I agree with JoAnne. It should not be a crime to not order alcohol. There are time when I don't think it is appropriate for me to do so. For instance, I have to drive two hours home. I don't want to risk being sleepy at the wheel. I am sure that other drinkers are just as prudent.

JoAnne has a good point. Since I take folks to lunch for work at half-way decent places, I run into this a lot. Simply, we don't drink at lunch. You can often feel the waitstaff silently moan when they realize that this is one of "those" business lunches. If I get one whiff that the service is substandard because of that, the tip percentage starts to fall.

Corollary: my expense account will not cover alcohol -- company wide policy. So last week (with the same canonical guests I mentioned in a previous posting) we stopped for dinner at a European ethnic inner harbor restaurant with a particularly good view of an old (but still commissioned) US navy ship. I asked the waiter if he would write a separate check for the drinks and was assured that he could. When the one check arrived, I picked it up and realized he hadn't done it. There were several exchanges at two levels of management before we got what we asked for, the tip percentage dropping with each exchange. In 95% of the places I travel, such a request is greeted with a knowing smile, and rewarded to the tune of 22% or better.

Sometimes when I go out for dinner I have a drink, sometimes I don't. I've never been verbally accosted by a server when I didn't order an alcohol-containing drink. Is this a joke?

While I agree that you should be able to refuse an adult beverage, I'm not sure if that applies in Fells Point. Why ordering a soft drink in Fells is tantamount to getting the vegetarian dinner in Fort Worth, the seafood sampler in Nebraska, or ketchup on your hot dog in Chicago.

I think this is a non-issue, unless you make it one. 20 years ago, you got weird looks if you didn't drink. Sometimes I got quizzed on why, or prodded to have just one drink. One time, at a new restaurant, three of us ordered cokes and got rum and cokes, which we had to return. The owner just wanted to celebrate his new restaurant by giving us a little extra.

But, that hasn't happened to me in 5-10 years, maybe longer. From the way JoAnne tells it, she made a bit deal out of not drinking. Then she pushed it until she got bad reactions. Folks are a lot more aware these days that some people don't drink, for personal, religious or health reasons. Public drunkenness is a lot less accepted than it was 15 years ago. At some point, having a drink a lunch became forbidden.

If I can eat in Fells' Point without drinking alcohol with no weird looks, odd comments or being tossed out by the bouncer, anyone should be able to.

MD Canon,
Like you, my company forbids alcohol on business meals whether they be lunch or dinner. I work for a defense contractor, and evidently Uncle Sam doesn't reimburse for alcohol.

Before I was relocated down here, I visited here quite often on 1-2 week trips. And the restaurants were most happy to put drinks on a separate bill. And, like yourself, I tipped them accordingly.

And I also agree with others that if you don't want alcohol at a meal, you shouldn't be treated any less well than a customer who orders alcohol with their meal. We go out to lunch occasionally here and I never order alcohol with my meal, if, for no other reason, I feel like crap for the rest of the afternoon.

I certainly can relate. My husband can no longer drink (medical condition) and my petite body really can't handle alcohol well, so we don't drink alcohol when we are out. Most times it isn't an issue at all.

But last week I received an e-mail from a restaurant that we love to visit frequently. They were advertising a prix fixe menu one evening which included wine for each course. The menu sounded great, our evening was free but we chose not to go because after inquiring, the price was the same whether we chose to enjoy the accompanying wine or not. This seemed silly to us. But obviously, we are clearly in the minority.

I can't drink alcohol due to an interaction with a medication I have to take. Like JoAnne, I have encountered servers who are unpleasantly insistent that I order an alcoholic drink. I'm not interested in providing my medical history to some random waiter, so the second they start to put too much pressure on me I ask to speak to the manager and request a different server.

I totally agree with JoAnne - my husband and I are not drinkers at all. We usually just have water (from the tap!) or maybe a soda. We always feel the disapproving nonverbal clues of our waiter when they ask for our drink order and we say "the water will be fine". They don't say, but might as well, "Oh so you two are cheap and boring and I'll be getting a smaller tip?" as they whisk away our wine glasses in disgust. Then we get it again when we turn down coffee after dinner - we don't drink that either.

There is a lot of pressure from restaurants, especially nicer places, to order alcohol, but guess what? Not everyone drinks. And it makes me feel a lot better to hear I have some support in this.

I've dined in many Fells Point pubs and taverns without drinking before and I admit I've had a wierd look or two (but not always). And when I tell them that I'm driving and cannot have any alchohol, they seem to "get it" immediately.

In this day and age, most of the servers and bartenders I know (especially the ones in Fells) are sensitive to the fact that it's pretty stupid to drink and drive. Most servers I know would never begrudge anyone for not drinking, if you tell them that you're driving. In fact they'd be the first to tell you you're doing the right thing.

Wow, I've NEVER had a server or anyone else anywhere or at any time make any comments or give any disapproval when I don't order drinks. And when turning down coffee?!? Maybe it's the delivery...?

Same as Sean and others. I can't remember it's ever having been a problem.

Like Sean, gorelick, and the others, I have personally never experienced any attitude change from the server if I decide to order "unsweet tea" or a soda rather than alcohol.

BTW, ordering "iced tea" in the South is a sure way to mark yourself as a Yankee.

My DW and I rarely have alcoholic drinks. We probably spend the equivalent by having a fancier entree and maybe a small dessert. No coffee for me (I prefer my caffeine cold and carbonated), although my DW sometimes will do decaf in the evening. Maybe I'm not sufficiently aware, but I don't think we've ever been snubbed by the staff.

As a server at a nice restaurant in Baltimore, I can at least speak for myself when I say I dont judge drinkers vs non drinkers. the fact is, that my 2 water drinkers received just as good service as my mimosa drinking ladies. and let me say, alcohol does not mean a good tip. i would take those water drinkers over the mimosa ladies any day.

Fl Rob - ordering non-sweet tea in Canada is sure way to mark yourself as a southerner (to them anyway)!

Thanks for featuring my comment.

I think some people took this as a complaint about all restaurants, which it most definitely is not. I should probably put more emphasis on how *good* some servers are about this, switching gears from winelist to soda and water list seamlessly. Even if they're not super-smooth, the ones who act as if not drinking alcohol is normal are generally treated very well by us.

Many bartenders are good about it, too; some because they don't drink, either, and don't really enjoy drunks much.

On the management side, I wonder if some restaurants might want to offer more sophisticated non-alcoholic beverages. Right now, a hot mulled cider would taste nice....

Lissa: 'From the way JoAnne tells it, she made a bit deal out of not drinking. Then she pushed it until she got bad reactions."

That is an odd interpretation. I didn't push anything. We kept turning down the drink offers that were pushed on us, saying explicitly that we don't drink, hoping they would stop. But the potential server wasn't listening, or she wouldn't have kept on offering more drinks.

That she took offense to our turning down three drink offers when we asked for a menu, and we never got a menu shown to us, instead being abandoned at the door for not wanting a drink? That sounds like bad service to me. Not us pushing things until we can force someone to be rude to us about drinking.

The only restaurant I visit that makes me feel uncomfortable about not ordering an alcoholic drink is Chili's. That's the first thing they ask you - would you like a margarita?

NotableM, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable about being first asked if I wanted a Margarita, unless, after I ordered my diet cola, the server asked "Are you sure you don't want a Margarita." Then I'd get testy. Hasn't happened to me yet, though.

secret identity!

I've never felt uncomfortable chirping, "No thank you" to a Chili's Margarita. Maybe it's because Im blonde and I think I sound sort of like one of those slightly fey chicks in old movies. Or it could be that, as my former son-in-law claims, I have B*itch written all over me. Either way, go on about your business, Dearie.

Joyce,
Ordering "unsweet tea" in Baltimore gets unusual reactions sometimes. My favorite: "Its the only kind we have".

Eve and others,
I have never gotten a Chili's margarita and never felt uncomfortable about it. The server didn't mind or change attitude either. Now, the Tequileria in Charlotte's airport likes to push their margaritas, sometimes even asking if I'm sure. Yes, I'm sure. I wouldn't go there but their spicy chicken Jalisco sandwich is very good.

I do love irony, don't you?!

Looking back over this entry about not necessarily ordering alcohol (and several others), I noticed on the right of the screen the ambiguous ad from Pazo, "Pazo Cinco."

"5 Tapas (dot) 5 Cocktails"
"$ 5 Each"

So, I can walk in Monday through Thursday and get ripping drunk and fully stuffed for $ 10 (plus tip)?!?

Who edits this stuff anymore, and where are the policies listed?

Actually, MD Canon, you only get 1 cocktail, or 1 tapas item, for your $5 at the Paza Cinco (their version of happy hour). In other words, you'd hve to spend $50 (plus tip and, no doubt, tax) to get all 5 cocktails and all 5 tapas on the special menu.

hmpstd: no doubt you are correct. I hope, however, that the ambiguity of the graphic was worth the comment. Perhaps Mr. McIntyre would care to comment?