It depends on your purpose. If you are trying to limit your caloric intake it is best to drink large quantities before eating so as to "fill up on water" which has 0 calories. If your point is to eat alot, save your water untill after you have eaten. If you're talking about alcohol, it depends on the quality of the food because, as any respectable drunk knows, everything tastes much better after you are toasted.

If you mean booze, it depends. More than a little alcohol beforehand will make the actual quality of the food progressively irrelevant, though how your enjoyment is affected, if at all, is personal to you. The assumption underlying the traditional aperitif is that for most people, one or too small ones will improve the occasion both by alerting the stomach that something's going on and by whatever relaxation may be caused, while leaving you still able to distinguish the salad from the soup. But if there's a question of effect on abilities (driving or whatever), and the amount of alcohol is at all significant, eating first will delay the digestion of the alcohol a little -- it has to wait its turn. I read somewhere that a large, relatively fatty meal, a stereotypical Italian feast for example, may delay the onset of the effect of alcohol by as much as 20 or 30 minutes. But effect there will certainly be -- there's nothing you can eat that will change that (nothing "coats the stomach" or any of the rest of that nonsense we used to tell each other when we were teenagers) or hasten its passing. So if the issue is driving, take a cab or something. If it's "whatever," start thinking of some excuses.

If you're referring to alcoholic beverages, you can become intoxicated much faster on an empty stomach; whereas if you eat first, it will take more time to reach a state of drunkenness. The alcohol will not reach the bloodstream as quickly. That's why at cocktail parties, there are always some munchies to go along with the booze. On the other hand, if eating is more on your agenda than drinking, a few cocktails before dinner will stimulate the appetite and you'll probably eat more. It just depends on what your choice is. Goldiemae

If your drinking water, then the water will dilute your stomach acid, and reduce you ability to digest food well.

Simple. your stomach has no food and alcohol on an empty stomach, reacts three time faster on the human body. food absorbs alcohol, thus drinking alcohol, with food, is less likely to make you intoxicated.