Originally Posted by
BamaVol
Last night, for the first time, I brought a bottle to a restaurant. We were overnighting in Helen Ga (never again unless for Octoberfest). Turns out the county is dry (was until 1/1/09 but no one was ready) and the restaurant website indicated that if you wanted a drink, you brought your own. I emailed to confirm they were open for New Years day and that BYOB was still appropriate. The response was yes. I have to say it was refreshing to enjoy a good bottle of wine without the 3X mark-up. The corkage fee was only $2 per person and they waived that and brought us free apple strudel when we said it was our anniversary. Id like to do this again. Is it appropriate to do so even when a restaurant has a winelist? I know when restaurants permit this, the corkage fee is generally much more than $2. I guess if it were $20, I'd want to make sure the wine wasn't just everyday stuff. Anybody make a habit of BYOB?
Definitely Ok, even in places like Northern California where wine is legal and most good restaurants have good wine lists. I tend to drink older (6+ year) high end white wines, and virtually no places have a decent list of vintage white wines, so we usually BYOB. As long as its clear you're not just doing it to avoid paying their markup, but rather are bringing something that is not comparable to what's on their list, you'll be in good shape.
Part of the reason for higher corkage fees is to encourage you to buy off their list, but even so a $50 or up wine plus corkage will always be cheaper than a comparable wine from a restaurant list, even if they offer something similar.
If the restaurant has a decent wine list and/or sommelier, it's also polite to offer the server or wine person a taste of whatever you brought.
Bob
PS: I went to high school in North Georgia, and would have to second the recommendation to avoid Helen under pretty much all circumstances.