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

[YourAgileBiscuit]

My autistic DD (13) will normally only drink milk when we are out in restaurants etc.

Some restaurants (including chain restaurants and pubs/carvery places) get a bit funny about it when she orders/asks for milk though. Even though they already have milk for the kitchen and for teas/coffees. We’ve had some restaurants outright refuse as well even though they have milk in the building.

Is it unreasonable to expect restaurants to be able to serve milk for a paying customer? Of course we pay for her milk, we are not asking for it for free!

I would say about 50% of places we go to get funny about it which I don’t understand as they already have milk in the building.

That's because it won't be a pint on the kids menu, it'll be a small 250ml glass at most, or a small carton.

Charge them for two?

There have also been posts by @QuirkyPlumDog explaining how this situation doesn’t have to be a business destroying disaster . I’ve explained how my ds who works in a cafe has to occasionally pop out for milk. It’s not a big deal and anyone making it into a big deal clearly has some kind of issue .

Most places have an age limit on when you can order from the kids menu.

This! This would be the right solution in most places.

Exactly. If you believe some posters on this thread, a part of four all ordering lattes would grind a standard restaurant kitchen to a shuddering halt!

I'm surprised to hear that, dd always asks for milk and it's never been a problem.

You can't do that as it impacts your POS and stock take system.

@YourAgileBiscuit You say se will only drink milk when out in a restaurant. Dies this mean that she will drink other things at home or school?

If so, could you persuade her to drink whatever she drinks at home when in a restaurant. She is 13 and can probably understand that if she can drink something else it will make it a less stressful experience for everyone.

Or is it the case that she drinks nothing but milk? If so, bring a flask and a glass and just explain before you order.

I think most reasonable people would waive that for someone with any kind of SEN/ disability surely that’s a reasonable adjustment

The cafe in my local town hall has both 'a glass of semi skimmed milk' and 'a glass of whole milk' on the menu (same price). You would be very welcome there

I don't think it should be as big as problem as people are making out, Costa aren't refusing to sell lattes at 100%(ish) milk just in case they could sell 2 cappuccinos or even 4 americanos with a splash for a higher profit per milk usage, are they?

No - you can't do that as it impacts your POS and stock take system. You can't just stick whatever you like through the till, it all has to tally at the end of the day.

How often are you going to be doing it though? It’s not like the system will auto-order a year's supply of Coke because it thinks you sold one more than it did.

Yes, but you'd have to then explain the DD is autistic, which she may not be very comfortable about.

Any good GM or duty manager would use their discretion though and judge the situation if something like this came up and waive that restriction in a situation like this.

My dc often have milk - never had an issue. Where are you eating? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Most restaurants have computerised tills, and may not have a way of adding or charging for a drink that's not set-up on the system already.

I'd say I would not expect it necessarily. If they have milk in stock it will specifically be purchased for coffee/tea or as an ingredient for something else. They simply wouldn't have a spare pint of it knocking around. Milk isn't offered on any restaurant menu I've ever seen.

Presumably as it's not popular as a drink with meals for adults.
It's true someone could pop to the shop but that depends on how busy the service is, or what company policy is.

Next time check and if they don't just say it's all he drinks so please can we just bring our own. If everyone else is drinking and he's having a meal I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

But it's not about ordering, it's about the till and the remaining stock not tallying up properly at the end of the day/week/month.

In many places, you can't just stick a pint of coke on a receipt and give the customer orange juice instead. You have to put the exact item through the till or the system doesn't match up properly.

I agree, but that may involve telling a stranger that a 13 year old is autistic, and she may not be comfortable with that.

In my experience in hospitality, If a member of staff didn’t know what to do (if they didn’t know what to charge or if they didn’t know if they could serve milk) if someone asked for milk then I would expect them to get their duty manager first before considering outright refusing.

I think laziness. People don’t know what to charge and it requires thinking about how to accommodate. Frustrating.

Another point or two that I don't think has been mentioned upthread - I used to hate serving something different to a customer as a one off, as the chances were somebody else nearby would then want to order the same thing. Suddenly I'd be indunated with requests for something we didn't really serve and I'd done as a favour.

Or the customer would come back the next weekend and expect the same thing, but be served by someone else who would refuse to help, followed by a big argument.

And a restaurant can either rigidly enforce that, forcing the OP to order some other soft drink her child doesn’t want (and for which the restaurant will be charging that) or ask for tap water, which brings in zero profit - or they can use a tiny bit of common sense, and maybe gain regular customers into the bargain.

With the number of restaurants that have closed since the pandemic, I know which option I’d go with as a manager.

Can't you just take your own?

If you were genuinely “inundated”, perhaps that should have been a sign that it was worth putting on the menu?