware of the change in trends, even I have long periods of sobriety (including now), and I’m all for people drinking softs, but the public need to realise that eating at a restaurant or sitting in a pub for 2 hours plus isn’t helping anyone. In the pubs case we might as well not open- wages have had some of the highest rises in any industry (which I’m all for and have always been a decent payer), we all know about rates etc. Pubs can’t survive is your looking at less than a tenner a head per hour. That’s the reality. I don’t actually know what the answer is. There’s a serious elephant in the room in that I need people who drink and drink fast and heavily. That’s the model this business is built on and we can talk about pivoting and the like but I’m afraid it doesn’t really help that inconvenient truth. It sounds draconian but I’d be up for some kind of sitting fee, much like board game cafes- they upsell drinks and food but they also know they’re guaranteed some base income. It’s all really tricky and the craft beer bubble (inevitably) bursting hasn’t helped.

Triggaaar · 2025-03-02T13:10:40+0000

Herr Tubthumper said:
I was in a craft beer bar last night, and the table of 3 sat next to us had a bottle of sparkling water shared between the 3, plus one other drink, and played cards. This was over the course of at least 2 and three quarter hours.

That isn't on.

Herr Tubthumper said:
I woke this morning, and read a social media post from a restaurant I like, which is now closing. They said average daily income had dropped but the thing which caught my eye was “So far this year we have served more free tap waters than any other drink”

I expect all restaurants do. Whenever we go for a meal we get a bottle of tap water for the table. Then we buy other drinks and food. Most tables get free water, so of course it's the most served drink.

portlock seagull · 2025-03-02T13:10:46+0000

Littlemo said:
Tbh if they made more effort to have decent soft drinks available I would. Ask for a coke and often you get the disgusting watered down draught stuff, or orange juice which is the cheapest concentrate one they can find. There’s usually very little variety or options as well.

There’s no reason to put as little effort into the soft drinks as they do, if you go to all that effort to have decent food and alcoholic drinks available, I’ll never understand why soft drinks are such an afterthought.

This is where I’m now at. I don’t want to drink alcohol nor do I want to drink non-alco alternatives or Diet Coke and Pepsi. There are hundreds of sugar free soft drinks without artificial sweeteners as a healthier alternative. Pubs just need to stock. I give this feedback including suggestions to my local and guess what…they now stock! The margins are better, and it’s a healthier alternative. I’m also asking them to do better healthier bar snacks eg packs of olives. Just stocking Walkers crisps and salty nuts shows a complete lack of imagination. Pubs need to move with the times and the clientele. Some do. Some don’t. It’s a tough tough business to be in, and having water isn’t what’s causing closures. Not catering to demand does however. That and - still happens - having zero personality behind the bar!

The Fits · 2025-03-02T13:12:08+0000

At the end of the day if a bottle of coke is 1.50 in a supermarket a restaurant or pub are more than entitled to charge a fiver. If you don’t like that stay at home.

Herr Tubthumper · 2025-03-02T13:13:11+0000

hart's shirt said:
Make the customer buying proposition more attractive by including a free drink or bottomless refills into the cost of a meal.

Free drinks, bottomless refills. Maybe they could also pay you for eating there?

Herr Tubthumper · 2025-03-02T13:13:44+0000

The Fits said:
At the end of the day if a bottle of coke is 1.50 in a supermarket a restaurant or pub are more than entitled to charge a fiver. If you don’t like that stay at home.

Thank you!

Bold Seagull · 2025-03-02T13:15:07+0000

tstanbur said:
Exactly this. I’d rather they put the price of food up and kept the drinks reasonable.

I don’t mind paying good money for great food which is impossible to recreate at home.

I do mind paying £30 for a bottle of wine that costs £6 in Tesco. I’m pretty sure I can pour it into a glass just as well as the restaurant staff!

Exactly what I was going to type!! If you’re going to mark up supermarket wine, may as well just charge a corkage and people bring their own if they want. I don’t begrudge a restaurant charging me a £15-20 corkage as I can spend £15 on a decent bottle that would otherwise be £50 on the menu.

People want to feel like they’re getting great value. I’ve come for your food not your cola, so don’t try to stiff me £5 - I know what cola is, I don’t know how good your fish and steaks are.

Peacehaven Wild Kids · 2025-03-02T13:16:53+0000

Well my conscience is clear, the boy (15) who often CHOOSES to come down the pub with me and his mother only drinks tap water. They rarely complain about how much we put in the till

Herr Tubthumper · 2025-03-02T13:17:11+0000

Just to be clear, again, the place in question has 2 or 3 local craft draft beers at a reasonable price on tap, and from memory a few decent soft drinks , mineral water etc. I’ll try and find an example drinks menu. There’s no excuse for these tight arse customers.

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