+1000… Exactly…
In SF there’s endless elsewhere. There are places that self-promote, getting their names hyped in national magazines and there are low-key spots that are just as good that cater to local loyal customers.
Most of the time I’ll pick the restaurant without thought to their wine list, and will BYO unless it’s prohibited or ridiculously expensive
Then there are a few places where I actually look forward to buying wine off the list, even quite expensive wine, because the restaurant offers value (cf. Heirloom Cafe and The Morris in SF)
I’ve got a Wine Check Elite with a 6 bottle styro insert; glasses fit pretty snugly in there
We rarely get the opportunity to eat out. If it’s Mexican food I’m drinking beer off their menu. If we go to a steak house or Italian restaurant, we usually bring one bottle and buy one or more bottles, depending on the number of people there are. There have been several occasions where I checked the wine list of a new restaurant to determine what wine to bring that is NOT on their list and corkage fees. If I see they have Chappellet Signature Cab for under $140 and it goes with the main course, I may not bring any wine and buy both pre-dinner/appetizer/salad white wine and purchase the Chappellet for dinner. It’s the happiest medium for me and the restaurant that doesn’t overprice their wine. Here in Napa we have a wide variety of restaurants and pricing. What can be surprising is to see wine X is $210 at an Italian restaurant where the average meal is $28 and wine X is $180 at the high end steak house where the average meal is $45.
I live in San Francisco. I will bring a $30.00 bottle, usually to an ethnic restaurant that does not charge corkage. Otherwise, I have a deep wine cellar, and I always bring my wine. It isn’t about saving money; in my case I’ll never
be able to drink all my wine in my lifetime. Plus, the restaurants I frequent don’t have older vintage bottles.What’s left will be auctioned off for charity.
In Dayton, Ohio, corkage (where it is available) is usually $10 and those places tend to have good lists with reasonable markups. Nothing like NY or SF in terms of depth or cost. I generally bring red and buy white so I don’t have to hassle with chilling and having whites at the right temperature. If we bring wine, we are likely to start with a beer or a cocktail. I usually bring wines that were purchased directly from the wineries which have been cellared until they are in their prime drinking window. They usually decant for me. And since I’m a regular and generous with the waitstaff, corkage is often waved.
Two weeks ago while in Burgundy I bought 5 bottles of wine off various lists in one day. I don’t think I have bought 5 bottles from lists in the U.S. all year. Rare that I find a list in Los Angeles that has an interesting selection that is aged and priced appropriately.
my research indicates that it’s totally arbitrary.
We BYO at least 90% of the time because there is such a plethora of low or no-corkage establishments here in SoCal. If anything, maybe a Champagne split off the list to get us started.
I don’t get the few sentiments here that mention being “fair” to a restaurant. The fact that we are eating there is fair enough and I have never been made to feel like a crook by any staff at a place where I’ve brought my own.
I’m happy to pay corkage if I can bring my wine. When I’m stuck eating at a restaurant that doesn’t allow corkage (or in Las Vegas, where margins are only impressive to bean counters), I punish the restaurant with a glass of water; or if they’re lucky, ice tea.
dh
Me either. Very very rarely I seen a quote from a restaurateur complaining about their own corkage policy, but that only makes them look like they have their heads up their asses.
Yeah, the majority of diners at these restaurants don’t drink wine there, and many don’t drink booze at all. So I don’t see it being unfair to the restaurant, so long as you’re complying with their policy on corkage and being a reasonable and pleasant customer about all of it.
Having said that, there is still that percentage of time when your non-geek dining companions or the server at the restaurant think you’re being weird bringing wine. Such is life, and it usually passes quickly.
Me too, too!
Gosh, don’t you hate being “The Wine Guy”?