Some customers aren't aware of this, and many servers don't want them to know it, but a lot of restaurants (those with liquor licenses -- I'm not talking about BYO establishments) will also allow patrons to bring in their own bottle of wine. At first glance, this may sound silly. We certainly don't want guests to bring in their own food, or their own vodka, so why would we welcome the opportunity to pour a bottle of wine from a home cellar?
It all comes down to hospitality. Customers save bottles of wine for special occasions, and they take pride in having the restraint to tuck them away -- for years! -- waiting for a night of great food and great company. Restaurants understand that their wine lists can be limited, and might not always have the particular bottle that a guest wants to enjoy. The staff therefore let guests bring a bottle in, and will happily open and pour it as if it were from their own stock.
Sometimes...
Customers can go crazy with this shit, for real. I have seen duffel bags -- bags on WHEELS, people -- of wine carted in by guests who want to save money on a night out by bringing in their own alcohol. Is this allowed? Sure! Is this the classiest move? Debatable. I've tripped over these wine suitcases as they clutter the dining room floor. It is not pretty.
The fact is that when customers bring in their own bottle, servers are losing money on the presumed gratuity, and the restaurant is losing money on lost alcohol sales. Restaurants pay a lot of cash for liquor licenses and most businesses NEED high alcohol sales to continue doing business. When everyone brings their own booze, an already-small profit margin is ever more thinly shaved.
Enter the CORKAGE FEE to save the day! Restaurants can charge a fee for every bottle brought in by guests, and these fees can run anywhere from $10 on up to .... well, whatever the restaurant wants. The highest I've seen is $75. Do customers balk at this? Absolutely, believe me. After all, where does a restaurant get off charging a guest for product that they brought in to the restaurant??
Well, this may sound harsh, but if a guest wants to enjoy that wine for free they can always do it at home. If you want to sit at a nice table you didn't set, eat food prepared by someone else, and leave without doing dishes, then you need to pay for the experience. Clinking a champagne glass in the midst of the hottest dining room in town comes at a price, even if you bring your own bubbly. But even more importantly, business owners are responsible for all of the alcohol consumed on their premises, regardless of its origin. The corkage fee is a small subsidy to pay when you consider that legally, the business is still on the hook to see that you and your friends are drinking responsibly under its roof.
I've opened thousands of bottles of wine in my career. I once opened a magnum, decanted it, and poured it completely evenly among ten guests on the first try. (In case that seems like no big deal to you, please know that this is my Mona Lisa as far as wine service goes.) I'm more than happy to open whatever bottle a guest chooses, whether or not it's purchased from my restaurant. But please don't take advantage and drag your entire home cellar in to the restaurant. And if a guest feels like complaining about the collection of a small bit of revenue that compensates for my restaurant assuming all liability regarding alcohol, then they can do me a favor -- put a cork in it.
