Pub owner refused to sell customer glass of Coke because his pub 'is for drinkers only'

A publican in Belfast has made it crystal clear that his bar is for drinkers only after refusing to serve a glass of Coca Cola to a customer.

And John Bittles, who owns Bittles Bar, has since doubled down on his refusal, telling Sunday World that someone supping a soft drink in his bar ‘isn’t ideal’.

Speaking to the news outlet, Bittles 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.”

Facebook/Bittles Bar

And this isn’t the first time the landlord’s rules have hit the headlines - back in July, he'd put up a sign warning punters that he’d no longer be serving half pints of Guinness.

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph at the time, he explained: “It only went up during the week and nobody has kicked up any fuss or complained.

“I think most people know it is a bit of tongue and cheek fun and they are asking if it is true and we are telling them it is.

“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.

imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo

“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.

“Most people know it is a bit of tongue and cheek fun and some of the tourists wouldn’t be sure, but at the end of the day, they are happy.”

“I think most people know it is a bit of tongue and cheek fun and they are asking if it is true and we are telling them it is.”

He went on to stress that his bar has just ten tables, so it doesn’t make good business sense to sell half pints.

Go hard or go home, eh?