Why don't restaurants display their alcoholic beverage prices?

Everytime I go out and eat with my wife or the family, I get really embarrassed to ask about the restaurant's prices....fearing that I might be seen as being cheap. But I don't want to order a bottle of beer or Hennessy w/coke and be charged $25 for a half-full glass.

They have no problems displaying their soft drinks or coffee prices or even their smoothie drinks.

If you have to ask, you can't afford it...

Just kidding. I wouldn't be surprised if its done strategically to get people to spend more on them. Mixed drinks are a huge profit for them, as they charge many times the cost of ingredients. If people aren't aware of the cost, as they are drinking and losing their ability to care anyway, they will buy more drinks. Its the old beer nuts/pretzels trick. They aren't their for you to enjoy, they are there to keep you thirsty so you'll buy more drinks.

Its kinda sneaky, but thats the way it is!

Irritates me too. Everytime I go out and get a drink I flat out ask and follow up with telling them the prices aren't listed and how that's a lack of customer service neglecting full disclosure.

It annoys me as well. But, best answer I can give is; there are several prices. On mixed drinks, that is. If you get a margarita is may be $4 with house liquor, but $7 with top shelf. Some places do post prices of their "special drinks", but most don't have prices on their drink menu.

Also, a lot of places don't even list what beers they have on draft or in bottle form. So you have to ask the server, and they start rattling off a huge list. It'd be so much easier if they would simply have a drink menu. Last night we ate at a local Mexican place, and I asked what do they have on draft. She rattled off the list and while I was about to tell her I wanted a Dos Equis she cut me off and then said "I'm not sure if we have Miller Lite, let me check, and she proceeded to yell across the restaurant to the owner asking him if they have Miller Lite on draft." I cut her off and said "oh, ma'am I don't like Miller Lite (horse ****)." All that trouble would have been prevented if they just had a small drink menu.

Don't ask me why, but I thought of this scene after jd's Mexican restaurant story. Enjoy!

I generally see prices in restaurants for the beer and wine. Mixed drinks are a whole other thing because the cost depends on the liquor in them. I have never been embarrassed to ask what the price is for a mixed drink. Easier than trying to look it up on a price list that might contain dozens of drinks, if such a list exists.

You should know more or less by what kind of establishment you're in.
Bad memories of $24 rum+cokes at sunrise on the Space terrace in Miami!

I have a buddy who has spent his career in the restaurant business, and he said that in most restaurants, a good rule of thumb is that you can expect to pay about three times what you would pay in the store for beer and wine. I've kept this in mind when ordering beverages, and I've found it pretty much accurate. But, of course, the whole thing could be simplified by simply posting the prices.

And on a somewhat related note, what's the most you've paid for a beer at a sporting event?

jbird

I think I paid $8 for a draft beer at a Browns NFL game we went to recently. But it was a large size and an import (Labatt's Blue). Most of the beer vendors sell the American stuff but this vendor had LaBatt's Blue and Heineken. At our local minor league baseball games, beer is $3 for a 20 ounce (domestic Coors Light or Miller Lite is all they have).

I have no better answer, but I do not think the reason has to do with liquor choices. On the mixed drinks menu, most restaurants list exactly which types of liquor and which brands they use. I would think they would at least have a price for the standard recipe, like they do for food, and then if you want something different, charge you for the substitution.

I find this annoying as well, its not like the alcohol input costs change that frequently, or that there is not enough margin. Notice how most restaurants that offer off-the-menu daily specials tell the price upfront, or how a seafood restaurant communicates the prices for catch-of-the-day, why are drinks so different, especially at places which offer a limited selection? I make a point to ask the cost before ordering or just have water instead.

If I really want something, I'll just ask. I've noticed that places like Chili's (they may list, just using as a reference) don't list their prices, but more upscale places such as steakhouses do list the prices.

mretzloff said:

I have no better answer, but I do not think the reason has to do with liquor choices. On the mixed drinks menu, most restaurants list exactly which types of liquor and which brands they use. I would think they would at least have a price for the standard recipe, like they do for food, and then if you want something different, charge you for the substitution.

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Probably because a lot of people would complain and say "BUT IT SAYS THIS PRICE ON THE MENU!"

I used to work retail many moons ago..these things happen......a lot.

As far as I'm aware, this is illegal in The UK. All prices must be displayed. The most I've every paid for a beer was $12. No, wait, that's the most I've ever paid for one bottle of beer. But my friends at uni and I came up with the best beer in the world accidentally one day and drunk it often. It was really quite expensive. It's 65-70% Hoegarden and 30-35% Leffe Bruin. The first sip is quite nice, but after that it gets divine. After 3 pints of that, it's on to the malts.
Someone please try this- I'd love to know your opinion.

I must eat at the wrong,or right, restaurants because I always see prices on the drink menu. Maybe it's a locality thing.

CyberJCM said:

Don't ask me why, but I thought of this scene after jd's Mexican restaurant story. Enjoy!

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That's not a tequila scene- THIS is a tequila scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVKsd8z6scw

Sorry, it always gets me

They probably just do it to avoid sticker shock until it's too late and you already have the alcohol in you to soften the blow.

jd_1138 said:

I think I paid $8 for a draft beer at a Browns NFL game we went to recently. But it was a large size and an import (Labatt's Blue). Most of the beer vendors sell the American stuff but this vendor had LaBatt's Blue and Heineken. At our local minor league baseball games, beer is $3 for a 20 ounce (domestic Coors Light or Miller Lite is all they have).

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Seems cheap! The beers at the Indians game on opening day were 10 and 12!

Which minor league team is local to you? I live closest to the Lake Erie Crushers but I've been to more Lake County Captains games.

To the OP's question, I've seen with and without and I assumed it was some combination of "if you have to ask. . ." and depends what shelf the liquor comes from, though I've even seen it when the specialty drink ingredients are listed down to the brand. So idunno. I don't drink, so I haven't had to ask that in years.

How much is the olive in that dirty martini?
Recently, a major restaurant chain agreed to update its drink menus in Massachusetts to include prices after a patron threatened to sue over an “unfair and deceptive” $11 margarita. This alert discusses issues for retail owners, operators, and franchisors concerning the potential impact that consumer protection measures may have on their businesses and how best to avoid similar suits throughout the country.

Ethan J. Ceplikas, Gregg A. Rubenstein
2/29/2012
What do you get when you mix a patron who happens to be an attorney, undisclosed specialty drink prices, and consumer protection laws? As the Cheesecake Factory recently found out, the answer is a change in menus that list all cocktail and drink special prices to avoid violating Massachusetts’ Consumer Protection Statute.
The story began when the customer asked his server for the prices of drinks listed in the restaurant’s menu. The server could only provide a range of prices, so the customer opted for a simple margarita. When the attorney was ultimately presented with an $11 bill, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Joining forces with a friend who was also an attorney, the two sent a demand letter alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices and threatened to sue if the issue was not addressed. If successful, the two could have sought to represent a class of Massachusetts consumers seeking double or treble damages and attorney’s fees. Rather than risk litigation, the Cheesecake Factory quickly agreed to start listing prices on its drink menus at all Massachusetts locations.
Recommendations for retail operators and owners
While amusing, the story is an important cautionary tale for retail establishments, especially restaurants and bars. Indeed, the implications go far beyond the bar to include daily or weekly specials recited tableside for which no price is disclosed or that are listed as “market price.” As the New York Times recently reported, several unlucky patrons ordered a restaurant’s daily pasta special with truffle sauce only to receive a $275 bill. Needless to say, the patrons were not pleased and luckily for the restaurant, none of them appear to have been lawyers.
Today, all fifty states have some form of consumer protection statute upon which similar claims for unfair and deceptive pricing might be brought. While the standards vary from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction, with some like Massachusetts being very consumer friendly, when compounded with likely class action claims, multiple damage awards and attorney’s fees, the potential costs of this amusing Massachusetts tale should have owners quickly stop laughing. In addition, franchisors that dictate menus may find themselves vicariously liable for such claims. Fortunately, an easy solution appears to address the issue: updating menus to list all drink and food item prices and having servers disclose daily special pricing.
Finally, lest owners and operators think this issue is confined to Massachusetts, it appears ready to hit the national scene. In an interview with the Boston Herald, Newton attorney Ross Mitchell, the original unhappy patron, stated that, “At this point we’re looking at other national chains, but we’re going to go after everybody.”

http://www.nixonpeabody.com/services_pubdetail.asp?ID=4270&SID=141