Is ordering tap water in a restaurant rude?

[TigerOnTour]

My friend often orders tap water in restaurants and I think it's a bit rude. She also has a tiny appetite so will basically just order a side, a starter or a child's meal. I feel like we are pissing off the restaurant. Obviously we don't all have to order a bottle of champagne, but a coke isn't expensive. Friend is very wealthy, if that matters.

@RaraRachael · Today 16:39

Personally I never order tap water when I'm out because I'd rather have a soft drink. I was mortified a few weeks ago when out with a couple of relatives when one of them said we'd go in somewhere for a drink. She ordered 3 glasses of tap water then we proceeded to sit there for 3 hours. The staff came over a couple of times and asked if we wanted any drinks or food and she kept saying 'we're fine thanks.'

The staff just let you all sit there THREE hours in their restaurant without ordering or paying for anything?

I have never, in ALL my years come across any restaurant or eatery that would allow this. Not one. Where was it? What was the name of the place?

Of course it's not rude! Are you really suggesting she should force herself to choke down a Coke she doesn't like and doesn't want to drink? Ridiculous.

I'm surprised they let her order off the kids' menu. Getting just a starter if she doesn't want to eat much is fine. Customers don't have to satisfy a minimum spend; the restaurant is not automatically entitled to a certain sum of your money.

I think it is fine to order what you actually want to eat, as long as it is on the menu. I also prefer restaurants which automatically put a carafe of iced water on the table.

Within a group there will always be a few who order every course with sides, and a few who can't eat that much - it evens out.

The staff just let you all sit there THREE hours in their restaurant without ordering or paying for anything?

Yes it really did happen at some place in Edinburgh up near the castle in the middle of an afternoon.

I do often order a starter and a side in restaurants.Often things that I like are served as starters such as scallops etc. Most of the time a starter like that and a side are not much cheaper than many mains. Admittedly I would have a glass or two of wine along with tap water.

You don't have to feel sorry for restaurants or worry about passing them off.

*pissing

And in the whole 3 hours you could tbh e ordered yourself anything?

Yeah I don't think there is anything wrong with ordering water rather than a soft drink. If you were to take up a table for a long time nursing your water without buying much there is a point where you are not being fair to the establishment taking up a table and using their lighting and heating (and wifi!) but with each of you combined, assuming you left reasonable promptly after finishing your food, I reckon you were above that threshold.

Yes it’s bloody cheeky. Fine to order alongside another drink but on its own is sign of somebody tight.

I order tap water if I'm not drinking, as I don't like the extra plastic waste that goes with bottled. However I always add the cost of what a soft drink would
Cost to the tip at the end.

Astonishing pov there.

The kids' meals and the starters are on the menu and they're not produced at a loss.

So either you were happy to sit there not having anything either or you actually did want something and couldn't use your own voice to order something. Either way it's as much down to you as your relative if the table ordered nothing.

I've been to eat in a few places recently who no longer offer "full diesel" coke which is my drink of choice when im out.
I really dont like the saccharine taste of zero diet stuff so if they tell me no proper coke then I respond with a request for water.

Never thought of it as rude.

Then again, I dont piss about with ordering sides or kids meals at the same time so who knows.

I've worked in a few restaurants.

I wouldn't have considered it rude for one person at the table to order tap water and a side. There are plenty of reasons that some people can't eat a lot, and tap water is perfectly OK to ask for. I wouldn't have thought 'She's a tight cow'. I'd probably have thought 'Maybe she's not feeling too well today' or 'Maybe she's just got some hang-ups about food'.

Yes, the restaurant makes a bit less money from the table, but it's not a big deal - I mean, a restaurant also makes less money if a group of an odd number comes in, because most tables are set for an even number. Which means you've essentially got an empty, profitless space that you can't give to another diner. But it's just one of those things - no restaurant thinks it's rude for five people to dine together at a table that can accommodate six, or for one person to dine alone at a table that could accommodate two. Similarly, no restaurant really thinks it's rude if one person at a table doesn't order much - again, just one of those things.

It would be rude if everyone at the table ordered tap water and a side, though. If someone's reserved a table for six and they order six glasses of tap water and six green side-salads or six bowls of olives, then they're massively taking the piss.

I wonder how many people would baulk at actually paying for tap water? As PP mentioned, there are costs to the establishments in serving tap water.

But when the staff came over "a couple of times" you could easily have said... I'll have a cup of tea / coffee / cola / bottle of wine. You didn't have to sit there for 3 hours with one measly glass of tap water.

I don’t think it’s rude. I have diabetes type 2 so I don’t drink soft drinks - only water - and it really does feel extravagant to order mineral water when I’m fine with tap. No one ever seems to mind; they usually say, “Shall I bring a jug of tap water for the whole table?” It seems to be something they’re used to.

I always order a jug of tap water for the table but only if we are also ordering a round of drinks for the table at the same time. I like to have a glass of water in between each alcoholic drink If we really only wanted water with our meal I would order bottled water.

It would be rude if everyoneat the table ordered tap water and a side, though. If someone's reserved a table for six and they order six glasses of tap water and six green side-salads or six bowls of olives, then they're massively taking the piss.

Why? The restaurant isn't entitled to average takings per table from every table. Maybe none of them are particularly hungry or have 'some hang-ups about food' as you say. If they don't linger over the table for the time that another group would take to eat six bowls of olives, six starters, six mains, six desserts and drink six coffees, they're just making use of the restaurant for the intended purpose of the restaurant (the provision of such food to diners as diners select from the menu). It's not rude just because they're spending less money than some. The restaurant is there for the customers, not customers for the restaurant.

Not at all, I think it's quite normal. DD is type 1 diabetic so many drinks spike her blood sugar levels. She doesn't like fizzy drinks either, so always drinks tap water.

Equally, the restaurant as a private business could ask them to leave if that was all they were planning on ordering. That's a big call as there would be a tripadvisor blowback. But well within their rights.

Are you not an adult? I think this site is for over 18s only. If an adult you can just order a drink . You don’t need your mum or whatever to do it for you.

The intended use is not to provide a side dish and a glass of water.

For some people who suffer with digestive issues (acid reflux, for example), water is often the only drink they can drink when out in a restaurant etc. Fizzy drinks and acidic drinks are a big no no for them.

I don’t think your friend was rude, OP.