News / Bars
Bar owner’s plea for customers to not just order water
The owner of a Redfield bar has provoked some fierce online debate following a social media post laying out the realities for her business if customers just order water with their meal.
Sam Espensen of Bristol Spirit on Whitehall Road wrote that “we cannot survive as a business on money from you just eating”.
She wrote:
is needed now More than ever
“OK real talk for a minute. If you come to Bristol Spirit and you only drink free tap water – we will not make enough money from your table to break even, let alone turn a profit.
“Sorry to sound harsh but it REALLY affects our business – we have 26 covers in a sitting, and in the last week we’ve had at least 14 people just drink water. Over a month that is a significant amount of income – especially in the Summer months and in hot weather when trade drops off.
“We understand that you may not have a lot of money, but we cannot survive as a business on money from you just eating. This is because we have food pop-ups, so the majority of the money from the food goes to them – and rightly so.
“We are a bar not a restaurant. If you don’t want to drink alcohol, we have an excellent range of low sugar mocktails and non alcoholic alternatives.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv9Ebr9nNLo/
“Our overheads are a fixed cost, as are the wages. We pay staff properly. And we’re still paying off all the work we did to make Bristol Spirit the wonderful place it is.
“So if you visit us, and are enjoying the atmosphere, the art, the wonderful staff, the lovely furniture, the well designed menus with a huge array of choice, the amazing food and of course our spotless and lovely kitchen that our chefs rave about – remember all of those things cost significant money to create. The space was pretty horrible when we bought it, and the kitchen was a cesspit.
“If you just ask for tap water, it feels like you are telling us you don’t value our business enough to buy a drink, which is the reason we exist.
“Peace out – I am off to make a load of PG Sips – because we have sold out – on a happier note!”
Diners at Bristol Spirit – photo by Dominika Scheibinger
Sam’s comments led to both positive and negative comments in response.
“I rarely drink alcohol nowadays but if I go to Bristol Spirit I am going to drink the brilliant booze on offer (as well as enjoy a lovely bar and vibe) it’d be foolish not to,” wrote Louise Trimby.
Hannah Fowler said: “Brilliant post!!! X respectfully honest and genuine.”
But Dave Martin responded: “Surely this is a business model thing? If diners are not buying drinks either add a surcharge or ask for a cut of the food takings. Or just do fewer food pop-ups and bring in people another way. You can only support the food pop-ups if you have a sustainable business.”
Sam said that she was also forced to block somebody after he told her to “up my prices rather than begging on Facebook”, and she later deleted the original social media post.
Read more: Bristol Spirit announced as home of Classic Album Sundays
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
