‘Drinkers Only’: Patron Ejected From Bar For Ordering a Glass of Coca-Cola

John Bittle, owner of Bittles Bar, poses in his bar Oct. 14, 2020, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

When a patron of Bittles Bar in Belfast, Northern Ireland, ordered a soft drink, he wasn’t prepared for the outcome.

“Just been kicked out of Bittles Bar in #Belfast for… wait for it… not ordering a alcoholic drink,” Kristian Ross recounted on Twitter. “Ordered a pint of coke and told it was drinkers only. Absolutely stunned.”

The bar owner, John Bittles, explained that his pub has limited seating, which is why he wants to prioritize beer-drinking customers.

“This guy came in and ordered a Coke, well a glass of Coke doesn’t really work for me,” Bittles told Sunday World. “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.”

It’s not just soda; Bittles Bar has even banned ordering half-pints of Guinness.

“What’s the point,” Bittles said when he instituted the half-pint rule, per Sunday World. “Tourists come in and order a half pint and then sit with it for ages. We’re a small bar.”

Following the peak of COVID-19, the bar even put up a “No jab no juice” sign banning the unvaccinated.

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