What can I get you to drink?

My #1 largest pet peeve at a restaurant is the following:

You go to a restaurant, you are seated at an acceptable table, and you begin perusing the menu options.

You are enjoying a conversation with your dinner companion when the waiter (or waitress) approaches.

"Good evening," begins the wait staff. "What can I get you to drink? Coke (or Pepsi) products? iced tea? raspberry iced tea? lemonade? raspberry lemonade? coffee? hot tea? or perhaps an adult beverage?" (so on and so forth)

This introduction drives me bonkers.

I imagine it's pretty rare for someone not to know what they want to drink. Also, if you pose a question to your customers, isn't it only courteous to wait for an answer (rather than bombarding them with twelve different drink options)? If the customer has a question regarding the restaurants offerings in the way of beverages, don't you think they'd ask?

Seriously.