Is It Bad Etiquette To Order Water For The Table While Dining?

Water isn't just an essential element of life, it's also a key ingredient of hospitality. That's why the first thing you offer a guest at your home is a drink of water — if you haven't set one out already. Restaurants everywhere have long followed suit, often bringing water to the table with the menus. However, those water glasses may remain untouched or barely sipped by diners who prefer to shift to preferred beverages as quickly as possible. This waste of water, especially as climate change continues to shrink water supply, is now driving restaurants and local governments to change policies to request-only water.

This raises the question of whether it's considered bad etiquette to order water at all. Certainly, it is to many, as any scan of news sites and forums quickly show, especially when water is ordered for the entire table. As a server put it to Food & Wine, "It never failed to annoy me when someone would order water for the entire table ... It's a waste of time, resources, and water glasses that have to go back through the dishwasher." 

Some state and local laws still require restaurants to serve tap water by request. Few disagree with this, as people should be drinking upwards of 13 cups of water a day, and providing it is humane. Overall, it seems that ordering water for yourself is acceptable, while ordering waters for the entire table is less so. 

Water served at a restaurant can seem like a mere drop in the bucket. But it's important to realize that you can't see the whole story in a single cup. Firstly, those glasses need to be washed in hot water — and that quickly adds up, along with the energy needed to run the dishwasher. Then there's the ice that many request or expect, adding yet more water and energy to the equation. Set that on repeat, and it's easy to see why the typical sit-down restaurant can use up to 7,000 gallons of water per day (via Powerhouse Dynamics).

Diners may also want to consider the additional impacts of ordering water for the table. Serving water to the whole table may be unnecessary labor for the waitstaff and delay everyone's orders. For your friends and family at the table, the move might assume too much of others' preferences and take agency from them, potentially inspiring anger. You also may want to think twice about drinking water at a restaurant. Although tap water is generally safe, some studies show it contains more bacteria than toilet water. In fact, the lemon slice in your drink might increase the health risk of drinking restaurant water, as it may harbor bacteria that makes you sick, according to one study. All things considered, it's best to order water for yourself only. In a nod to sustainability, perhaps avoid ice and refills, and drink the full glass.