4 ms·

I used to go out not-drinking with my coworkers (I've been a teetotaler my entire life). The place we went to had free refills for sodas so I downed half a doze

I used to go out not-drinking with my coworkers (I've been a teetotaler my entire life). The place we went to had free refills for sodas so I downed half a dozen glasses of Fanta while my coworkers were paying $3-$5 a beer. Seems ridiculous to me how much people pay for alcohol.

throwup238 2y ago
A bunch of places now have "mocktails" which are just cocktails without alcohol so you can one up your alcoholic friends by spending $3-5 per glass of sugar water.
- floren 2y ago
  Visit SF, you can easily spend $10 on a mocktail out here. Kinda makes sense, all the cost is in the labor and the cleaning, a shot of vodka is like $0.20
  - oerpli 2y ago
    The spirit in a decent cocktail is closer to ~$3-5.
  - Scharkenberg 2y ago
    I would assume there is no vodka in a mocktail...
lotsofpulp 2y ago
Some portion of alcohol prices are a barrier to entry to create the desired crowd. You might not want to attract the type of person looking to get shitfaced for cheap. Usually, non alcoholic non tap water is not way cheaper, especially if it is a “mocktail”. Of course, some portion is also high rents. And I have never seen a restaurant or bar outside of Costco with free refills for anything other than tap water though.
- vel0city 2y ago
  Lots of places around me have free refills on fountain soft drinks and tea. In fact, it is pretty rare for a restaurant to not have free refills on things like sodas. Something fancier like a craft lemonade or whatever wouldn't have free refills though. This is true for a lot of the places I travel to within the US as well.
  - lotsofpulp 2y ago
    Interesting. I’m most familiar with west coast and northeast, and can’t say I have ever seen that.
    - vel0city 2y ago
      I've been to Patchogue, Montreal, Toronto, Cleavland, Myrtle Beach, Rehoboth, Baltimore, Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville, Kansas City, Houston, Austin, Taos, Denver, Chicago, and a few other cities in the past couple of years. The majority of restaurants I visited had free refills for fountain drinks. The biggest places that I went to that didn't have free refills were places like food stands and what not, but that's expected.
- watwut 2y ago
  But if you have to pay an expensive entry into that space, you will naturally limit who will go there and how often. And I do not just means "excludes people who get shitfaced". I mean "excludes people who are conscious about spending money or simply do not have super high salaries".
  - lotsofpulp 2y ago
    Yes, that is also sometimes an intended barrier to entry.
fragmede 2y ago
while there are clearly cash grabs by the industry, the money for drinks goes towards the bar's rent/staff, so going there and not spending any money doesn't help the establishment's continued existence. depending on the establishment, that may or may not be a concern.

throwup238 2y ago

A bunch of places now have "mocktails" which are just cocktails without alcohol so you can one up your alcoholic friends by spending $3-5 per glass of sugar water.

floren 2y ago
Visit SF, you can easily spend $10 on a mocktail out here. Kinda makes sense, all the cost is in the labor and the cleaning, a shot of vodka is like $0.20
- oerpli 2y ago
  The spirit in a decent cocktail is closer to ~$3-5.
- Scharkenberg 2y ago
  I would assume there is no vodka in a mocktail...

lotsofpulp 2y ago

Some portion of alcohol prices are a barrier to entry to create the desired crowd. You might not want to attract the type of person looking to get shitfaced for cheap. Usually, non alcoholic non tap water is not way cheaper, especially if it is a “mocktail”. Of course, some portion is also high rents. And I have never seen a restaurant or bar outside of Costco with free refills for anything other than tap water though.

vel0city 2y ago
Lots of places around me have free refills on fountain soft drinks and tea. In fact, it is pretty rare for a restaurant to not have free refills on things like sodas. Something fancier like a craft lemonade or whatever wouldn't have free refills though. This is true for a lot of the places I travel to within the US as well.
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  Interesting. I’m most familiar with west coast and northeast, and can’t say I have ever seen that.
  - vel0city 2y ago
    I've been to Patchogue, Montreal, Toronto, Cleavland, Myrtle Beach, Rehoboth, Baltimore, Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville, Kansas City, Houston, Austin, Taos, Denver, Chicago, and a few other cities in the past couple of years. The majority of restaurants I visited had free refills for fountain drinks. The biggest places that I went to that didn't have free refills were places like food stands and what not, but that's expected.
watwut 2y ago
But if you have to pay an expensive entry into that space, you will naturally limit who will go there and how often. And I do not just means "excludes people who get shitfaced". I mean "excludes people who are conscious about spending money or simply do not have super high salaries".
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  Yes, that is also sometimes an intended barrier to entry.

fragmede 2y ago

while there are clearly cash grabs by the industry, the money for drinks goes towards the bar's rent/staff, so going there and not spending any money doesn't help the establishment's continued existence. depending on the establishment, that may or may not be a concern.