Let me tell you a well known secret. They're putting too much ice in your drink.
Who's they? Everybody.
You might think you need that much ice in order to cool your drink down but you probably don't even need half that amount unless you're walking around outside in the blazing 110 degree heat.
For the average person that comes into an air conditioned restaurant and orders a Coca Cola or a glass of tea you only need about one fourth of a glass of ice. Especially if that drink is already cold.
Some of these fast food places have automatic dispenser machines where you can choose how much ice you want.
That's a great thing because you can just put a few drops of ice in there and be fine.
I can tell you for a fact though that restaurants and other food places generally fill cups all the way to the top in order to save money.
If you've ever seen someone with a giant cup and it is absolutely full of ice you should know that at least half of that cup is just ice.
Ice is mostly free. With the exception of the water bill it's definitely a heck of a lot cheaper than any drink you might put in there.
Source: Giphy.com
When I started at my restaurant about 10 years ago we were instructed to fill the cups only halfway up with ice.
After all, we were told, nobody needs that much ice because it interferes with the flavor of the drink by making it watered down.
Of course times got hard for everybody and we all started buckling down our belts and making cost cutting measures.
So now you're going to get a glass filled to the top with ice and a bit of soda.
Granted it's free refills on soda and tea where I work but most places wouldn't have free refills...... especially if you went to Wendy's or McDonalds and got a Coke to go.
That's why I always advicate using half a cup of ice or less.