> I order water with my meals, because I want to taste the food.

A lot of food tastes are enhanced with alcohol like wine.

I can't imagine what kind of food you like to eat then. The food-wine (or beer) pairing is an integral part of a lot of cuisines. But I can understand that it may be a very alien concept if you like to eat Mac Donald burgers or American pizzas.

I can understand wine or beer -- I was mostly referring to water instead of a sugary soda. But pairing an appropriate wine with seafood or a good steak does enhance the experience.

However, in my case, my schedule (and budget, and family factors) keep me from restaurants, except for an occasional lunch out at work. And then alcohol is verboten if I'm going back to work afterwards.

same here, mostly because its a easy way to cut out a significant source of sugar.

And only low-quality pizza at that.