BYO Regions - Thread 'Captains'

The goal on this forum is to have BYOB policies, tips, and information by region (city, state, county, etc). The threads will be managed by a thread ‘Captain’ who will keep the first post updated with all entries, so the first post contains the information needed for a quick viewing, then the details for any specific restaurant can be found within the thread itself.

Please don’t start new threads unless you are volunteering to ‘Captain’ a thread.

Not wanting to start a new thread, so posting this here …

Is it a good idea to publicly post restaurants that are breaking a local or state law by allowing a customer to BYO ? I know there’s been examples in the past where a restaurant has been busted by having their name posted on a wine board. In the best case, they may simply stop allowing BYO; in worse cases they may be fined or lose their license.

I would not post the name of a restaurant that allowed BYO in a city/state that it was against the law!

See the Oklahoma thread as an example. No restaurants posted.

On the other hand … See the Boston thread …

How will you know it’s illegal/still illegal/used to be legal but now it’s not?? It’s unlikely that listing it on this board is going to rat someone out.

I think that a place in Houston was heavily fined because they were allowing corkage for good customers when they had full bar service. TABC is a real bitch and I would not be surprised if they lurk here…trust me.

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I don’t know if the TABC is lurking here or not …

In the case Bill was referring to, I think the best guess was a competitor read about it on a wine board and made a complaint to TABC, who then busted the place. There was another case a few years back, where the CA equivalent of the TABC stopped an offline in southern CA. Again, I recall the thinking was there was a complaint made by a wine board reader.

Regardless, I think posting names of restaurants that allow BYO, with the notation “… it is technically illegal to operate a BYO …” exposes the restaurant to some serious risks.

Others can and will chime in here, but I seem to recall that BYO in our fine state depends on the type of license held (those w full bar a.k.a. mixed beverage permit and those will private club, for instance, cannot). If someone has a question about a restaurant id’d here, perhaps a PM would be best.

Is it a good idea to publicly post restaurants that are breaking a local or state law by allowing a customer to BYO ?

No.

So don’t post those if you’re the thread captain. Otherwise the idea is a good one. Each city has an easily accessible list. And whoever has an interest in that city will know/find out if there is anything to worry about regarding the authorities.

For ex, right now I have no interest at all in Cleveland. But if I lived there, I’d have a real interest. And if it were illegal, I’d communicate to people thru private means rather than go thru a public site. For everywhere else, this thread seems like a good idea.