1. whether the gentleman in question would still pull out his bottles if he were eating inside a restaurant as opposed to the – typically more casual – outdoor setting.

2. Say the guy never pulled out the water but instead ordered a pastry and drink from your French bakery. Moments later, his companion arrives with a coffee and danish from a competing bakery and sits there to have breakfast with him.

3. how would people here react if the setting was a steakhouse with an amazing wine list, but a couple arrives with their own bottle of wine, because it holds some significance to their relationship and they are celebrating an anniversary?

4. is it ok to bring snacks into a grocery store for a child to munch on during an extended shopping trip? What if it is the adult that is doing the munching? If the adult were drinking a soda on their way in the store, are they allowed to finish it during their shopping?

Boy this is fun…

For lunch, I went to CPK one day and ordered pasta and then went to Panera Bread and ordered a bagel and ice tea (so I could study there since they had wifi). I asked the manager if it was okay to eat my pasta there along with their food in their establishment and she said it was perfectly okay. I stayed long enough that I ended up ordering dinner there as well. The employees were nice to me. One even came up to me and asked me how my day was going, what was I studying for, what school I went to, etc. They didn’t have a problem with it, so I don’t understand why customers would have a problem with another customer’s business. Who cares what they do? It’s not your right to. Just mind your own business.

Beverages are a little more lax. If it is sealed when you bring it in, not offered at the restaurant and you are polite about it, it shouldn’t be a problem especially if it is health related. There really isn’t an obvious line though. I once had a table that needed a special tea because the lady was breast feeding, but I had to bring out hot water, lemons, extra sugar, glasses of ice and more hot water all in separate trips so all 3 people at the table could make this tea free of charge. I have also had a man bring in liquor in an open container. Just be polite and understanding and hopefully the restaurant will be too.

Although I don’t have the same problem with the water… and I don’t mind the free water I can get from restaurants… I still have a concern of my own. I’m supposed to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from my diet… and I can’t stand the taste of diet drinks. Try finding any non-diet soft drinks in restaurants that do NOT have HFCS in them. You can’t find them! I buy special soft drinks that use sugar instead of HFCS. They usually cost a little bit more than your standard cola, but that’s what I can drink. I took a can of soda to Applebees one time. Upon seeing the can, the waitress informed me they have soft drinks with free refills. I asked her if they had any without HFCS because I’m not supposed to have that in my diet. She said she had “diet” drinks… I told her I don’t like the taste of diet sodas, and I want a soft drink to enjoy with my meal. They had no problem with that, so they got my business.

I can see where this would be rude in a “fancy” restaurant… where the dress code is formal. But for the average restaurant or fast food chain, I don’t see it as a problem at all. Some people have certain beverage preferences or diet requirements. So long as they are buying a meal from them, the restaurant shouldn’t care. If they do, they don’t deserve their business.

Another issue is when my husb and I want to share a meal because both of us do not need to consume the quantities served. we do this regularly, and at a few lower end hamburger shops were told they would charge us $2 to cut the burger in half. We said, ok, then don’t cut it and don’t bring an extra plate. wasn’t going to happen. So we no longer eat there. that in my opinion is poor customer service, so they got their $2 once, but not again from us. A little service like that makes a big difference to me. I always think if I were the owner, I would be doing everything I could to encourage people to want to come here vs going down the street, so how hard is it to cut a burger in half?? Or just simply provide an extra plate.I’m sure that has ran alot of people off that have figured out that they do not need to eat massive meals when they dine out.

Something that is appalling is parents who bring their young children to a eatery and allow them to scream and yell and argue all to the misery of others who then cannot enjoy their meals. THAT is appalling. I have left my food, or had them box it up for me just to escape this nerve racking noise. Parents should never allow their children to disturb others in a restaurant. It’s not that I don’t like children, I do very much, and had four of my own. They were never allowed to do that. If there was a problem we took them outside, so as to not disturb others. seems like common courtesy, to not inflict that on people while they are trying to enjoy a nice usually expensive meal. So ya, bring your own water by all means, just don’t disturb others with your uncontrolled kids, or constant loud talking on the cell. If you can’t control them then thats what McDonald’s is for, not a nice quiet restaurant.

I believe that management should assist people with this as well when things are out of control, and people are miserable. I would rather offend the parents of the offending kids than loose all of the other customers who don’t want to hear it.

Would I sneak food into a theater, probably would just go without, or may bring in something healthy if I really needed it, otherwise I may buy the stupid popcorn. If I had health issues, yes I most definitely would. Again, don’t think it a big issue.

If theaters don’t like this practice then they should figure out what the public wants and accommodate that such as adding more healthy selection and lowering prices. Thats is what the free market is all about. then people would probably be glad to buy from them, but trying to strong arm people into buying their food while seeing a movie obviously isn’t going to work so well. Not that I don’t want them to make money ~ thats what business is all about and I’m all for it, but customers shouldn’t feel that they have no choices, and feel like they have been taken to the cleaners with the prices.

Many local Thai restaurant owners, to my astonishment, seemed perfectly happy with this, just before they went bankrupt.