Grumpy publican charges staggering price for half pints two years after banning them --[Reported by Umva mag]

A notoriously grumpy publican who refused to serve half pints has lifted the ban after two years.

But customers who want a half-pint at Bittles Bar in Belfast will have to pay the extortionate price of £4.95 — despite full pints costing £5.80.

John Bittles first made headlines in 2022 when he announced that his pub would no longer be serving half measures of Guinness.

He also put up a hand-painted sign which said ‘No Coke drinkers’, though the pub has since lifted its ban on soft drinks under a strict condition.

John said the change of heart was prompted by a roaring tourist trade boosted by a spike in the number of cruise ships docking in the Northern Irish capital.

‘Touristy people especially are coming looking for a half pint, so I’ve worked out what I have to do to make it worth my while,’ he explained.

‘So, to serve somebody a half pint, to let them in and take up room at a table, I thought for a half-pint we’ll go £4.95.’

‘Having said that, at £4.95, not a single person has ever said they don’t want it because it’s too expensive.’

John said while some choose to buy a full pint when they realise the cost, others are happy to pay more for a half.

‘It’s actually working better at £4.95 than it did at half the price of the pint as it was a few years ago,’ he added.

‘It’s a tourist thing — they don’t drink pints and during the summer, with all the cruise ships in, you have hundreds of people in who want to come to Bittles Bar and want to drink Guinness, but they are not pint-drinking people, they are more half-pint people.’

Before they stopped serving half pints, John said customers were taking up tables for too long and spending too little.

‘(I couldn’t) justify it in a small place like this, people sitting drinking a half pint of Guinness. It wasn’t worth my while,’ he said.

The number of spaces in what is already one of Belfast’s smallest pubs is limited due to its table service policy.

He now sells soft drinks on their own, but only on the condition that the customer is accompanied by someone buying an alcoholic drink.

‘That’s a bridge too far — you have to draw the line somewhere. If you are with your partner or whoever and they are getting a pint, you can get a Coke or soft drink,’ John explained.

‘A pint of coke is going to cost £7.20, a bottle of Coke twice at £3.60, but why would you want one?

‘I personally have never served a pint of Coke and I won’t be doing it regardless of the price.’

‘But as for people coming in off the street for soft drinks, that’s a no-brainer. We’ll not be doing it.’

The ban on half pints propelled the bar and John into national and international newspapers and websites after a customer complained on social media that he had been refused a glass of Coke at the bar. 

John insisted it was a case of ‘banter’ taken the wrong way.

‘It was always a mixed crowd. It’s never been any other way and I wouldn’t want it any other way,’ he said.

‘I think we have a great mix of eclectic customers from everywhere. You couldn’t get better customers.’

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