Grrrrr.....calling about the corkage policy only to be told.....

[Jay_Miller]

@Ron Slye

@Michael S. Monie

Owners have a right to resent outside wine being brought into their restaurants but the smart way to handle this is to have a corkage prohibitively high to dissuade customers from bringing their own. If a restaurant is regularly filling their seats with wine buying customers then they have the luxury of doing their best not to accommodate those who to prefer bringing their own. But if they are not filling their places regularly, or are doing so with iced tea drinkers, a more welcoming wine policy including both a reasonable corkage and restrained list prices would seem to be in their best interest. There is no point of dining in a place that resents wine being brought in, if that is a contingency for where one chooses to patronize.

I agree with this. As many have said, the most important thing is communication. Restaurants obviously consider many things in their pricing, including cost, profit, and customer appeal. Having a corkage of 20-25 deals with those who will try to “game” the system by bringing in two buck chuck. A much higher corkage probably limits its use to those bringing in pretty expensive wines. And of course not allowing BYOB means you are comfortable with limiting patrons to the wine list. Personally I rarely buy a whole bottle off of a list, preferring glass pours to try something new. When I do buy off a list I try to focus on the lower priced items – someone in the business once told me to focus on the cheapest or second cheapest bottle on a really good list. Restaurants with serious wine lists often want something good at the low price point.

Levi’s advice from his sadly discontinued So You Want to be a Sommellier blog was the cheapest bottle as that is usually going to be something the somm is enthusiastic about. Of course that presupposes a committed and knowledgeable somm.

But of course this thread is not about corkage vs non-corkage or about wine lists but about lack of accurate communication and poor treatment.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Poor treatment regarding outside wine being brought into restaurants is inevitably the result of resentment that it’s occurring, whether it’s the server, management or both.

[Michael_S_Monie]

I’ve told this story here before so I’ll give the shorter version. I had a reservation at a high end place where a good friend of mine was a regular. He offered to make a call to set me up but I declined saying I knew the corkage was $25 with which I didn’t have a problem. I brought an older first growth knowing it would not be on the list. Our butts weren’t in the chairs when the server was informing me of the corkage. I told him that I was aware and requested the Somm to open the wine. She arrived at the table and her indifference was clear. Never said a word, broke the cork due to rough handling, and I realized later left far more wine in the bottle than was necessary when decanting. Nevertheless, I tipped her $20 after she provided the service but she never once returned. Bought a sparkler off the list, paid the corkage, tipped 20% on the bottom line of the check, and never returned.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@Philip N. Jones

With respect to the stories being told, keep in mind that we have only one side of the story. I know nothing about these particular incidents, but it is remotely possible that maybe perhaps the customer might possibly perhaps have been rude to the staff. Yes, the restaurant screwed up in their communicating regarding their corkage policy. But the customer still has a duty to keep his/her cool. After all, we are talking about only five or ten dollars. Being a wine geek does not give the customer the right to get huffy.
Phil Jones

Knowing Bruce, I can say with confidence the answer to this is a definite “No.” Classy post.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@Michael S. Monie

Poor treatment regarding outside wine being brought into restaurants is inevitably the result of resentment that it’s occurring, whether it’s the server, management or both.

If the resentment is affecting service, then it’s probably best for the restaurant to do what it takes to avoid said resentment. Or, suffer online exposure such as we’re seeing with this thread.

Bruce, what establishment was it?

[Blake_Brown]

Bruce, this issue just speaks to the lack of seriousness and wine knowledge re wine on the part of the restaurant as well as a bad apple server. I would suspect even the wine service and stemware would be inferior. I did not see the name of the restaurant herein, but it would be good for all to have it in order to avoid a similar conflict.

I like that Bryan is doing a spreadsheet for LA. I`d like to see it.

[Blake_Brown]

@bryan c

Bruce - was this in LA? If so, I’m maintaining the LA Corkage spreadsheet. Feel free to update the sheet or let me know what restaurant it was and I’ll update the sheet.

Bryan, where do I find such a sheet?

[Bruce_Leiser_owitz]

@Michael S. Monie

I’ve told this story here before so I’ll give the shorter version. I had a reservation at a high end place where a good friend of mine was a regular. He offered to make a call to set me up but I declined saying I knew the corkage was $25 with which I didn’t have a problem. I brought an older first growth knowing it would not be on the list. Our butts weren’t in the chairs when the server was informing me of the corkage. I told him that I was aware and requested the Somm to open the wine. She arrived at the table and her indifference was clear. Never said a word, broke the cork due to rough handling, and I realized later left far more wine in the bottle than was necessary when decanting. Nevertheless, I tipped her $20 after she provided the service but she never once returned. Bought a sparkler off the list, paid the corkage, tipped 20% on the bottom line of the check, and never returned.

A similar situation here. As soon as we sat down and the waiter saw my wine bag, he told about the corkage policy in a manner that wasn’t very friendly. After our discussion of that topic, we ended up just ordering cocktails, and he kind of abandoned us for much of the meal. In fact, the birthday boy had difficulty getting someone to take his order for another cocktail, and it never did arrive. I had other issues with the service, but I didn’t want to go off on that tangent.

Bruce

[Andrew_Kotowski]

@Glenn L e v i n e

It is such a simple sentence to add to the top or bottom of any published wine list:

Corkage is allowed and costs $xx per bottle, please accept our limit of X bottle/s for lunch/dinner. Thank you.

It’s all about communication.

Quite a few places also add a disclaimer that you can’t bring in a bottle they have on their list.

Funny story - I was hosting a bachelor party for my brother at Delmonico in Vegas and had looked at the wine list online ahead of time to ensure I wasn’t bringing something on the list (I wasn’t worried about an '07 Cayuse Cailloux, but was also dragging an 05 Quilceda Creek). One of the somms pointed out that the QC was on their list and after some back-and-forth, came back with Emeril’s wine director, who happened to be working in Vegas that night, to explain the policy. I name-dropped a common friend who knew we were going and suggested it, and the wine director was kind enough to point out that the QC was a “recent addition to their 100 Pointers list” that they added to the menu and marked up accordingly.

I was grateful for the call-out and tipped accordingly… but note you might also consider checking the list before hitting up a restaurant with a deep cellar.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Interesting. My uncomfortable experience was at Delmonico in New Orleans.

[MattBerto]

@Scott Everson

Should you be able to bring in your own food if a restaurant isn’t serving what you want to eat that night?

yes

[Jonathan_Loesberg]

@MBerto

@Scott Everson

Should you be able to bring in your own food if a restaurant isn’t serving what you want to eat that night?

yes

Why would one eat at a restaurant that isn’t serving food one wants to eat?

[Loren_Sonkin]

We went to a place a few years ago. We called ahead. They said yes to corkage for $10 per bottle so I reserved a table. It was a special wine night with a few first growths. We opened ahead of time to breathe. When we got there we looked at the wine list. We told our server we would be buying a bottle of white, but had brought our own reds. They said they don’t do corkage at all. I said that a) they had in the past and b) I double checked a couple of days prior when I made the reservation. They said yes that was all true, but they had a meeting earlier that day and changed their policy. I asked if they might have called me to let me know. The manager came over and I expected her to say it would be ok but moving forward it was not allowed. Nope. She said that was the new policy and asked if we wanted a wine list. It was a Saturday night at 8:00 but we walked out. We went to a regular haunt of ours. They presumably had an empty table and sold no wine.

[Barry_Paul_Price]

@MBerto

@Scott Everson

Should you be able to bring in your own food if a restaurant isn’t serving what you want to eat that night?

yes

lol. not sure if serious?

[Glenn_L_e_v_i_n_e]

@Loren Sonkin

We went to a place a few years ago. We called ahead. They said yes to corkage for $10 per bottle so I reserved a table. It was a special wine night with a few first growths. We opened ahead of time to breathe. When we got there we looked at the wine list. We told our server we would be buying a bottle of white, but had brought our own reds. They said they don’t do corkage at all. I said that a) they had in the past and b) I double checked a couple of days prior when I made the reservation. They said yes that was all true, but they had a meeting earlier that day and changed their policy. I asked if they might have called me to let me know. The manager came over and I expected her to say it would be ok but moving forward it was not allowed. Nope. She said that was the new policy and asked if we wanted a wine list. It was a Saturday night at 8:00 but we walked out. We went to a regular haunt of ours. They presumably had an empty table and sold no wine.

I’d have walked too, well done.

[Alan_Rath]

All these stories remind me how brain dead people in customer service jobs can be, far too often. How much good will does a restaurant (or other business) lose by not just swallowing $5-10 when there is an error or miscommunication? Or, in Loren’s case, just being reasonable and going with what they told him? That wasn’t even a miscommunication. I’ve had my own experiences, for example having negotiated a specific corkage rate at a restaurant for an offline. Then on the evening being told they wouldn’t honor that agreement when presented the bill. Never went back there, even though I walk past it all the time. Did numerous wine dinners across the street instead.

[Steven_Miller]

@Alan Rath

I’ve had my own experiences, for example having negotiated a specific corkage rate at a restaurant for an offline. Then on the evening being told they wouldn’t honor that agreement when presented the bill. Never went back there, even though I walk past it all the time. Did numerous wine dinners across the street instead.

We had this happen once. We refused to pay any more than the agreed upon price and did not. The place went under a few months later.

[MattBerto]

@Jonathan Loesberg

@MBerto

@Scott Everson

Should you be able to bring in your own food if a restaurant isn’t serving what you want to eat that night?

yes

Why would one eat at a restaurant that isn’t serving food one wants to eat?

Maybe I like the art?

[Scott_Everson]

What % did you tip that night Bruce? I’m going to laugh when you say 20%+

[Matthew_King]

Restaurant art is usually like museum food… mediocre!