To expect a restaurant to be able to do a pint of milk?

I’d take the server/manager aside and explain that your child is autistic as that will help them understand why it matters. I’d also ask for a glass not a pint. A pint is a lot!

Lots of people have explained the probable reason restaurants don’t want to serve milk. Not sure what you want from this post?

This is actually a good idea

Actually you’re right in that they do order in bulk BUT if they run out they absolutely do pop out to the nearest shop to get more ! My ds works in a cafe and he has to regularly run out to grab more milk if they are exceptionally busy

YABU if it is not an item on the menu, then you can't expect a big serving of it.
I can't order a half pint of pure lime cordial, even though they sell small amounts of it.

It would not be discrimination if you bring your own food into a restaurant. What rubbish.

Unless they are saying that your child cannot have milk when they are allowing other people to drink pints of it all round her then it is simply something you have to put up with.

You can't walk in to a restaurant and ask for a loaf of bread either or send them out for Heinz baked beans because that's what your child will eat.

Do people think chain restaurants buy their milk from the corner shop? It will delivered in whatever quantities they need for their drinks, potentially even in bags. They won’t just have a pint in the fridge that they can pop out and replenish from Tesco.

Also I guess it's awkward for the servers to know what to charge etc.

Would you be annoyed if you were charged £2 and then another time £2.50 or £3?

Only half joking but what if you were to order a latte or hot chocolate without the heating and the added coffee or chocolate?

If they won’t serve you milk and you have your own with you I’m sure they can’t actually refuse for your dd to consume it as it would be discrimination

A pint of milk is a lot compare to how many children's milk drinks or tea and coffees they could make with that. I think YABU.

Totally agree it’s probably more the issue of them ordering X amount for X time, and you ordering a pint leaves them short. The average person has about 5ml of milk in tea/coffee, 470ml ish in a pint so they could have made and sold & served 90 hot drinks with that milk for what £3 a cup so £270, vs you paying £3.50 for it? If it’s not on the menu as a drink option then it’s not an option

It’s milk though - you can pretty much guarantee you can get milk in any shop anywhere . People are always popping out for milk as we run out of it a lot and it’s readily available. I’d be putting customer satisfaction above milk rationing just in case we sell more coffees than expected ! It’s milk it shouldn’t be a big deal at all and as OP has said they are more than happy to pay for it and pay more than the cost of a pint of milk usually is too so I don’t see a problem .

My DS is disabled and also only drinks milk or water. We always ask for milk for him in a restaurant / pub, even if it's not on the menu, and I can't remember ever having an issue with this, we've always been given it.

I've never asked for a pint of milk though, just a glass, so maybe they're happier to provide a smaller amount?

Now that would surprise me. I would think that would be fine.

Yes they have milk in the building but not for the purposes of serving it by the pint. Also there won't be a button for it on the till which causes issues especially in chain restaurants.

An independent place is more likely to be able to be flexible on this and send someone out for more if necessary.

As long as you're happy to pay whatever they ask without quibbling. I think £3.50 is reasonable but they could ask for far more if it's not listed. Is there an upper limit on what you would pay?

If they have to send a staff member to go buy more milk then the cost of their time doing this is quite high.

Places aren't going to be keeping an extra pint of milk around for the very very rare occasion that a customer asks for it, when it is not on the menu.

If it's not on the menu then no, I wouldn't expect them to serve you milk, and especially not a pint!

If it's that important, phone and ask in advance and if it's not possible take your own pint of milk for your child to drink.

I would assume that as it’s not in the menu as a drink they will have accounted for the amount of milk they have in the kitchen with what is in the menu. A pint is quite a lot of teas and coffees with milk.

YABU to expect them to provide drinks that are not on the menu. I mean you can ask but shouldn't expect it, if anything you should be pleased that half the places you go to accomodate it.

It's not that they are being awkward, it's that they buy the amount of milk they think they will need for their usual requirements. A pint of milk might not seem much to you but how many teas/coffees will that pint cover?

Well yes, but not an extra pint just in case. Food goes off. Waste costs money. If they normally sell eg 10 coffees in a day, and they need one pint for that, then they will have a pint. Plus maybe a bit more for just in case. Made up numbers. They're not going to give you that pint which isn't on the menu and then turn away 10 coffee requests which are on the menu. There's quite a few restaurants where milk is on the menu - I think pizza express is - they're the only ones I would expect it.
I would completely reframe your thinking - assume not, things are not in menus for reasons, then be happy if you get it.