Can a restaurant refuse to serve you free tap water?

[noiseredux]

My girlfriend and I have a nice list of places we boycott for various reasons, from consistently terrible service to moral qualms.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I wouldn't leave a tip, and I'd never return. Luckily I haven't had this problem yet, but let me tell you there are going to be some not so nice words spoken if it ever does.

[Luke]

My girlfriend and I have a nice list of places we boycott for various reasons, from consistently terrible service to moral qualms.

Nice.

Movie theaters usually charge by "the cup" and not by the beverage. Stupid practice if you ask me. But a restaurant should definitely serve free water, as long as you purchase food to go with it, but in a lot of cases restaurants also only make money on beverages and break even on food because of overhead costs.

[supericeboy]

Weird, I was thinking a similar question today while waiting in line at a Five Guys. I was debating on shelling out for a soda or asking for water, when I saw very prominently on the menu board 'bottled water-$1.99', and there was a large tub of iced bottled water sitting right on the counter. I decided not to hassle the counter jockey and simply ordered a soda, but was a bit peeved that I could theoretically spend well over $7 just for food and then be expected to pay for water.

Five Guys does sell bottled water but you can also just tell them you want a water cup, which is free.

[Hatta]

Movie theaters usually charge by "the cup" and not by the beverage. Stupid practice if you ask me.

Makes about as much sense as what they charge for soda. There's probably $0.02 worth of syrup in a $6 soda. Even if it is half a gallon.

in a lot of cases restaurants also only make money on beverages and break even on food because of overhead costs.

Then charge more for the food. Not a hard problem to solve.

[Inazuma]

Drinks are always huge ripoffs at restaurants. That's why I rarely buy them. I keep water in my car at all times, so I will never feel forced to buy overpriced drinks in a restaurant. I can eat my food there, and drink some water when I get back to my car. No big deal.

I absolutely NEVER buy any drink from fast food drive-thru. They seriously charge a few dollars for a soda that's worth about 5 cents. Fucking bullshit. I don't order any combos because of that. It's actually cheaper to order the burger and fries separate.

As for the question at hand, I am pretty sure that privately owned businesses can refuse service for any reason. I am glad they have that right but if they do something to piss me off, I have the right to never come back.

[Ack]

At Waffle House, we'd get plenty of drunk folks. Whenever I took orders and someone said they didn't want anything to drink, I'd immediately offer them free water. Most of them needed it.

[saturnfan]

Not making any money off the wings? What are they pricing them at, 5 cents a wing?

This is a good question but still is trumped by the fact that you bought two beers at 4.50 each. No matter what price the wings (they were probably just sysco wings anyway) the restaurant made more than enough off of the two beers (tap beers right not bottles? taps are cheaper duh). Is this a chain restaurant?

I also have a feeling that your server was not the manager.

If it was me I'd remember the servers name and keep going there just to find out if she was actually a manager. Unless we are talking about a tiny neighborhood place I doubt it.

Some servers will try and pull shit like this to get bigger tips. They think and are told by management that the higher the bill the higher the tip. Idiots tips are for service and should never be based purely off the total of the bill.

*please don't became a thread arguing over tipping*

That is exactly what I was thinking, the girl really wasn't the manager and either wanted a larger bill/larger tip, or just didn't want to go through the trouble of following up on my inquiry. It was a local place, so she may have been a manger, I wont entirely rule that out.

I did end up leaving a tip, but it was a small one, just a dollar. I was contemplating making an ultimatum (either I get a glass of water or I'm not paying the bill), but I didn't want to cause a scene.

I think someone else suggested to write to a local news paper or something, maybe they could do a story and I could feel vindicated in some way. I take restaurant shenanigans very seriously.

[gtmtnbiker]

I absolutely NEVER buy any drink from fast food drive-thru. They seriously charge a few dollars for a soda that's worth about 5 cents. Fucking bullshit. I don't order any combos because of that. It's actually cheaper to order the burger and fries separate.

I rarely eat at a fast food drive-thru (probably once per quarter) but the combo is actually not much more expensive. At Wendy's, getting a burger/fries is $.10 cheaper than getting a combo meal (same thing but with a soda). So although I always drink water, I'll give in and get a Coke.

[BoringSupreez]

I absolutely NEVER buy any drink from fast food drive-thru. They seriously charge a few dollars for a soda that's worth about 5 cents. Fucking bullshit. I don't order any combos because of that. It's actually cheaper to order the burger and fries separate.

McDonalds charges $1 for all fountain sodas, all sizes. That's a better price for a fountain drink than you'll find anywhere else except a gas station.