One question I often find myself mulling over while dining out is: When did the water glasses get so tiny? That gives way to other thoughts. Am I just uncontrollably, and perhaps worryingly, thirsty? Is the guidance that I drink eight glasses a day indeed bogus? Am I not supposed to drink this much water with a meal? My initial gripe, at least, is shared by many.
If any single piece of glassware captures the shrinking-glass phenomenon, it’s the 7.5-ounce bodega glass, sold by some brands as a “mini” tumbler. (A “medium” tumbler holds a more reasonable 12.5 ounces.) I can drink its contents in nine or fewer normal sips, which is easy when I’m nervous and looking for something to do with my hands.
Dining in New York City recently, I’ve encountered these glasses at Aldama, Corima, Gem Wine, and Place des Fêtes. They’re in use at Superbueno, King’s County Imperial, and probably a few other places on my current Resy roster. Cervo’s uses them for wine and puts water in Duralex tumblers of a similar size; as it happens, there are several options for serving New Yorkers small amounts of water. Tiny water glasses are so common that I’m now more likely to take note when a restaurant’s glasses are large — the ones at Sappe, a Thai restaurant with a sprawling space surprising for Manhattan, were fittingly generous.
The bodega glasses aren’t inherently bad. In fact, I do like them (they look nice!), so long as a restaurant also leaves some water at the table, as some of the aforementioned places do. According to general manager Vince Ott, Corima chose the small water glasses from CB2 primarily because they look good, in line with the restaurant’s sleek minimalism. But — a boon for thirsty people — they’re also accompanied by carafes. They keep servers from having to carry pitchers, which “felt clunky” and “weren’t the aesthetic we were looking for,” Ott notes.
Not all tiny-tumblered restaurants take that approach, to the dismay of we dehydrated diners. At times, mini glass in hand, I feel apologetic for how often the poor runner has to circle back to me for a top up. Other times, it’s just awkward — an endless stream of thank you’s to my server in response to an additional trickle of water. Either way, wouldn’t it be easier to either leave a carafe at the table, or just employ slightly bigger glasses? “I’ve straight up asked for a pitcher before,” says a colleague.
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