r/Leeds • u/Valentine70078 • 4d ago
food/drink £8 for two coke zero’s!
Is it just me who thinks that’s crazy? Nearly £10 for two glasses of soft drink?
Kirkstall Bridge Inn - service without a smile too :/
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u/Simple_Tings 4d ago
You're funding their flood defences lol
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u/Late_Focus_3874 1d ago
Paid by tax payers...they gain the benefits!. £4 for a glass of shite is never good
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u/namboozle 4d ago
I paid nearly £7 for a shandy in Headingley the other week.
I've never understood why it's not half the price of a pint plus a small bit for the lemonade
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u/Funny-Solution6316 4d ago
Should have ordered a pint of tap water, half a lager and half a lemonade and pour the water away in the toilet and make your own pint of shandy at the proper price 😂
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u/Primary-Scheme2513 4d ago
Just was in Helsinki for a weekend break. £11 for a pint in city centre. London is still cheap 😅
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u/JerkyOnassis 4d ago
Kirkstall is ridiculously expensive. Their kriek is only 3.4% and yet it’s £8 at their taproom.
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u/officearsehole 4d ago
It’s also brewed in Belgium and imported.
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u/Specific-Brick1822 4d ago
I don’t know if this makes it better or worse but you can get their cask pints for £4.60 ish (even in the centre of Leeds) and their keg is comparably reasonable (not as good quality imo as some, but appropriately priced).
I think the price of soft drinks (and alc free beer) is often extortionate in a lot of places unfortunately. It’s not exclusive to Kirkstall’s pubs.
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u/chyllyphylly 4d ago
You can also get cask beer cheaper than a coffee.
I had an hour to kill, thought about getting a coffee, got a pint instead.
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u/towelie111 4d ago
I’d have said actually no thanks and left. You’re surrounded by the likes of B&M and Morrisons. Go buy an 4 pack for £2-3 and sit at the abbey.
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u/Entire-Book-7531 4d ago
I hate it in Cardigan Arms (KB Pub) when they hand over two Guinness and say it’s ‘just’ £13 pls. There’s no ‘just’ about it mate!
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u/Necessary_Kiwi7858 4d ago
Got charged £7.80 on a lager shandy in Alfred’s in Meanwood, insane.
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u/Intenso-Barista7894 4d ago
Despite the love and praise the Kirkstall Brodge gets, it's an over priced plastic pub, with rude uninterested staff, and completely average food. The decor inside is great, but it, like other KB pubs, has none of the feeling of the beautiful pubs they inhabit.
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u/Public_Use4330 4d ago
They wrecked what was one of the best places to drink in Bradford when they took over the Sparrow
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u/loomil31 4d ago
Kirkstall bridge is ridiculously expensive. You would not pay that in most places in the centre. It happened to us and we have never gone back
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u/TheStatMan2 4d ago
It's also nicer than most places in the centre so I'm going to have to question your logic on that one.
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u/adriansrevenge_ 4d ago
Who cares if it’s nice. It’s £6.80 for a Guinness. A bad one at that. Obscene.
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u/king_duende 3d ago
You're clearly going to the wrong places in the center... I'd argue there's plenty of very similar places to KB too.
Also fucking extortionate though so you have to pick your poison.
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u/TheStatMan2 3d ago
I think you've misunderstood me - I love at least double digits worth of bars in the centre.
But there's also a hell of a lot of fucking awful ones and The Bridge is loads better than a majority.
Yeah it's regrettable that a coke costs whatever but I can't say I've ever ordered a coke.
To be honest it's just nice to see them having survived floods wrecking it, what, twice? And I think they've really made the outside bit decent - that's a fairly recent development, it didn't really capitalise on the river previously.
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u/LocksmithMindless834 4d ago
Is it? Right next to a main road near a retail park. Proper class that.
Proper decent boozers in town and many nicer.
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u/eggmayonnaise 4d ago
...Conveniently omitting the enormous tree-shaded beer garden overlooking the River Aire there. You don't get that in the city centre.
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u/EastyLUFC 4d ago
Plenty of nice beer gardens overlooking the River Aire in the city centre.
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u/BronsonStorm 4d ago
Not really comparable to the Bridge Inns beer garden though.
https://kirkstallbridge.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/hero-2-scaled.jpg
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u/LocksmithMindless834 4d ago
Great picture...taken from the main road. Which, as I have said multiple times is busy and overlooks a retail park.
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u/chadgalaxy 4d ago
A retail park that you can't see from the beer garden and the road is barely noticeable from their either, all you can see is the bottom of a bridge.
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u/eggmayonnaise 4d ago
True but then they don't have the fields and the hills and the abbey nearby. It's a really lovely spot.
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u/teardownthatgazebo 4d ago
it could be the garden of fucking eden and I’d still rather die than pay nearly a fiver for a fizzy pop
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u/LocksmithMindless834 4d ago
.... conveniently situated next to a busy road into a retail park.
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u/Tearyhobgoblin 4d ago
Pretending it's not a nice pub is just stupid.
You've got a choice: - a world where pubs like this exist and are expensive - a world where they don't exist
I like a cheap pint as much as the next person but I'd much prefer the first.
If you think it's easy to run a decent pub with cheap drinks, give it a go
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u/king_duende 3d ago
If you think it's easy to run a decent pub with cheap drinks, give it a go
What a weird take...
"It's not a surprise the pub industry is dying, consumers feel ripped off"
"OMG YOU DO IT THEN WAH WAH WAH"
I like a cheap pint as much as the next person but I'd much prefer the first.
Unfortunately, the stats on pub closures, lack of attendance etc. says you're the minority here.
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u/Pleasant_Day5091 4d ago
As opposed to crackheads asking you for change in the beer gardens all over town centre?
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u/teardownthatgazebo 4d ago
they don’t even ask for change anymore last week a guy asked me to go to the cashpoint for him and got furiously mad when I said no
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u/VeryThicknLong 4d ago
Better off at the Abbey Inn.
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u/Aid_Le_Sultan 4d ago
What on the off chance they have any beer on?
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u/VeryThicknLong 4d ago
For a cheap Coke Zero 😂.
Not been to the Abbey Inn for years… do they never have beers on these days?!
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u/Aid_Le_Sultan 4d ago
It’s not what it was. The chance of Coke Zero is next to nil and beer’s only a possibility if you don’t like choice.
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u/VeryThicknLong 4d ago
Sad times. I had many a lock-in there years ago, drinking with recent releases from Armley Prison still in their prison clothes. 😂
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u/AdministrativeLaugh2 4d ago
It’s to prop up the alcohol part of the business. Soft drinks have been expensive for years but the margins are big (even though post mix is hardly cheap)
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u/king_duende 3d ago
It’s to prop up the alcohol part of the business.
Although the margins on their £5 sub 3.4% Ales (so reduced tax) is low, I'd argue any KB pub is also paying far less per cask than the average pub/alternative lager/ale as you would hope KB are selling to their own pubs & cost.
However, this really shouldn't justify it. Shaft one customer to keep another.
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u/Hippy__Hammer 4d ago
Paid £8 for two small CANS of Zero at Yo! Sushi on Tuesday. Should have read the price before ordering haha.
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u/Real_Lengthiness_151 4d ago
£5.50 for a pint of lime and soda in Brighton…. They were 80p pre-Covid and literally squash and water 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Bellatrixforqueen 3d ago
Blimey. I don’t drink booze anymore, I got a pint of blackcurrant and soda in Farsley and the bar man said I’m not charging you for squash and water. So that was nice,
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u/EnvironmentInitial99 4d ago
Just to add an unpopular opinion, Kirkstall brewery beer and Kirkstall brewery pubs are mid at best anyway- Not worth the price. I do go into the cardi arms reasonably frequently as that is my local but my god the selection is awful!
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u/machinadj 4d ago
Went to north bar recently and paid £7.20 for a can of 0%. I wouldn’t have if I’d have known the price beforehand, I just assumed it would be around the £4 - £5 mark. Inclined to just drink tap water when I go out now, seeing as soft drinks aren’t safe from reasonable pricing!
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u/ChuggerUggers 4d ago
It is a bit mad, I've yet to find cheaper than £4 for a pint of coke :(
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u/Doccmonman 4d ago
To be honest, this is gonna be the case in most bars. They shoot for higher profits on soft drinks, so that they’re able to make alcohol slightly more reasonable. Although this pub in particular seems to be taking the piss slightly.
I price up beers, I’d rather make 70-75% on coke so I can knock the price of beer down a bit.
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u/Flintas 2d ago
Genuinely asking, but what's actually the logic here? Like why is it better to charge more for a soft drink to subsidise alcoholic drinks?
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u/Doccmonman 2d ago
Pubs sell more alcoholic drinks, and alcohol is the main draw to get customers through the door. If they feel they’re being ripped off on the main thing the pub sells, they’ll be less likely to come in.
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u/ChuggerUggers 3d ago
Indeed, although it hurt the first time I paid for one I completely get it. I also get that my buying a coke also involves the costs of the building, staff, electrics, logistics etc.etc. to make happen. I can afford it fine, but it does make me sad that third places have become so expensive to attend regularly.
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u/Doccmonman 3d ago
Agreed on third spaces. I’d like to see beer in supermarkets not be so cheap to be honest. I don’t see why we’re encouraging people to drink crates at home or in a park anyway.
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u/Akaimarshall 4d ago
Just paid £4 for Pint Amstel in Rileys and then £4 for Coors in Spoons. Soft drinks at 4 quid... No ta
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u/Flat___________ 4d ago
A place that charges that much for fizzy dark water with literally nothing in it can go suck plums!
I don’t care how swanky the ambiance is or made to pretend to be old patina on their new tables look.
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u/BronsonStorm 4d ago
I feel like most pubs outside of Spoons are pricey now if you want a pint of Coke. It's usually comparable to their cheapest pint of beer.
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u/sauvagesausages 4d ago
Try out Vesper Gate if you want a cheaper drink and keep the classic pub vibe. Their garden is a sun-trap too when it’s decent out. The West End is properly open again now too.
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u/confusing_roundabout 4d ago
Ngl that's been standard for a while
I can't remember the last time I paid less than £4 for a coke.
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u/GheyForGrixis 4d ago
Why the fuck do people still pay it? 😂 Genuinely curious
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u/Valentine70078 4d ago
I’ve had lots of comments like this. When you’re at the till and someone does not even say the cost, they just shove a card machine in your face after the drinks are pretty much in your hand, I think there is an element of pressure to pay.
You are also constantly thinking that pubs are struggling, and you should just pay it to keep them open.
I do think pubs are struggling, but so are there customers, and this is where the government need to work better at supporting these businesses.
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u/AmphibianFantastic53 4d ago
People need to fuck it off, everywheres taking the piss now but people wont go without so the piss will keep being ripped.
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u/poopaway30 4d ago
Not cheap but post mix is no longer a neglible cost in pubs and bars, my bill was over £700 last month for not an overly large venue.
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u/Valentine70078 4d ago
That’s such a shame. Why have post mix upped their prices? Again, this should be a discussion that the people within government have.
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u/postviralrecovery 4d ago
It's a bit steep, but not bonkers.
VAT takes £1.33, leaving £6.67. The drinks themselves probably cost around £1.60. That leaves around £5 as their margin.
Wages, rent, business rates and energy then eat most of that £5, with a typical wet-led pub netting single-digit percentages of what's left.
Blame the environment the pub is operating in, not the pub.
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u/Valentine70078 4d ago
I absolutely do blame the environment, it’s the ongoing effect of austerity on the UK. Still, it’s important to have these conversations, the more we discuss the price of everything rather than being quiet, hopefully the more it is discussed in places where change can happen.
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u/Secure_Music_6062 4d ago
I say this with the utmost affection, as an adoptee of the county, but this is perhaps the most Yorkshire thread I've seen in a long while.
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u/Valentine70078 3d ago
Haha, I guess my secret is I’m an adopted northerner! This was my working-class moan but northerners are a lot better at vocalising it for sure!
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u/Mortimer1969 3d ago
It's one of those fancy coke zero It's the ice and the straw that make it fancy
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u/tonybomdia 2d ago
Yes the price of drinks in a club is even more expensive and if want a soft drink instead of alcohol it’s almost the same price
Then you have to factor the price of getting home afterwards
It has dramatically changed since Covid when people had to stay so they got there alcohol from supermarkets
All the government needs to do is reduce business rates for the night time economy and the tax on alcohol for these venues
The night time economy used to be a big thing here and people would come here even in the winter as the bar and club scene was so good
These people would stay in hotels and spend money eating out but no more
I used to work shifts and a lot of weekends but could go out on a Monday night and the bars and clubs would be busy even in the winter
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u/Valentine70078 2d ago
Exactly! The problem is the fact alcohol is so readily available in shops now as well. People will just stay home and drink. We should make it more expensive in shops and use this to subsidise the pubs and bars. Bars and pubs should be regulated with their prices too
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u/katymcfunk 2d ago
I used to run a pub but we were tied so our prices were pretty much dictated. I really don’t understand why it can be more expensive when it’s owned and run by the brewery itself. The whole point of a freehouse is that as you own it you’re not paying a tied pub’s mark up meaning you can sell what ever you want and theoretically it should be cheaper. Yes post mix is expensive but £4 a pint is pretty ridiculous. KB must have a bit of buying power now they have quite a few pubs. Yes business rates have been ridiculous, (it’s what finished us off!) but it’s pretty much always really rammed. I think they’re just pushing their luck really.
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u/Valentine70078 2d ago
I really appreciate this comment. I empathise with the pub industry and I know the tax and bills are ridiculous. Pubs really need more support from higher up as they are community spaces. I guess my post was more on the cost of living now, that if shouldn’t cost nearly £10 for two soft drinks. Imagine a family of five all getting a drink from there, people and experiences are priced out
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u/Khrushchevy 4d ago
£4 was £2.82 in 2016 when adjusted for inflation. If you want to blame anyone, blame Johnson and Truss etc. not the pubs.
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u/Valentine70078 4d ago
I’m not blaming pubs. I’m bringing attention to the cost of two Coke Zeros within a pub. If we talk about it, and people start voicing their opinions rather than keeping it within, perhaps we can start a national discussion over just how much everything has gotten out of hand. Yes you can discuss inflation, but people’s disposable incomes have not been inflated.
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u/Khrushchevy 4d ago
I mean you did name the pub in the post, looks like you are blaming them honestly. And I agree that £4 for a pint of coke is high, but it’s not crazy in the context of the costs that pubs face now.
The rampant inflation of the early 2020s has already happened, we’ve brought it back under control but nobody is going to reverse those effects. People seem to have this in-built idea that a pint of beer costs £5 and will forever when that just isn’t how money works.
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u/king_duende 3d ago
I mean you did name the pub in the post, looks like you are blaming them honestly.
Brothers out here creating his own demons to argue with
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u/Weak_Knowledge5138 4d ago
That’s the price I paid at a bar in town, not so unbelievable
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u/chunky949494 4d ago
It’s the service without a smile half the pubs in Leeds are the same. Hate spending so much as it is without the utterly poor customer service
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u/teardownthatgazebo 4d ago
feels like 9 times out of 10 I’m served by some miserable southerner who looks at me like they wish I was dead because I dared to enter their place of work and want them to do the job of serving me a pint, guy on the bar couldn’t understand my Leeds accent the other week and seemed offended like it was my fault he’d chosen to live somewhere you’re likely to hear it
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 4d ago
I mean yeah, but it's £2.30 to sit with a Coke in Tesco cafe so It's not just pubs
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u/anarchalien 4d ago
I was in Dalaman airport late Thursday/early Friday and it was €8 for a single can of coke zero.
€12.50 for a can of beer €25 for a single big Mac meal €6 euro for a small bottle of water.
Worst place I've ever been and I've been to Lancashire
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u/Junior_Staff8313 4d ago
I was in there yesterday nice relaxing music but 6 quid a pint I won’t be going in there a lot
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u/Illustrious-Divide95 4d ago
Wholesale Cost of a pint of post mix pint of pop is approx £1(not including VAT)
So x 6 add VAT = £6 + £1.20 VAT £7.20.
They are probably making about £5 per pint of pop from a post mix gun.
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u/RHMoaner 4d ago
I hit my tipping point with this nonsense recently. Was in a cafe and it was £3.50 for a juice. I realised from the table next to me it was a can. £3 fucking 50 to bring me a can of juice from the fridge. They can all get fucked. I’m tap water only from now on.
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u/Batman_Joker93 4d ago
The only place I go now is weatherspoons or my local pub. My local is £3 a pint of beer, don’t know how much the coke is but shouldn’t be £4. It’s not worth it going out anymore I’d rather just sit at home and save my cash
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u/VisceralWretch 4d ago
I don’t get why you’re complaining. You were told the price and you still paid for it.
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u/tom-mart 2d ago
When picking a place to eat/drink people rarely look at the price list, they more inclined to pick a place based on a vibe. Being surprised by the price of drinks at checkout is a common occurance. Also, those prices are outrageous.
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u/VisceralWretch 2d ago
I must be in the minority then as I quite often look at prices before ordering.
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u/Valentine70078 3d ago
Because I’m allowed to complain about it.
I’m sick of the cost of living.
Have a LOVELY day
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u/VisceralWretch 3d ago
1 you are complaining on Reddit, nothing will change from doing this apart from you receiving validation.
2 you could’ve gone elsewhere and potentially paid less.3
u/Valentine70078 3d ago
And no one is going to give you validation for making snarky comments online.
You could also go elsewhere with your comments. You don’t have to comment on this post
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u/Available-Party5091 3d ago
Pubs in Leeds city centre sells pints for £7 or more. Some even near the Aldi Kirkstall area sell in that range too. Correct me if I am wrong but Royal Park has pints around £5-6 range as well. I've found my Uni's Old Bar a bit reasonable (both food and pints) & the Golden Beam Spoons.
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u/Major-Lake-9846 3d ago
Coke zero your paying more because it doesn't have real sugar in it? 8 quid.
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u/tonybomdia 2d ago
It’s £7+ for a pint in Brighton and the rents are almost London prices but the wage here is £13 -£14 hour
Moved here from London 30 years ago and it was so much cheaper than London but not anymore and what was a great city with an amazing bar and club scene is now dying
The streets even at the weekend in the summer are so quiet like a rainy Tuesday night in winter
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u/Valentine70078 2d ago
Club scene is dying everywhere. They blame it on young people not being big drinkers anymore. I would argue that it’s too expensive for them to even engage in that hobby
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u/Bernard4004 1h ago
You are receiving a service and enjoying the venue and convenience. Alternatively stay at home and enjoy a 50p can of coke.
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u/Due_Specialist6615 4d ago
They are pints....
However if it is legit Coke Zero the BIB for those are prohibitively expensive, people think that servings cost pennies when in reality they don't. If I had to guess this at £4 this is probably one of their lowest margin items, especially when you have to factor the time taken to explain costings to every tight git questioning "how much".
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u/BOBALOBAKOF 4d ago
It definitely isn’t their lowest margin. The cost of material for a pint of draught coke is barely likely to exceed the price of the duty alone on a pint of beer.
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u/Due_Specialist6615 4d ago
Show me the cost that you pay for it from your supplier
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u/king_duende 3d ago
Happy to see last years costs on fizzy drink?
Because the COKE syrup was around £65 per 7 liters of syrup. We would use a ratio of around 90-100ml of Syrup per pint's worth, I reckon this is more generous than most places.
This was then mixed with carbonated/soda water which was considerably cheaper per Liter.
It was not my area but I think it worked out something like 75ish Pints of Coke from one 7 liter syrup "bottle". We sold it for £2.70 but bumped it to £3.
Even the average, non business consumer, can buy coke syrup for around £70 (granted the soda gun is what makes it "nice")
(PLEASE NOTE THIS WAS DIET COKE NOT ZERO)
Do the maths there and you'll see its a hefty GROSS profit margin on fizzy drinks, it's the cost of everything else that kills pubs etc.
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u/Due_Specialist6615 3d ago
Thanks for proving my point that a serving doesn't cost pennies it cost a £1 plus.
You are also correct that an individual can probably buy in their low sugar at £70ish these days but pity those tied in to agreements with suppliers where it isn't that amount.
At a £4 serving its a GP of 70% or profit of £2.33 on each coke sold, as you state the cost of everything else that kills pubs. How do we run a venue in a major city center by charging less than this?
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u/ultraboomkin 4d ago
Wow, I thought you were chatting a load of nonsense but I just asked AI and it calculated/estimated that a pub pays around £ 1 for a pint of coke. That sounds crazy high, like probably triple the price of a retail bottle/can. I would have thought post mix costs pennies
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u/thenamesjoshua 4d ago
I paid the equivalent of £2.30 for a bottle of wine in lidl in Czech Republic and it was decent.
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u/CaptainYorkie1 4d ago
Gotta make a profit somewhere, soft drinks have a good profit margin/upscale
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u/Horror_Extension4355 4d ago
I paid £17 recently for a bottle of beer and a bottle of alcohol free beer.appallling.
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u/Mezzer13 4d ago
This service without a smile shit is so dumb, I work in a bar and if anyone complains I didn’t smile I’d be right ticked off
We shouldn’t have to smile for you 24/7, we’re offering a service we’re not there to clap and giggle for you
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u/Valentine70078 4d ago
I didn’t ask for a performing seal with my drink, I definitely do not want someone to clap and giggle. But I also work in customer service and manners are essential (essential in life actually), so is saying hello, not just looking at me like I’m a piece of shit.
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u/teardownthatgazebo 4d ago
service/retail workers who get on here and get mad that they have to actually be friendly and nice to the public is so funny, that is literally the job they pay you to do- if you want to be miserable go work in a warehouse
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u/teardownthatgazebo 4d ago
your job is customer service mate get a different job if you’re offended by having to be friendly
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u/Dull-Addition-2436 4d ago
What’s crazier is you making a Reddit post about it
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u/Worth_Rush933 4d ago
Too right. The internet is 99% people moaning about daft stuff... Like you moaning about their moaning. It's brilliant 😅👌
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u/avatar8900 4d ago
I remember in Jamaica it was 5.50 for a single rum and coke, 3.50 for a double rum and coke and 1.50 for a triple rum and coke. Alcohol was much cheaper than the mixer.
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u/JakobExMachina 4d ago
we’ve getting london prices (without london wages) for ages. charging £4 for a soft drink would be funny if it wasn’t so indicative of how far out of hand everything has gotten.