Drinks in restaurants?

[SlushMountain]

Say a family of 5 go to a restaurant, is it acceptable to buy only 2 refillable drinks and share them or is that not allowed/ frowned upon? Last time I went we spent £20 on just drinks! What do other people do?

Exactly! Makes zero sense.

If I was right on money I’d get refillable drinks for the kids and adults have tap water.

Yes, it's dishonest. Refillable drinks are per person. Otherwise you could have one between the whole table.

It’s a legal requirement that if a restaurant serves alcohol (which Pizza Hut does) that they also have to provide tap water free of charge. Michelin star restaurants provide it, and nobody thinks twice.

Interesting you’re ok with actual theft, but not ok with asking for tap water.

£4 per person for what will be at least two drinks each isn't expensive.

So either do that or ask for tap water all round.

👍

Mumsnet is snobby because we know that sharing 2 glasses between 4 is against the t&cs of "refillable" drinks.

But you are not snobby, even though you are too embarrassed to do the completely normal and indeed legally-mandated thing of asking for tap water... sure ok.

Someone told me that they did this once and I was embarrassed on their behalf ,1 drink shared between their 3 children , I also wouldn’t go to a restaurant with someone that did this 🤦🏻‍♀️

If it's like an eat all you like buffet, but with drinks, then you are clearly trying to get more than you are paying for. If you bought 2 buffet meals and had 5 people eating off the plates and re-filling them it would be pretty close to stealing.

Drink tap water like the rest of the world if you don't want to pay for drinks that actually cost money for the restaurant.

Just but bloody drinks you don't have to do refills. Or if you really are that cheap just ask for water for the table, what a miserable experience have some dinner but no cola for you!

I read it more as "I didn't get the replies I wanted so I'm going to try my luck elsewhere but will cover that over by tarring the entirety of MN as snobby".

And I would absolutely order tap water , but usually alongside another drink , but wouldn’t be embarrassed to ask for it alone .
I wouldn’t go to a pub ( or anywhere where I wasn’t eating food ) and ask for just a tap water though without making a purchase .

It's fine if you pay for a specific meal and share it, I've done that in a place that does huge portions (when we were looking more for a light lunch) and asked for two plates! No problem, I wouldn't expect free seconds though.

I find refillable drinks a bit annoying because it sets a minimum price for a drink that's way bigger than I'd ever drink, but as it's effectively a price per person, you have to pay for each person having a drink, however little they have. If the staff see you doing it, they'll expect you to pay for everyone at the table.

But you're being ridiculous about not asking for tap water. I generally don't drink soft drinks and object to bottled water on principle, so if I'm not drinking alcohol, I will ask for a glass/jug of tap water.

Just ask for tap water.

Also reminds me of taking my niece out to pizza hut when she was very young , maybe 3 ish , and she saw and therefore wanted the salad cart so I paid for the unlimited lunch for us both . She ate 1 .5 slices of pizza and a handful of cucumber , worst ‘ all you can eat ‘ partner ever 🤣 but I wouldn’t have dreamed of not paying for her and just allowing her to eat from mine , might have done at a year old maybe 😉

It’s like paying for a buffet for 2 and 5 sharing it. It should not be done

I asked for tap water in a chain restaurant last night. They just asked if I wanted ice and lemon. Asking for tap water is entirely normal behaviour in UK restaurants.

You can share a drink or a meal but not an unlimited "buffet" item so no you can't! Get water.

YABU for eating out at Pizza Hut in the first place. It’s rank.

Go to supermarket and buy pizzas and bottles of juice for everyone and you’ll save much more than your £20 on drinks.

Of course it’s not fine! Using your example, how happy would the restaurant be if a family of five each gulped down 3 glasses full using the same glass? I don’t think they’d view it as one person having 15 drinks. It’s one glass per person, not one glass to be shared amongst a group of people, in the same way that sharing one plate wouldn’t be acceptable at an all you can eat buffet.

I always ask for a jug of tap water. They never mind and often refill it. I'm paying for meals and puddings so I doubt they care I'm drinking water! Try it and ask.

It's perfectly normal to ask for tap water. I do it all the time - regardless of where I'm eating out. If I'm eating a meal at home, I'd always have tap water, so I see it as no different, really. It's not actually from a tap in the kitchen, it's usually given via the pump at the bar! I wait until afterwards to drink anything alcoholic, I always have done. It's weird that you'd think that sharing a refillable drink is OK (which, by the way, I don't think is that weird) but not asking for tap water!
In some restaurants (Miller and Carter comes to mind) they give you a whole bottle of tap water so that it lasts your whole meal.

This whole thing reminds me of the Goldbergs episode 'Dinner with the Goldbergs'. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it!

Pizza Hut will charge your for all of you even if you ask for 2 or will come over and tell you… far
more embarrassing than water