This has been an ongoing controversy here at the BT - no free soda refills. And I suppose it is one I need to address fairly soon, somehow. The fact is, when someone orders a second Coke or Ginger Ale, they are charged for it, just like a second beer, or salad, or piece of pie. Fresh glass, fresh soda. We do pour refills of coffee and iced tea with no charge, and of course at dinner, bread is brought around until you say "uncle", but soda refills are not free and never have been at any of our dining establishments. However, for some unknown reason, it has been a bit of an issue here and now. I imagine some people assume refills are free because they often are at the larger chain restaurants people frequent - is that the difference now? I don't recall dealing with this too often at the KVI or the Ironstone. Do all the other local restaurants pour sodas freely? I don't want to print on the menu "No Free Anything"; the servers shouldn't have to say "sure I'll get you another coke but I am going to have to charge you for it", should they? This in itself has caused the problem occasionally, with the server "offering" to get another soft drink, which can sometimes imply that there will be no charge - we have addressed that when it occurs. We do charge a lot for sodas - $2.50. Maybe if I lower the price, the sticker shock after three Diet Cokes with lunch won't be so bad...but I don't really think I should have to do that either. Why do people think a second drink will be free??
There is a sort of funny story that a customer has told me - he was here for lunch with some big-wigs and when one of the gentleman ordered a second soft drink the server bent over to quietly tell him "You know, refills aren't free here", to make sure he knew he'd have to pay for it, before she went to get it. I can imagine how that went over at the table!
And another story - years ago Kevin and I were at Le Cirque in NYC, enjoying a very swanky lunch. Kevin was drinking ice tea, and when the waiter asked if he'd like another, of course he said yes thank you. Well, talk about sticker shock - each one was $5! I guess their soft drink refills are even more...
There is a sort of funny story that a customer has told me - he was here for lunch with some big-wigs and when one of the gentleman ordered a second soft drink the server bent over to quietly tell him "You know, refills aren't free here", to make sure he knew he'd have to pay for it, before she went to get it. I can imagine how that went over at the table!
And another story - years ago Kevin and I were at Le Cirque in NYC, enjoying a very swanky lunch. Kevin was drinking ice tea, and when the waiter asked if he'd like another, of course he said yes thank you. Well, talk about sticker shock - each one was $5! I guess their soft drink refills are even more...
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