Proof of purchase required for corkage in PA?

I was quoted $25 corkage by a restaurant in Philadelphia, plus proof that the wine was purchased in PA. Is this common practice?

Give the bottle to the sommelier for free, and buy it back for $1.

And how exactly would they validate the proof? Are they going to call the retailer on the receipt and confirm a specific transaction? It’s not like it would be hard to replicate a receipt.

Crap like that is why we almost always do BYOB in PA!

Sounds like it’s not easy to BYOB??

Actually, BYOB is very widespread in PA, in spite of its archaic liquor laws and state-controlled system.

You need to distinguish between corkage and byob. In PA, corkage is a fee that a licensed establishment charges to open and serve a bottle of wine that you brought. Bud refers to BYOB as a restaurant without a license that allows you to bring your own. In Philadelphia there is typically no “corkage fee” at a BYOB restaurant and lots of choices. Pittsburgh has relatively few BYOB restaurants and there usually is a nominal charge. NJ has a lot of BYOB restaurants, especially in dry towns.

Thanks for the clarification.

Good point, but how ridiculous…

Going somewhere else (a BYOB - no corkage fee) instead.

I’m about an hour and 15 north of Philly in the Lehigh Valley,never had to prove that it was purchased in PA for either…sounds ridiculous.

Never heard of that kind of requirement before. David, what restaurant?

Morimoto

What if the wine is from your cellar that you moved in from out of state?

I think there have been entire threads on moving a cellar to PA. I don’t recall if there are any conditions or restrictions on that. The folks here from PA should know. Nothing would surprise me.

As others said, I just avoid corkage by going to BYOs.

Every few years some BYO will post a requirement that bottles must bear a PLCB sticker. I assume that it is because there has been a push to enforce laws that would hold the restaurant responsible for opening illegally imported wine. The requirement seems to fade away after a few weeks or months. Was I a cynic I’d speculated that someone’s palms got greased (or didn’t).

Berserker drift - If you’re specifically looking for Sushi, check out Royal Sushi (sub-resto of Royal Izayaka). I don’t know what their corkage policy is but their Omakase is said to be the best in the city.

+1 on Royal Sushi. I’d do a hard pass on Morimoto, both for food and for atmosphere.

If you’re not looking for sushi, there’s tons of places that offer better value/service/food. I’d put Laurel at the top of that list, but also worth checking out would be Friday Saturday Sunday, Vernick, Serpico, and Fork.

Always Sagami in Collingswood but more of a neighborhood place. I miss that place, went there as a kid and decades after that.

Looking at Royal Izakaya but it’s a bit far from our meeting. A closer option is Uemi Uemi. Worth the drive to Royal?

Any comments on Amada for tapas?

I’m a big fan of Amada, great restaurant.

Thank you for that, I was going to PM Bud and have him go in for a stroke evaluation!