A notorious Belfast bar owner has made waves again after refusing to serve a would-be customer a glass of Coca Cola, stating that his bar is only for serious drinkers.
Bittles Bar in Belfast city centre, famed for the quality of its Guiness, was the scene of the exchange that took place after a weary traveller dipped in out of the cold for a blast of sugar, or so he thought.
Bar owner John Bittles has, again, defended his actions – telling local media that the dainty watering hole doesn’t have the room to cater for people not drinking alcohol.
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Speaking to Sunday World on Saturday (December 17), he said: “This guy came in and ordered a Coke, well a glass of Coke doesn’t really work for me.
(Image: TripAdvisor)
“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.”
The bar, famously, also doesn’t sell half pints of Guinness anymore.
In a July interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he explained: “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.
(Image: TripAdvisor)
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“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.”
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