August 2015 Restaurant Questions

[Joe]

There is a restaurant I go to that is open late on Fridays and Saturdays, til 1 am. But I don't want to drink coffee at that time of night. And they are often out of decaf. So I ask for (hot) tea. Well, they do not serve tea. (I never got a clear explanation why not.) But they will bring me a mug of hot water. So I've been bringing my own teabags into the restaurant. I feel like I am cheating them somehow.

Is it fair to bring your own teabags into a restaurant if they don't serve tea?

 

[Blobbenstein]

can't you just tip them more, if you feel like you are cheating them?

 

[Joe]

can't you just tip them more, if you feel like you are cheating them?

I never really thought of that. Also, I feel I am maybe cheating the restaurant, not the waiter (they seem to have 90 percent male waiters).

 

[KLS52]

I wouldn't worry about it (and I pretty much worry about everything). If it were a problem they wouldn't bring the water...or they could charge you for it if it was an issue. You're not cheating the restaurant unless you would order something else to drink instead of tea or coffee.

 

[Andy_T]

I think you should be fine!
It honors you that you think about whether you would be cheating them, and it shows your foresight that you bring your own teabags.

As a gratuitous piece or unrelated information, when you go mountain climbing in Europe (at least in Germany and Austria), it used to be the habit (possibly still is) that the shelter huts on the mountains where you can sleep and buy limited food would offer to travelers mugs of hot water free of charge, and that the mountain climbers would bring their own teabags to enjoy hot tea. Maybe they are offering free wifi nowadays instead, though.

 

[shyvas]

I find it strange that there is no tea on the menu as it one of the basics. Furthermore in the majority of restaurants it's just a tea bag in a cup of water.

If it is a place where you go and dine on a regular basis, I would follow it up by calling the manager and requesting that tea should be on their menu.

Don't worry about cheating them as they still make profit from your custom. I certainly would never go back to a place that would charge me for a mug of hot water.