I’m just glad we finally have a thread about restaurant wine markups and corkage.
Scott,
It can work. I do something like this at my Champagne bar. We also do the volume/inventory/fixed costs where that can work. “Cheap” bottles need to make us a minimum profit (buying a bottle of something gets a slight discount off buying it by the glass - less back and forth work and less waste - also, you’re “renting” space that makes us money!) that is also relatively higher margin. As a bottle gets more expensive, the margin percentage slides down and the profit per bottle remains stable plus a few bucks to account for carrying inventory. At the high-end, we’re high retail, but we only stock a few bottles at a clip, so they’re not costly as long as cheaper inventory turns fast.
It’s funny to see the contrast between our local regulars, who feel like they get a good value for a great time, where the wine is just part of hanging out in a fun venue, and wine/spirit/beer people from out-of-town, who go crazy on our high-end stuff because of pricing.
(Edit)
To add on to that last paragraph, people come into a retail shop to buy wine. People come into a restaurant/wine bar for many more reasons - some places can cater to multiple consumers well, some cannot. The people who obsess over wine and its pricing relative to retail (and I’m in that group) are a relative minority in that equation.
Thank you for the replies to my thread drift so far. I’m always interested to hear about how these types of decisions are made. To add another anecdote, my wife and I are often dining out and usually I don’t order wine if it is not a special occasion and I plan on doing so. When I come across a wine on a list that I know is a pretty good deal, I often feel compelled to order a bottle (provided it’s something I like or might think I’ll like). There is a particular restaurant in town that has a bottle on their list that is priced basically at retail price ($55) and I order it more often than not when we dine there. I would otherwise order nothing and what’s more, I have never bought this bottle retail and never plan to. Something about getting it at the restaurant for “a deal” that makes it hard to pass up.
Thank you for your anecdotal story.
Much better than that antidotal story.
Phil Jones
I really want to make a pun about being poisoned by excessive markups but I’d better not.
Thanks to the ITB folks for chiming in with facts, experience and their POV. As a dedicated restaurant goer, I am firmly in the camp of letting the restauranteurs run their business, and I’ll make my own choices about what to buy and where to go.
If the food/service is sub-par relative to price then I would find another restaurant. Nail the value and deliciousness & I’ll be a repeat customer. Same with wine. Great list at ok prices? I’ll buy a bottle. No? A glass then, usually of something I’ve never had so I can satisfy curiosity if nothing else. I’ll bring a bottle if that works.
When I’m with a group in a city far from my cellar and get handed the wine list, I ask folks what they are comfortable spending. Then i scour the list at that price and find the best value. If nothing pops out I recommend beer and cheap sparklers.
But unfair markups? I just don’t think they exist. One can always choose not to buy. My only wish is that more higher end restaurants would take the time to go beyond the standard local distributor’s list.
What he said.
This pretty much what Mike Evans seemed to be talking about and I mentioned in my last post. Yes, this seems smart, although as Howard noted his services are based upon what the market will bear. If I get 2 6packs of Cayuse per year, I don’t want them to be gone in 14 days and only make 50-100% margin on them. So they get a bigger mark up since I can’t replace them.
We’ve mentioned that many people eating in restaurants are not as into wine as the members ofthis board, but we should also remember that plenty of restaurantuers and restaurant management people also are not really wine people.
While a good somm obviously cares about their wine list, their GM may not care at all, may hate the headache of a more complicated pricing structure, and may not see the potential upsides of what a more complicated program can bring. I know this from personal experience.
This is also why so many restaurants in Portland have no dedicated sommelier, and often just have a gung-ho server taking care of the list. Too many owners only see how to save money rather than make money…and in a cash flow business taking a risk on a lower pricing structure to see if it will grow into a business where guests are sure to come back more frequently is a tough sell to the person writing the checks
This 1000%