Is ordering tap water in a restaurant rude?

Can you explain that? If OP is with her friend and OP is eating a full meal and fizzy drinks, but friend is having water/side dish - are you saying OP shouldn’t be allowed to go to restaurants unless she brings a greedy friend with her, who’ll eat a shit ton of food? Can OP eat out on her own? Is that allowed? Because surely that’s even worse than being with her small-appetite friend?

This thread is bonkers. How can it be rude to order tap water and a small meal? Is there an official calorie requirement for a meal out? And what about an adult with a young child, ordering a glass of water and a child’s meal for the child? Is that rude? How is that different from you and your friend eating out together?
Honestly, I had no idea that some people would say I wasn’t welcome in a restaurant unless I necked a fizzy drink and shovelled in a few million calories of steak and chips into my mouth!

Firstly coke can be quite expensive- I paid over £4 for a small bottle in a restaurant at lunch today!
Ordering tap water is perfectly fine....and a decent restaurant will often provide or offer without being asked.
Bottled water is generally also available but unnecessary (and less sustainable)

The reason the restaurant may be annoyed is that is is only ordering a small meal..especially kids meal as these are often priced as a loss leader. So at busy times she is taking up a seat/table but spending well below the average cover spend....and not because she is drinking water. Lots of people do.

Cheap I can understand. I don’t agree, but I can see why some might think so. But I can’t fathom why anyone would think it rude.

JacketPotatoFoodOfTheGods · Today 21:49
No. It's not rude.

The combination of your reply and your username suggests to me that you are the soundest, most sensible person on Mumsnet.

There was a big campaign by the Evening Standard at around 2005 to make free tap water available at every London restaurant.

I only drink water so won’t feel guilty ordering it. Sometimes I order sparkling cos I fancy it but otherwise tap water is fine. I always order a full adult meal too though.

No. It's not rude.

Agree @Gogogo12345

Asking for tap water is not rude ANYWHERE. 🙄

Many places offer it, and those who don't will happily give it if you ask. It's tap water FFS! 😆

Why on earth would it be rude? Heard it all now

I always order Tap water, but I also order other drinks, it’s never just water, and I order a meal. I’d not go in and just order water, and if I did, I’d have bottled if it was all I wanted.

I believe it’s rude and cheap and order bottled water in restaurants

Of course it’s not rude. I only ever order tap water. Coke is horrid.

If they are worrying about water, their business model is askew

Thank you.
I don't drink alcohol and very very rarely a fizzy drink, so mostly it's tap water with a main.
Sometimes, it's even a boozeless beer.
👍

Tap water is fine, it annoys me when waiters open with ‘still or sparkling’, it’s just an added unnecessary cost (unless you really like sparkling water, I don’t)! However I would probably also order an actual drink if there was one that I wanted and no I wouldn’t ever order just a ‘side’ in a restaurant. That’s being a massive cheapskate.

I always ask for 'water': don't want fancy bottled water with its carbon footprint.
I do remember a few years ago in New York when the lovely waiter (in one of a very starred and fancy restaurant) said: would you like bottled water or Manhatten's finest? Loved it. Took Manhatten's finest

How on earth would this be rude?

I always order tap water if I'm not drinkjng alcohol as I don't like fizzy drinks. I'm not overly fussy about water and I don't want to spend £3 on something when I can't taste the difference. When I'm on holiday I always buy bottled water as I want to be safe.

No it’s not rude. Even if you are rich tap water if more environmentally friendly.

Very few people seem to be considering the restaurant in all this. They have staff costs, heating costs, rent etc to consider, and people going in and occupying a table for two plus hours whilst consuming a starter and tap water is ruinous for their business.

Why? She's ordering off the menu. If she was going in and asking for a half portion of something that doesn't come in half portions and demanding to pay half price then you'd have a point. Ordering what you want to eat off the menu isn't being cheap.

**
FangsForTheMemory

If it’s one of the three smartest restaurants in town, it’s embarrassing when the person you’re with is deliberately ordering cheaply. If you’re not feeling flush, why not go somewhere cheap.

Most wealthy people don’t give a flying fig about how “smart” a service provider is or what they think. Doesn’t even enter their heads. If they want a glass of water, that’s what they ask for.
Worrying about what other people think is a bit of a clue, tbh.

Totally fine to order tap water. It's the better option for the environment too.
Only ordering a side because that's all that is manageable is also fine, especially if the place isn't too fancy.

If one diner is ordering three courses and the other only a side, perhaps that is awkward. If it happens often then they're not compatible diners or just going to the wrong places.

Years ago when vegetarian options were not so available, a side dish was often all there was. For example, a salad or a plate of greens. It's good to just let everyone enjoy the experience.

For the rare diner they orders tap water and a side, restaurants still have plenty of people who go through the card or drink the marked up wine. It hospitality it is swings and roundabouts. Restaurants know this and plan accordingly.

If it’s one of the three smartest restaurants in town, it’s embarrassing when the person you’re with is deliberately ordering cheaply. If you’re not feeling flush, why not go somewhere cheap?

It is an ancient rule of hospitality, of basic humanity, to offer anyone water if they are thirsty. That anyone would question this shows just how pampered we have become, how far removed from fundamental survival needs.

In Scotland it is enshrined in law that all licensed premises must provide free drinking water on request.

Plain water has always my drink of choice. I'm not going to add sugar and chemicals just because I'm in a restaurant. Nor will I add to the plastic pollution created by bottled waters. Nor participate in the extraction of Scotland's natural resources for the profit of those outwith Scotland.

As for food, it's good that your friend can accurately gauge their appetite and is not over-eating. That's unusual these days.