Why aren't US restaurants required to post their drink prices?
 

I'm sure others have noticed this: you go into a restaurant, get a menu, and the prices for all the food are listed next to the items. Same for non-alcoholic beverages. But you then look at the menu for alcoholic beverages and -- with the exception of wine -- the prices are usually NOT posted.

I'm almost certain this is done because restaurants believe that you're more likely to order an alcoholic drink if you're not focused on how much it will cost. Especially since drinks are a huge "profit center" for restaurants (typically a much greater mark-up than on food). But it's certainly annoying to at least some customers -- including me. Sometimes, I don't order a beer because I don't know how much it will cost. And, I can't compare the relative values ("Oh, that micro brew is a good deal here -- I'll go with one of them"). I guess you can try asking the waitress, but who really wants to have to go line-by-line over alcohol prices with the waitstaff (you certainly wouldn't do it in many social situations)? And, half the time, they don't really know anyway.

The gov't seems to like to regulate everything, so why not take the simple step of requiring restaurants to post their drink prices. When I travel abroad, it seems like drink prices are ALWAYS posted alongside food prices. Why is it different in the US?

Hmm -- I haven't encountered this too much. The worst I usually see is a price at the top of a category -- say all beers are $6 (it states that at the header) and then doesn't repeat $6 next to each beer.

I agree that not showing prices on a menu is poor form -- though you can always ask :).

-W

I can't say that I was ever surprised by the high cost of a drink because I didn't see or notice it on the menu, but if I'm charged $7 or more for a Bud there better be pole dancers. :D

In the UK -- and across Europe -- the prices for drinks always seems to be posted. This is a uniquely American thing. And it's done by both independent restaurants and the large chains.

Heck, the "menu police" are now starting to require US restaurants to post the caloric count for their meals on the menus. I don't really give a damn about that -- I know the grilled chicken breast is better for me than the fried onion rings.

But I would like to know how much the beer costs!

I'll admit that I would resist asking for fear of looking like a cheapskate. How bad's it gonna be? As an adult, I've never let the price of a drink stop me from ordering one, but it might limit the number I order or cause me to make a switch after the first $25 scotch.

A couple weeks ago in Naples, I was handed a menu in English with no prices. When the waiter asked what I'd like, I said I'd like to know the prices. He apologized and handed me a menu in Italian with prices on everything. I did not feel embarrassed because I felt like the bill could have been significant if I wasn't careful.

Not all restaurants, chain or independent, operate this way (no posted drink prices). If you feel strongly about it, only frequent those who meet your requirements or whose bar menu you become familiar with. I guess if there are comment cards, you could make a suggestion as well or make the point with the server or bartender. Sometimes your feedback makes it to management or ownership and a change takes place. Please don't ask your congressman to pass a law. He's likely to do it.

In answer to your question why do many US restaurants not post drink prices, the reason is the same as why the dog licks his b****.

More often than not, when translation menus don't have prices, it's because the management doesn't update these as often as the regular menus, so they don't want to commit to specific prices. I find waiters usually hand me both the translation menu and the "real menu" (it's good to get both because sometimes I know the foreign name of the dish more than the butchered English equivalent).

The absence of drink prices in America has a more devious intent. :)

Maybe I'm just going to different places than the OP, because I can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant where the drink prices weren't on the menu.

Is this maybe just considered an acceptable practice in a certain city or area? If so, where?:confused:

It's definitely NOT regional. In fact, most of the major chain restaurants in the US don't list their drink prices on their menus, so you'll have no difficulty finding a "priceless" restaurant. From my experience at hundreds (thousands?) of restaurants nationwide, I'd say that way more than 75% do not put their alcoholic drink prices (other than wine) on their menus. It's definitely part of the Restaurant 101 curriculum on how to profitably operate your establishment.

Hey, at least the water at restaurants is free in the States. ;)

Yeah, sure rub it in. I paid $3 for a glass of tap water at a place in Copenhagen last year. They pointed to the menu where it said in Danish that they charged.

Personally, if I want something to eat or drink and there are no prices, it's a big red flag. I always ask. There are just too many attempts to separate me from my dwindling supply of cash. ;)

And you also know exactly how many cl of liquid you are supposed to get. At least the good news in the USA outside of the measured-pour-nazi states is that you often get a really good shot of booze in your glass. At least near where I live.

I don't think it is inappropriate or cheapskate to ask how much a particular drink will be.

For beer and wine there's often a separate price list, just ask and you'll be shown it, it's just not on the regular menu just for space reasons. I often see speciality drinks rpiced on table tents and such as well. I don't eat at a ton of chain restaurants but I really haven't noticed an attempt to hide the prices.

And one must note that it is rare to see a price list at the bar. In Las Vegas not long ago I paid $16 at the bar for a glass of house white wine - and that did not include the tip!

I don't think I can remember ever seeing a drink menu without prices on it.

Wow, they actually charged you for tap water? That's never happened to me (well, maybe a cheap McDonald's operator somewhere has charged me for ice). I have occasionally been denied tap water in Europe, but even that's rare.

Although you often feel "stupid" ordering it. But it's usually pretty good: in some places (like Madrid, where somebody told me to ask for "agua grifo") it can be excellent. And when the Euro was at $1.50, I didn't mind looking like a cheapskate.