Ever Been Refused A Virgin Drink At A Restaurant?

[+ Gar1eth]

This happened a few years back. But I was at a restaurant/sports bar. I asked for a Virgin Bloody Mary. The waitress (sorry waitperson) tells me the management won't let them serve 'Virgin' drinks. 
 

WEIRD, hunh?

[MikeBiDude]

Never had that happen, and I order “mocktails” and “virgin” all the time.

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, Gar1eth said:

This happened a few years back. But I was at a restaurant/sports bar. I asked for a Virgin Bloody Mary. The waitress (sorry waitperson) tells me the management won't let them serve 'Virgin' drinks. 
 

WEIRD, hunh?

I would have told her I would report the bar to A.A. And also MADD. And to the local newspaper and radio station. And to the local chamber of commerce.

And that I was a recovering alcoholic ( white lie there). But there are many out there who are and trying to avoid falling off the wagon. Sports bars should not exclude them. 

[wsc]

I would never refuse a virgin a drink! You don't always need liquor to get lucky.

[mtaabq]

3 hours ago, Gar1eth said:

The waitress (sorry waitperson) tells me the management won't let them serve 'Virgin' drinks. 

Won’t let them? What if I asked for a Coke or a Sprite? Or water? Or iced tea? That doesn’t make any sense. Now, if it were only “virgin” drinks (virgin Bloody Mary, virgin daiquiri, etc) the labor involved is the same as that same beverage with alcohol, and making them slows down delivery. (Former bartender here.) Looking at it that way, I get it. Charge the same price for the virgin drink as a beverage with alcohol and people won’t order them. I was ordered to get drinks in front of people ASAP so they’d start ordering food and running up the tab. (This was back in the 80’s.) Virgin drinks were called “soda”. But, yeah, it is weird in how that was handled per the OP. 

[+ Gar1eth]

21 minutes ago, mtaabq said:

Won’t let them? What if I asked for a Coke or a Sprite? Or water? Or iced tea? That doesn’t make any sense. Now, if it were only “virgin” drinks (virgin Bloody Mary, virgin daiquiri, etc) the labor involved is the same as that same beverage with alcohol, and making them slows down delivery. (Former bartender here.) Looking at it that way, I get it. Charge the same price for the virgin drink as a beverage with alcohol and people won’t order them. I was ordered to get drinks in front of people ASAP so they’d start ordering food and running up the tab. (This was back in the 80’s.) Virgin drinks were called “soda”. But, yeah, it is weird in how that was handled per the OP. 

Even if it took the same amount of time to make a Virgin Mary vs a Bloody Mary, in the end wouldn't they be making more money (assuming they charged the same) as one would be without liquor? 

[mtaabq]

3 minutes ago, Gar1eth said:

Even if it took the same amount of time to make a Virgin Mary vs a Bloody Mary, in the end wouldn't they be making more money (assuming they charged the same) as one would be without liquor? 

One could make that argument 

[Luv2play]

On 10/7/2025 at 7:11 PM, mtaabq said:

One could make that argument 

Absolutely. Here in Canada the taxes on alcohol are so high the cost of the alcoholic content of a mixed drink far outweighs the other components.

[+ azdr0710]

I'm still trying to figure that out...."virgin (insert drink name here)" is a very standard request.......they couldn't be restricted to serving only alcoholic drinks, could they?.......or maybe use of the word "virgin"??!!

Edited yesterday at 02:41 AM by azdr0710

[BSR]

13 minutes ago, azdr0710 said:

I'm still trying to figure that out...."virgin (insert drink name here)" is a very standard request.......they couldn't be restricted to serving only alcoholic drinks, could they?.......or maybe use of the word "virgin"??!!

I thought bars and restaurants that served alcohol encouraged designated driving.  You would think that they would offer nonalcoholic versions of drinks like a Bloody Mary so that the DD would have some interesting options.  

[+ Gar1eth]

2 hours ago, azdr0710 said:

I'm still trying to figure that out...."virgin (insert drink name here)" is a very standard request.......they couldn't be restricted to serving only alcoholic drinks, could they?.......or maybe use of the word "virgin"??!!

I'm sure they are talking about 'mixed' drinks. I had no problem ordering a Coke. 

[jeezifonly]

Watch Five Easy Pieces - Jack Nicholson handles the issue perfectly in the diner scene. 

[+ jimbosf]

I have noticed more and more restaurants are using the term 'mocktails' rather than virgin.  Perhaps it was an issue with the word virgin rather than not actually offering such a drink.  Just a thought...