To think that if you go out …

Why?

Aren't there some people who can't drink alcohol, anything fizzy, with caffeine or sugar? That would leave only mineral water and I can see why they wouldn't want to pay more for that.
These days many places just put water out and seem fine about it. I only drink things like lime/soda/diet coke when I go out, so I always buy several, but unless you hardly order any food, and take up the table for hours, they seem ok about it.

It depends how much money you have.

Same for me. I'm not paying for sugary pop just because I’m driving!

It’s fine. I don’t like any fizzy drinks or similar soft drinks, and rarely want fruit juices (too heavy with a meal). I love coffee but wouldn’t drink it late on or with a meal (again, too heavy and it’s a separate treat for me). I like some herbal teas but don’t usually want one with a meal. I love water and drink loads of it. I wouldn’t buy something I didn’t want when I could just have water. I do like a glass of wine and sometimes buy one with a meal … but if I’m not drinking alcohol then I will want water. So yes, I think YABU.

Surely it’s up to the individual. If you like water, drink it. Drink tap water or whatever drink you want with your food.

I’ve worked in various hospitality jobs and it’s perfectly OK to drink tap water as your only drink with a meal. In practice, very few tables order no drinks with a meal, but it’s not uncommon for one or two people on a table to stick to tap water and it would be fine if everyone did.

I’m with you! It reminds me of my old uni housemate, who always used to propose going to the pub with “Are we going for a few beverages?”, as if it made him a bit fun and quirky. I wanted to hit him in the face with a pan.

What’s the problem? They’ve bought their meal - why do they need to spend more money on top?

I don’t like soft drinks, so no. If I’m not drinking alcohol then it will be tap water only.

If I'm out at lunch time then it's water for me. Breakfast or brunch, that's tea or coffee with water. Dinner might be a glass of wine and water. Lunch? Definitely just water. A long time ago I'd have ordered a crisp cranberry juice, but I've had some appalling ones that were all pale pink sugar water. No thanks.

I only like water. In some places they don't serve tap water, so I buy flat mineral water, but if available I would always prefer tap water as it seems silly to ship bottles of water around the place when tap water is fine. More of an ecological than an economic consideration for me.

We always order a huge amount of food (sporty dh and 2 sons) so I'm pretty sure the restaurant is more than breaking even on us anyway.

Former restauranteur here. No issue with just tap water. People are buying food.

Some of us don’t drink alcohol or sugary drinks.
So if restaurants want non-water ordered, decent alternatives need to be offered.

I don’t alway want alcohol and I don’t like anything fizzy so yeah sometimes I order water because that’s what I prefer. Why is that a problem?

Any kind of drink seems to be ok. There’s nothing to specify it has to be alcohol and juices are usually as or more expensive than alcoholic drinks here anyway. A glass of orange juice is pretty much always more expensive than the cheapest house whisky highball so I don’t see why they’d mind that.

I will usually order a coffee after. Does that count?

Otherwise I generally drink water. I don't like alcohol drinks and am usually the driver. Sometimes I'll get a juice or a lemon and lime bitters. I don't feel obligated to buy a drink with a 2-3 course meal.

What kind of drink is required? Will juice do?

I’m in Japan at the minute and a few of the places we’ve been to showed us a card in English or had a a sign or note on the menu to say that each person dining needs to buy a drink. We were planning to anyway and I thought it was a bit strange because who wouldn’t order a drink at an izakaya restaurant. I hadn’t realised that it was so common for people not to order any drinks. A cup of iced water is put on your table in any restaurant here, but I’d still always order a drink, same as at home. I genuinely didn’t realise it was so common not to. As long as the restaurant you’re at doesn’t have a minimum drink order then I think it’s fine. If it’s somewhere like a coffee shop and you only order something small like a cookie and then sit there taking up a seat and drinking from their water jugs then that’s not on. Otherwise it seems fairly harmless to me.

What do you order @6079SmithW ?

Why?

I always get water, sometimes I might get a glass of wine too but if I’m driving water is fine. I do think drinks are shockingly expensive now. £10 a glass of house red same for g&t. Most coffee shops have water stations so you can help yourself to a glass to go with your sarnie or whatever.

My son doesn’t drink fizzy drinks so if he’s driving he’ll just have tap water. If he’s not got the car he’ll have wine or beer! I don’t drink alcohol and generally like something a little less boring than tap water when I’m out but no issue with people that do

So many casualties of lockdown 😔

RIP the Harvester breakfast buffet. Another casualty 😔

Odd. Surely if this were such a faux pas, restaurants wouldn't allow it.