An infamous bar owner in Belfast has broken the mould after refusing to serve a prospective customer a glass of Coca-Cola, stating that his bar is for serious drinkers only.
Bittles Bar in Belfast city centre is well known for the quality of its Guinness.
A weary traveller popped in to get out of the cold for a quick Coca-Cola, or so he thought.
Bar owner John Bittles said the small watering hole doesn't have room to cater for people not drinking booze, the Daily Star reports.
Speaking to Sunday World on Saturday (December 17), he said: “This guy came in and ordered a Coke, well a glass of Coke doesn’t really work for me.
“It was a bit tongue in cheek, but we’re selling up to 700 pints of Guinness a day, we only have a small number of tables so someone sitting there with a Coke isn’t ideal.”
He added: “We are so busy at the moment, even today we’ve sold hundreds of pints and it’s only half two.”
The bar, famously, also doesn't sell half pints of Guinness anymore.
In a July interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he explained: “We are a small place here and we are selling hundreds and hundreds of pints a day and there is no room for selling half pints.
“It is a bit of work with Guinness, it is a bit of an art form. Really, we are a city centre pub, we are a small pub, if the people pay you by cash they are also using your change in the till.
“You are not going to get the same experience drinking a half pint as you are a full pint anyway.
“I know people mean well but we only have ten tables here. It doesn’t pay us to sell half-pints."
Meanwhile, last year, one bloke who was left utterly gobsmacked when he received his drinks bill at the end of a post-lockdown night out, the Irish Mirror reports.
Sharing snaps of the bill from the plush Grand Central Hotel in Belfast city centre, the disgruntled customer said: "A night in Belfast. Completely insane. Rip off NI."
The bill amounted to £33.60 (€39.79) for two sauvignon blanc (£11/€13 each) and two pints (£5.80/€7 each).
The first bill didn't deter the customer as he then shared a second bill which amounted to £46, which included two brambles (£12/€13 each), two shortcross (£9/€10.60each) and one crisp tonic (£4/€4.73).
Many people were quick to agree with the punter, commenting on just how high the price of alcohol is in some places.
Posting a picture of cocktails from another Belfast venue, one punter said: "These three cocktails cost £35 (€41) in Bert's Jazz Bar (rest is tap water)".
But, not everyone agreed, and many people suggested that he could've been served much cheaper drinks if he wasn't in such a high-end establishment.
