Bittles Bar boss calls time on ‘no half pints’ rule… but with a price warning

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/bittles-bar-boss-calls-time-on-no-half-pints-rule-but-with-a-price-warning/a746673728.html

A notoriously grumpy publican who would not serve half pints has finally relented — but you’ll have to cough up if you only fancy a glass of beer.
John Bittles has also lifted his ban on soft drinks, but be prepared to risk financial ruin and an appearance in Stubbs Gazette if you’re doing sober October.

The owner of the Belfast bar which bears his name made headlines around the world in 2022 when he announced he would no longer be pouring half pints.

He also posted a hand-painted sign in the bar warning anyone who was even thinking about ordering anything non-alcoholic with the words “No Coke drinkers”.

However, due to increasing tourist trade, thanks to the booming number of cruise ships visiting the city, he has been forced to go back on his cardinal rule.

“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,” John told Sunday Life.

“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 (the price of a full pint of Guinness is £5.80).

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

“We do say to people a half-pint is going to be £4.95, and some people say they will take a full pint while others say they are happy enough with the price.

“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.”

A sign warning against ordering soft drinks in Bittles Bar
A sign warning against ordering soft drinks in Bittles Bar

When asked what made him change his mind on something which made him unique among publicans in Northern Ireland, John said it was to cater more for visitors’ taste and drinking habits.

“It’s a combination of things. 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,” he added.

“We were serving half pints and people were taking up a table or taking up too much room.

“(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.”

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

According to John, the numbers are now too big to be ignored, with an estimated 4,000 pints of Guinness per week being poured from his single tap at the height of the summer tourist season.

While he now sells soft drinks on their own, it’s only on the condition the person in question is in the company of someone ordering 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,” explained John.

“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.”

Full pints in Bittles Bar
Full pints in Bittles Bar

The ban on half pints propelled the bar and John into national and international newspapers and websites after a customer took to social media to complain about being refused a glass of Coke.

In August, John made headlines for a different reason when he settled a discrimination case for £6,500 in damages to a man for telling him “we don’t serve Protestants”.

He came out to say he believed it was a case of “banter” being taken the wrong way, adding: “It always was a mixed crowd. It has never been any other way and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

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