Tony Roma's, Where 16oz = 14oz
UPDATE: Tony Roma Corporate Responds To Shrinking Beer Complaint
Alex and his friend went to Tony Roma's, a casual dining place known for its ribs, and got a little twinge in their torso when they realized that the "16 ounce" beer they were served came in a 14 ounce glass. The glass was just as tall as a normal glass, but it had a thicker bottom, making it hold less. These glasses are known as "falsies." The friends might not have noticed the difference except that Alex's buddy got his beer served in a normal glass and Alex got the thick-bottomed one. They conducted experiments involving pouring water between the different glasses and concluded that yes, Alex got 2 ounces less. When they complained, the manager said, "who said we served pints?" and said it was policy to only serve beer in 14 ounce glasses, and soda in 16 ounce glasses. Which might have been ok, except when the waiter first took their order, he specifically asked whether they would like 16 ounces or 23 ounces. 16 is not 14. Alex's letter, inside...
Dear Consumerist,
My friend and I went to Tony Roma's in San Francisco Friday 6/13. We decided to go there to get dinner and a couple of beers. I read your site frequently and had already seen the post about restaurants using glass that hold 14 ounce instead of a 16 ounce pint. I also forwarded the article to my friend who came with me that day.
The waiter comes to our table and asks us if we would like drinks. My Friend orders a Spaten and I order an Anchor Steam and the waiter asks us if we would like a 16 oz or 23 oz glass. We both opted for the 16 oz glass. Once they arrived I noticed that my glass had a thicker bottom on it than my friends. We immediately realized I had been given the smaller sized glass. My Friend was like you should complain and I told him I would not until we got our food because I did not want them to spit in it. We finished our first beers and my friend orders another one to make sure it is not just a mistake. He ordered another Anchor Steam and the glass that it came in was the same size as the one that I had drank.
After we finished our food we got a couple glasses of water. We poured water into the glass we thought was actually a pint, filling it to the top. Then we poured the water in that glass into the ones we thought were smaller. We figured if both glass held the same amount of water then we were wrong and would not complain. After pouring the water into the smaller glass we found that about 2 oz of water was left in the bigger glass.
At this point my friend went up the manager at the front of the restaurant to complain about the beer. He lets the lady know that we ordered pints but that the beer was served in 14 ounce glasses instead of 16 ounce ones. To which the manager asked how he knew that there were 16 ounces in a pint. My friend told her he had been drinking beer long enough to know what is in a pint. She then told him that beer is served in 14 ounce glasses and they only served soda in the 16 ounce glasses. He told then asked why they served him a 16 ounce glass and me a 14 ounce one. She then asked him who said they served pints?
At this point my friend came back to the table so we could pay our bill and leave. He did not tell me what had happened until after we left the place or I would have pointed out that our waiter in fact asked us if we wanted 16 oz or 23 oz.
We understand that they may not serve full pints and maybe the waiter was mistaken in asking us if we wanted 16 or 23 oz, but I really couldn't picture the wait staff asking customer if they wanted 14 or 23 oz. Not to mention the price for the beer is what you would expect to pay for a pint at the bar across the walkway from Tony Roma's. I have emailed their corporate site to see if they respond, I am not expecting much. We would have hoped they would at most take a little off the bill like a dollar or at the very least apologize, but no such luck.
I have no intention of going to Tony Roma's again and if by chance I do I will be sure to order a soda since I get a full 16 oz and free refills.
Sincerely,
Alex R.
If this happens to you, the Wall Street Journal advises you wait for the foam to settle and then ask for a "top-off."
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Comments:
seriously, its not that big of a deal... 2 oz. I hate people like you who make huge scenes in restarunts just because of 2 oz.....
Mmm, delicious Anchor Steam. It's nice to read one of these beer volume articles discussing real beer instead of fizzy water with a vague hop aftertaste.
We have been getting ripped off for years. 16oz isn't a pint, 19.2 oz (the British pint) is!
Maybe if the Belgians buy AB (see previous post)they can kick off this conversion...
Whenever I'm at a place that offers beer on tap they almost always ask if you want a 16 or 23/24 ounce glass. Although now that I think about it a lot of them say "small" or "regular" and "tall" as the two options. I'll have to start paying more attention to it.
@teqsun.com: Are you kidding me? What if it was 4 ounces? 6 ounces? 10 ounces? The point is that you are being charged and paying for 16 ounces. What if you were purchasing gold, would 2 ounces be that big of a deal?
@teqsun.com: How exactly did he "make a huge scene"? According to the original post, they waited until after the meal and had a civil conversation with the staff.
He's paying for 16oz he should get 16oz - End of discussion.
@teqsun.com: seriously, its not that big of a deal... 2 oz. I hate people like you who make huge scenes in restarunts just because of 2 oz.....
WHAT?! You should get what you PAID for. If not, then it is stealing.
i agree, you should get what you paid for. if they were skimming everyone 2 oz, then over time, that would benefit them. its stealing. how is this different (if they knew) when they overcharge you by a few dollars.
@teqsun.com: Feel free to send me 1/8 of your salary anytime. It's just 1/8 of what you agreed upon with your employer and earned, it's not a big deal.
Lesson: Do not piss off the alchies. On the other hand, maybe it will be the DT-fueled rage of teh alchie that makes these places stop ripping people off.
@teqsun.com: 2 oz over 7 beers is a free beer, man...
Actually, a real pint of beer is about 19 - 20 oz.
This is why I only buy liters of beer.
I only ate at a Tony Roma's once -- the meal was so bad we actually asked them to knock something off the price. I don't remember if they complied, but I've never been back...
That's why I only go to bars that have "Penny till you Pee" night.
My large bladder pays me back in spades.
How would they know that the smaller glass was 14oz and the larger one wasn't actually an 18oz glass by mistake, thereby meaning that they actually owe the restaurant for the EXTRA 2oz his friend received?
Shrink ray you strike again! I will get my revenge...after I get drunk...
Take it out of their tip. Tell'em next time don't lie about the ounces.
They should have just talked to their waiter. The waiter would have complained on their behalf to the manager who probably would have let him/her comp a drink or something. The waiter would have the incentive to get something done for them since he/she would want to make sure their tip wouldn't be shorted.
Keep in mind too that seemingly small things add up. Alex might have gotten dicked out of 2 ounces, but if the restaurant is doing that to all of their beer-ordering customers, day after day--even while the waiters claim to serve pints--the restaurant saves on inventory and money in the long run.
@weakdome: Well, certainly not the upscale places as you tend to get a lot of "bum" clientele on those nights. It's also not for the fairy-bladdered because some of those bums will stick you good if you pee after 3 beers. It's only for the people sitting at the bar and the first person to pee loses it for the whole bar. Many people just pee on the floor instead.
Hard to find too as those places that have these night generally don't have large advertising budgets.
it was policy to only serve beer in 14 ounce glasses, and soda in 16 ounce glasses
Funny, I've seen that in reverse. Usually the beer glasses have Logos on them to differentiate them from the soda/water glasses. I'd chalk up the initial mismatch to dishwasher error.
As to the "2oz is nothing, ignore it" vs. "14oz is stealing when you pay for 16"... contact your local Dept. of Weights and Measures and see what they have to say about the matter. By your fourth beer they already "owe you" half of one.
I'm sure if you paid for 5 gallons of gas @$4.25/gal. and discovered you actually only got 4.5 gallons, you'd cause a scene at the gas station. This is really no different a situation.
@teqsun.com: I have a 1600 sq ft house I'd like to sell you. (Oh, forgot to mention, 200 sq ft are boarded off because it was cheaper to build it like that. But I guess you won't mind, because you hate people who make scenes over only 12.5% of their purchased item being missing.)
To which the manager asked how he knew that there were 16 ounces in a pint.
Actually I WOULD have made a scene at that point...the manager can come up with all sorts of ridiculous excuses...this response is simply combative.
Ouch! That letter was absolutely painful to read. Try using a comma every once in a while.
and here I thought that I had my last "falsies" back in sixth grade but it looks like I will handle them again. It really sux when a buisiness attempts to decieve people. If they are going to use a 14oz glass, then it should be smaller overall than a 16 oz glass, not the same size with a "falsie" bottom.
A "falsie bottom", that just sounds wrong.
seriously, its not that big of a deal... 2 oz. I hate people like you who make huge scenes in restarunts just because of 2 oz.....
Let's say an acre of land is for sale, and costs $100,000.00.
If you buy that acre of land and find it's two hundred square feet small, would you complain? You should - you paid for an acre.
Considering that places like this charge almost 6 pack (72oz) prices for a beer I think 2oz is a big deal.
The picture for this post came from a WSJ article about this not long ago: [online.wsj.com]
It says a restaurant/bar can get 20 extra beers out of a keg by doing this. At $5 a pop, you're making an extra $100 for each keg. That's a pretty huge margin increase on beer, which is already a very high margin item.
they probably just used the wrong glass, the manager could of offeredt hem a free beer each adn been on his way...
We poured water into the glass we thought was actually a pint, filling it to the top. Then we poured the water in that glass into the ones we thought were smaller.
Now I have this image in my head of Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson standing in a fountain pouring beers back and forth.
@InfiniTrent: Worse than that, infinitrent. The equivalent in missing square footage for an acre would be 5,445 square feet, not 200.
My friend and I went to Tony Roma's in San Francisco Friday 6/15./
Friday 6/15? Did these guys find a wrinkle in the space time continuum? Someone notify Carl Sagan.
wtf. just go to your local liquor store and pick up a 6 pack of whatever you like. two ounces is nothing.
...damnit...i should cut back on the vodka.
Those who say "it is a not a big deal" need to look at it from the perspective of the restaurant. 2 oz's is 12.5% of 16oz's, so Tony Roma's is saving 12.5% of the cost of the beer. If you consider the 1,000's of beers they are selling, it could amount to $1,000's of dollars a month. So while each individual customer may not be loosing much, the agregate of customers is loosing significant dollars. This brings to mind the Bank of America lawsuit of many years ago where B of A was truncating the 1/10th's of a penny instead of rounding on their interest calculations to customers. Individual customers lost 1/10th to 9/10th of a penny on their monthly interest. The bank on the other hand collected 100's of millions of dollars which should have gone to customers. B of A lost the suit and had to pay a very large settlement.
The real issue is whether they specify a volume when they sell it. If they say they're selling "pints" or give you a choice between a 16oz and 23oz, they need to have it right. If they don't specify, well, it just kinda sucks.
@teqsun.com: If it's not a big deal, why does the restaurant go to the trouble of having special glasses to conceal the shortage? That alone screams "deliberate scam" in my opinion.
@HIV 2 Elway: It must be a symptom of drinking an amount of beer divisible by 14 and not 16. Somebody should really look into that.
16 oz != 14 oz
If gas stations shorted you this much it would be all over the news.
15 "full gallons" @ $4.10 = $61.50
17.14 "short gallons" @ $4.10 = $70.29
@rten: I'm pretty sure gas stations do short you that much. Do you think the pump is accurate to the ounces? I read an article, on consumerist I think, about the error tolerances on the gas pumps
@1729ers: "losing". The word is "losing". For cryin' out loud, people, it's not that complicated.
Geez.
At the local brewpub we pay like $3.50 for a 'mug', which I'm guessing is 23oz or larger. I say just drink at places that actually seem to want your business.
Personally, I've had that same discussion with other restaurants (chili's) and we simply left without paying the bill. Sure, its illegal, but we paid them fairly for the service we received.
@Coder4Life: if they are presenting either sodas or beers as being 16 oz sizes and using 14 oz glasses, then there's no point at which the 14 oz. ones are the right glasses. If they aren't specifying, then it is just a very deceptive episode of "Shrink Ray". And if the manager had it backward, and policy was to serve the beer in 16 oz. glasses and soda in 14 oz, it would still be wrong if they were telling people that the sodas were 16 oz.
Dumbass Americans don't know weights and measures. These two did, and I enthusiastically applaud them. This is what happens when people think the word "pint" stands for "cup of beer."
"My Friend was like you should complain and I told him I would not until we got our food because I did not want them to spit in it."
Smart.