Not sure if you were around then, but the same thing happened at Diedrich's oh about twelve or so years ago. G.M. Toby came around and wasn't pleased by the riff-raff so he insisted on a certain amount of drinks during a certain length of time. And then he'd WATCH US sip refills from the same cup we'd had anywhere between a few hours to (in Noel's or Accident Bob's case) a few days from the balcony.
Asshole charged 10¢ for water.

Geez, when did you show up?