Article about corkage across the US (LA, NYC, Philly, Chicago, Texas) on Eater National:
Amusingly, in comment #12:
99% of the time it’s about some cheapskate trying to save money. Have you ever seen most BYOB people? Lots of single, overweight or morbidly skinny, greasy-haired, wispy beared, four-eyed males, and not of the gay persuasion. Living In Mom’s Basement material. Check out the internet wine chat boards to get an idea of what these guys are about - they talk up this subject all the time, almost always with a serious sense of entitlement. You might even be able to see some photos of them at their “off lines”, as they call dinners where they get together at some restaurant and bust out their wines after haggling some deal for corkage. They’ll go to a sushi place to drink Syrah and Port if they can do it for free. Draw your own conclusion. Lots of them even haul in their own glasses and decanters. Seriously. They’re almost uniformly a horrifying, NAMBLA-esque bunch. No successful restaurant wants that geeky wine freak show coming in, believe me. They’re usually demanding as hell, loud and mostly crappy tippers to boot.
Can you guys please gain/loose some weight, and start behaving?
While some consumers believe that it’s part of the “Diner’s Bill of Rights,” dozens of sommeliers and restaurateurs would counter that by asking: “Would you bring your own meat to a restaurant and ask the chef to cook it?”
Really? What Sommelier or restauranteur asks this question?
Bringing in my own meat would equate to me bringing in grapes and asking them to serve me wine.
Plenty do. I’ve never understood why they all seem to think this is some kind of brilliant “gotcha” argument. There are a ton of restaurants where I’d be thrilled to supply the meat of my choice and ask the chef to cook it.
Indeed. If a restaurant was willing to charge me their profit margin on a dish where I supplied the cut in question, I would mostly be a BYOM customer…
I have a friend who owns a restaurant and the “restaurant owner’s school” he went to, told him to mark up his wines 4 times wholesale. He doesn’t sell a lot of wine and can’t understand why people will pay $15 to $25 corkage rather than buy wine from the wine list. Worse, it’s an upscale northern Italian restaurant with exceptional food and very reasonable prices. Appetizers, salad, entree and dessert averages $40 a person. Being the friend that I am, I bought a high end Italian Barolo I pay $40 wholesale, for $160 to go with our dinners totaling $ 92.00.
Restaurants: If you want to sell wine, price them reasonably. Word will quickly get out about your prices and selections.
Bernie Sun is 100 percent on the mark. It’s fun to speculate about consumer behavior, but without data to back up your assertions we’re only at the level of anecdote here. Amusing anecdotes, but they say more about my side (wine professional) of the business than the motivations of the customers we serve. And from my side of the business, there are good business reasons to discourage folks who want to bring their own bottles of wine to my restaurant. Capitalism 101: Wine is a profit center for restaurants. When I charge corkage I forgo profit, and that affects my bottom line. Consumers are blissfully unaware of the slim margins in the restaurant business (National Restaurant Association figures peg this at around 5 percent). Charging a non-extortionate markup on wine is one way my business can stay afloat. > But by demanding free or limited corkage fees, customers are saying: I don’t care about the health of your business, and I demand that you break even or perhaps lose money on me tonight. > Sure, when a customer brings in a bottle of wine with a special meaning attached to it (e.g., a wine with the same vintage as a wedding anniversary), I waive corkage. But beyond that why should I care if you’re bringing in a rare bottle of Burgundy that I could not possibly stock in my cellar, or some cult California Cabernet you’re finally getting around to drinking? I guess you could run with the argument that it’s good customer service to forgo corkage because those same customers will, because of my good will, spread the word about the greatness of my restaurant, and will probably return without their own bottles at some point. I would respond to that weak argument with the observation, admittedly anecdotal, that the conversion rate from corkage customers to wine paying customers approaches zero. For me, I am disappointed when someone brings their own bottles of wine. You mean to say it’s 100 degrees out and you’d rather have a bottle of 2nd growth Bordeaux than a slightly-chilled Morgon? But that’s a private disappointment that I do not expose to my customers. I’m excited about the wines on my list and want my customers to be, too.
uh. so you’re saying you’re losing money when people only have water at your restaurant? That you can’t possibly survive unless every person is an alcoholic?
We have all seen this argument crop up from time to time. I know that anecdotally we hear about these crazy people. When we went to the French Laundry for the first time many years ago, the sommelier said that they started a corkage fee because many people were just bringing in the “free wine” that their wine country hotel gave them when they checked in. Somehow, I bet those people didn’t really “understand” the food, either.
But for my part, I know that the wine service is the cash cow of restauranteurs. How else can they afford a high end sommelier and assistants? And build up multi thousand bottle cellars with first and second growths and burgundy grand crus? And I don’t mind paying a corkage fee, even a seemingly “exorbitant” one, because I know I will be getting good glassware and service and the like. What I do not like is paying $350 for Opus One, or paying $16 or $18 a glass for a wine that a broker just brought into the shop saying he can get it down to $10 a bottle. I will pay for service…I will not pay to be ripped off. And yes, we usually order a wine off the list for each one we bring…
The solution for restaurants is simple - charge a full tariff corkage that anticipates the expected wine margin for a person. If the deal is that the restaurant expects to make a $ 100 a head from wine then be transparent about it and welcome guests who bring their own wine and charge them a hundred a head.
Wine sales account for less than 20% of our sales, and the margin on wine is far lower than for food (albeit with lower wage cost), but we make more margin on beer.
If I was to allow BYO (which we don’t) then the rate would need to be equal to the margin on the median priced wine, and if I was to try and charge this I would cause widespread disdain, despite it being a zero sum gain for me. It’s simply not worth the hassle, as most people think I should be running a charity.
However if Anthony rocks up with a bottle of Grand Cru, corkeage will be waived and I will subtly walk past his table with an empty vessel!!
I don’t mind paying a reasonable corkage or a reasonable markup but I refuse to pay 2-3 times RETAIL for a wine the restaurant bought WHOLESALE, especially for some crappy mass produced wine I can find at the local grocery store. At that point I will happily drink water–enjoy your profit margin on that.
But I will tip really well.
Don’t allow corkage (and watch lots of your business walk out the door)
Have a good winelist (“good” refers to selection and pricing), and nice stemware (combined with #1 or #3)
Allow corkage, and charge an amount that makes you (restaurant) happy; if somebody comes in with their own bottle and pays the $25 corkage (per your corkage policy and you’re not happy about it, then you’re probably not charging enough for corkage).
This, of course, is all about $$$$. Arguments about the wine not pairing with the food do not reasonate with me b/c all-too-often the restaurant’s list, itself, is a complete joke when it comes to pairing with the cuisine of the restaurant.
It continues to amaze me just how much restaurants continue to engage in on this topic.
your scenario works only if your restaurant is full all the time, and every table buys at least 1 bottle. Otherwise you might be losing revenue because some people are going to another restaurant that allows BYO.
not sure if people consume more wine if they can BYO, but I would believe so. So you’d have to compare the margin of selling 1-2 bottles versus charging corkage on 3-4.
I’m always surprised by the corkages stories, as to people who are not interested in wine, there’s no difference between bringing a $5 bottle of plonk and being charged $15 for corkage, or buying the $20 bottle of swill off the list. Whenever I go out with non wine geeks they ALWAYS buy the 2nd least expensive bottle on the list, period.
I can understand there’s a feeling the owner would be losing out of the higher priced bottles, but do these bottles move, ever? And are they bought by people who would rather BYO? I don’t think so.
Why is any restaurant “entitled” to my business? Or entitled to charge me 4x retail for wine? I understand a restaurant is a business, and businesses exist to make profits. But there is no profit for a restaurant from me when I choose to stay home instead of pay their ridiculous markups for what I consider inferior and likely improperly-stored wine selections. I’ve been to several “fine dining” establishments where I was served a bottle of 80 degree wine that was $100+ off the list.
To be sure, plenty of diners are total strokers and cheapskates, but real wine enthusiasts understand the dynamics involved, both of the restaurant business, and the wines they would like to consume with a meal. If an establishment has a dedicated “wine program,” well good for them! I’ve been to several such establishments and the “program” was, well, not to my taste. But the food was, and I’d return if they let me bring my own wine. Why does that make me some kind of moron?
Smart restaurants realize they are in the service industry, and in the service industry, it’s not wise to treat your clientele with disdain and contempt. In my experience, wine enthusiasts are, well, enthusiastic, both about food and wine. We spend money, including on tipping. We usually buy drinks in addition to the bottle we brought in. There’s certainly corkage ettiqute to follow (such as not bringing in Yellowtail). If the occasional rube strays from the protocol, perhaps the restaurant could find a way to educate or discourage such behavior? I know that’s tough to do without being rude, but it’s possible.
The bottom line is that no restaurant is ever entitled to my business. I don’t feel entitled to corkage, but I am inclined to patronize restaurants that allow it.
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