*RANT* Restaurants that charge $2 for a glass of soda

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JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,738
126
I just hate places like that. and they dont list the price of the soda on the menu. :disgust:

so if i like the food/service, i'll go back, but order only water, and suggest to my friends the same.
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,020
156
106
Why pick on the soda? It's the only thing you get in a restaurant where you can have as much as you want.
 
R

rgwalt

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2000
7,393
0
0
Originally posted by: kranky
Why pick on the soda? It's the only thing you get in a restaurant where you can have as much as you want.
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Because that $2 soda costs them pennies.

Ryan

 
Demon-Xanth

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
You're paying mostly for the service, not for the product.

Material wise, bread and salads don't cost the restraunt very much, $1.50 for a table of 4 max. But they gotta pay the cooks, servers, bussers, and dishwashers.
 
S

slackerinabox

Lifer
Mar 15, 2003
12,668
103
106
Originally posted by: JEDI
I just hate places like that. and they dont list the price of the soda on the menu. :disgust:

so if i like the food/service, i'll go back, but order only water, and suggest to my friends the same.
Click to expand...

Actually, while I don't agree that it should be overpriced (soda costs as much as $3 - no refills- at some of the places I go to), a lot of restaurants make a majority of their money on drinks... It's sneaky, I know, but they post decent food prices on the menu and screw you after you decide to eat there by serving expensive drinks.. I went to this all-you-can eat brazillian steak joint that was only $20 per person.. My cousin and I ended up spending $80+tips because he's had a few drinks (soda's NOTHING compared to the mark up on mixed drinks)
 
V

vegetation

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2001
4,270
2
0
Originally posted by: kranky
Why pick on the soda? It's the only thing you get in a restaurant where you can have as much as you want.
Click to expand...

How so? Most of the places I go to don't offer free refills unless you're drinking coffee or iced tea.
 
G

gigapet

Lifer
Aug 9, 2001
10,005
0
76
Originally posted by: Spac3d
Originally posted by: Anubis
thats why i always order water. its free
Click to expand...
Some restaurants charge for water:|:disgust::frown:
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eat at home?

EDIT:

or even ask for a glass with ice in it and go fill up in the mens room.
 
HomeBrewerDude

HomeBrewerDude

Lifer
Jan 18, 2001
14,465
1
0
restuarants should be able to what ever they want, unless they are operating under privledge status such as at a ballpark or race track... at which point they should be regulated.
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,020
156
106
Originally posted by: rgwalt
Originally posted by: kranky
Why pick on the soda? It's the only thing you get in a restaurant where you can have as much as you want.
Click to expand...

Because that $2 soda costs them pennies.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Yes, the soda costs them pennies. So they make $1.75+ on the soda. But they make $10 on a $15 steak and they make $2.50 on $3 french fries. There's $3 profit on a $4 dessert. They make money on every item they sell! I just don't know why people single out the sodas.
 
C

cherrytwist

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2000
6,019
25
86
Why pick on the soda? It's the only thing you get in a restaurant where you can have as much as you want.
Click to expand...

Never been to New Orleans I take it?

First restaurant my wife and I went to down there was a place called the Coffee Pot. We had several sodas with our meal (after driving 11 hours mind you) and were floored when we got the check. We managed to ring up $12.00 in soda (at like $3 apiece).

It was then we realized that there is no such thing as "free refills" in New Orleans. At least every restaurant we went to.
 
BigSmooth

BigSmooth

Lifer
Aug 18, 2000
10,484
12
81
Originally posted by: kranky
Originally posted by: rgwalt
Originally posted by: kranky
Why pick on the soda? It's the only thing you get in a restaurant where you can have as much as you want.
Click to expand...

Because that $2 soda costs them pennies.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Yes, the soda costs them pennies. So they make $1.75+ on the soda. But they make $10 on a $15 steak and they make $2.50 on $3 french fries. There's $3 profit on a $4 dessert. They make money on every item they sell! I just don't know why people single out the sodas.
Click to expand...
I work at a restaurant company and I assure you that we are not all sitting around counting our money. The restaurant industry is no more profitable than any other industry.

Our food typically costs about 30% of the menu price. While this may seem low, the overhead associated with running a restaurant is surprisingly high. If we only sold food, our margins would be razor-thin. Liquor (obviously) has a much higher markup which helps our profits.

Additionally, as someone pointed out, it's a very labor-intensive industry and labor is our biggest cost (especially here in Oregon, where we have a very high minimum wage and no tip credits).

We currently run 24 restaurants, and not all of them are profitable. We do not "make money on every item we sell"... I wish we did, because we'd all retire early!

Oh, and the syrup in a glass of Coke costs about 18 cents. :p But you have to buy the glass, buy a Coke machine, buy an ice machine, pay someone to deliver the Coke, pay for permits and licenses to be allowed to serve the Coke, buy tens of thousands of dollars worth of dishwashing equipment, buy special dishwashing chemicals, pay the rent for a place to keep everything, pay water and electricity to power the dishwasher, pay the server, pay the runner, pay the manager, pay the busser, pay someone to run the dishwasher, account for broken and stolen glasses... you get the picture.
 
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