Should Houlihan's be Allowed to Sell Soda for $5?

[Eric Froehlke]

So I go to Houlihan's for lunch today...$4.75 for a soda. This seems outrageous even when prices are up across the board. Should people stand for this? I looked into it a bit more and realized that the price of said beverage isn't even ON the menu. I'm guessing this is because people have grown accustomed to soda costing about $2, not $5 and would therefore be less inclined to purchase a $5 pop. What say you? $5 non-alcoholic drinks? Listing the price on the menu at least??

[Jan Dye]

Wow I own a restaurant and charge $1.59, no wonder the are not doing so well. The owners are also the owners of Grindstone Charlies. Many which have closed. To chare like that you would think you were at the dome or a gentlemans club.

[Mike Tarak]

That's outrageous and I would have complained to the manager! Fountain drinks are the most profitable there are...but to charge $5 is crazy! I don't know that I would ever go back after that....

[Patric Welch]

Chris, I see where you are coming from but I can't totally agree that it's the customer's responsibility to ask how much it is.

What if the bill came and the drink was $75.00? Is it still the customer's responsibility to pay for it because they didn't ask how much it was?

[Eric Froehlke]

I certainly am seeking no legal recourse against the fine people @ Houlihan's and I agree that they've violated no statute. Rather, I'm looking at this from the perspective of taking advantage of a societal expectation. Here in Indianapolis, IN we as restaurant goers have an expectation that we'll pay in the neighborhood of $2 for a beverage (pop, tea, coffee) and will receive free refills (not a safe assumption in Washington DC as I found out the hard way). We've also learned that lemonade might cost a tad more and you don't get that refilled. I think the $2 mark for a beverage is pushing it, but I will cough up the cash because there is really only so much water I can drink. I certainly never EXPECTED to see $4.75 next to the line item for a beverage so it wouldn't have even occurred to me to grill the waiter about what I'd pay for the soda. I admit, I took the easy way out. In all honesty, I made another HUGE assumption when I ordered this soda...I didn't even look at the menu. I EXPECTED it to be on there (at the standard $2 price point). My point in all this is NOBODY is going to look at the beverage section of the menu if they are going to order a coke. They aren't going to notice that there is no price listed (which MIGHT prompt them to ask). What they ARE going to do is end up paying close to $5 for a drink and then post something about it on here. Houlihan's is within their rights to sell soda for $4.75 just like I'm within my rights to sell candy to kids out of the back of a white van with no windows in it...however, that doesn't mean I'm not a creep for doing so.

[Patric Welch]

Eric, I couldn't agree with you more!

[Patric Welch]

I think $4.75 is completely outrageous. I remember how angry I was when some restaurants went over the $2.00 mark. I hope Houlihan's has plenty of water on tap for its customers (at least while they remain customers).

[Erik Deckers]

They should put the price on the menu. The fact that they're not shows that they're embarrassed about the price they're charging, and are hoping people won't notice. There's no reason to charge $4.75 for a pop, but that gives them all the reason to hide it.

[Brian Wolff]

I'm all good with $4.75 and the free market, but not publishing the price is sneaky and bull shiitake - good thing I don't spend a lot of time there and won't any time soon. I'm wondering who else is doing the same thing.

[Nicki Laycoax]

You could get 20 Bud Light's at Ike & Jonesy's on Thursday for that price!

[Patric Welch]

Well I know what *I'm* doing next Thursday!

[Nicki Laycoax]

If you're going, I'm there. Anyone else? I've got the first round of 20..

[Patric Welch]

It may have to wait another week. Cub Scouts den meeting that night.