travel and BYOB dining
 

business now takes me on the road more often.
my wife and I enjoy BYOB dining (you know where you bring your own bottle)
I'd be interested in hearing of BYOB places that you may know....
all types of cuizine and no town is too small, as I end up going to lots of out of the way places.....

Bob

Sign up for www.erobertparker.com

They have a forum for this very topic.

Welcome to Flyertalk nevadabob.

I think my favorite BYOB place here in Houston is Collina's. They have (I think) four locations and I know two are strictly BYOB (one because of the school district's building across the street [Richmond Ave.] and the other because that part of town is dry [the Heights]). I've only paid the $1.00/person corkage at the Heights location.

My favorite BYOB place of past was East Park Grill in Worcester, MA. It closed down about ten years ago but it was, as I said, BYOB and cash only. The plates were about $10 and the food was great. They had a dip for your fresh italian bread that was to die for....it was so d@mn good.

BYOB in the Great Outdoors...
 

This is kind of a "BYOB" in a natural setting... This past weekend my spouse and I spend a long weekend in San Luis Obispo, in California's Central Coast wine growing area. On Sunday, a beautiful, warm and sunny day, we packed a small picnic of a fresh bakery baguette from Soleri's Bakery, a hunk of local cheese, some fresh local peaches & figs and a bottle of Calera 1996 Pinot Noir Reed, and went a few miles up the Coast to Morro Bay and sat on the Pacific side of Morro Rock, enjoying that wonderful wine and picnic, watching the surfers and the sea life. What a day! ^

BYOB dining? How positively revolting and low class! :eek:

But I guess I've done this when eating at Taco Bell drinking my own Colt 45 malt liquor and wearing one of my tank-top t-shirts, flip-flops, and cut-off jeans :D

M8

Very common in Texas because of the prevelance of dry counties. At least you can drink a nice wine at a decent price. I am so sick of place like Mortons charging you $100 for a wine you can buy for $20 in the grocery store.

My favorite is just outside of Dallas, to the north of the race track. It is called the Ranchman Cafe in Ponder, Texas. The town has a population of maybe 50. The steaks are excellant (Porter house), and everything is homemade (really homemade).

When I was little (the 70's), it use to take about 3 hours to make your meal because the owner/cook did each order one at a time from scratch and they actually had an outhouse for the facilities. Now it is a lot faster and they have indoor plumbing. Good idea to call your order in advance and make reservations. But when we go we are not in any hurry.

They sit the locals in the front and at the counter, and they have the addition in the back for out of towners.

Look up Ponder on Map quest, you can not miss the restaurant. Also, the bank next door, now out of business, was robbed by bonnie and clyde. They still have bullet holes in the walls. Last time a noticed, the Bank made cowboy boots to order.

IF you want to go back to Texas in the 1920's go to Ponder.

Save room for their homemade pies.

They are more modern, here is the link:

http://www.ranchman.com/

If we dined and you brought a 1999 Screaming Eagle Cab, I guarantee I would definitely not think you revolting or low class. ;)

Very common in Australia to do BYOB as many places don't have licenses to sell but can open and serve your bottle.

In the US, most any place will allow you to bring your own generally providing it's not on their wine list, it's not something low-class and revolting like 2 Buck Chuck or equivalent, you pay their corkage (which is something like $75 or more at French Laundry, but more like $15 or $20 at moderate restaurants), and you share with the wine steward. (That last part is just good manners, and depending on the wine, could get your corkage waived.)

thanks for the info....I'll be sure to add to my TX list of byob dining.....

thanks for the info, two more states and good places to eat and drink....
my family lives in CT so I'll try the east park grill next time I am that way.....

Bob

thanks for the info....
I signed up for their free trial but could not find the forum or byob under their search engine.....
I'll look around some more....
Bob

For years one of the highest Zagat rated restaurant chains in Los Angeles, has been Cafe Bizou. In addition true great and inexpensive food, they have a $2 corkage charge. Everybody BYOB's (although they do have wines available, at acceptable prices).

www.cafebizou.com

Locations in Sherman Oaks and Pasadena. Reservations are generally necessary.

I should have been more clear...East Park is long gone....I think it closed 10 years ago.

It only goes to show that a snooty mindset might make you miss out some wonderful dining experiences. :rolleyes:

Should you ever visit Philadelphia ( a city many foodies claim is a somewhat undiscovered dining mecca) you will find tons of very good restaurants, some of the city's best which are BYOB. The number of such places make that city unique among most other cities, at least in NA.

After one " retracts one's nose from out the clouds" :D
They can check out chowhound.com or e-gullet.com for others who have enjoyed such eateries.

mike

Moi? Never! :D Besides I did say in my post that I take my own Colt 45 malt liquor to the my local Taco Bell :D

M8

You know, there just aren't enough places in the world with "Add-a-Quail" on the menu. Someday I will have to check this out! :cool:

This is true, Philadelphia is a great BYOB location. You can view some of the BYOB places here:
http://philadelphia.citysearch.com/list/12

Permissible in a few states, but most states' beverage laws prohibit the practice, allowing only alcoholic beverages purchased on site to be consumed there.

A general rule of thumb....In "Dry Jurisdictions" (precincts, townships, counties, cities, etc.) which prohibit the retail sale of alcohol or in restaurants which are not licensed to sell alcohol, BYOB may be permitted by the owner.

Exceptions and why one should "call ahead".....

Many jurisdictions allow beer sales, beer and wine sales, sales of various beverages, but not by the glass/drink/across the bar.

Just as Massachusetts used to make drinkers "sit" on Sunday, some state statutes and local regulations can be quaint and hard to appreciate.

TMO

I was just talking with someone sitting next to me on a plane and BYOB issue came up. He mentioned Martha's Vineyard being mostly dry so you pretty much have to bring your own wine to restaurants there. Corkage is apparently minimal - as in a few dollars - at most restaurants.

Oodles of Noodles in Kona got rid of their wine list to cut costs and charged no corkage. They closed and reopened as the smaller O's Bistro with pretty much the same menu. I haven't been since, but would imagine the BYOB w/little or no corkage remains. Something to check out if in the area.

This was a local ordinance to help Ted & Family dry up :D

M8

I think it's far more than a few, but it would be useful to compile a list of states that don't allow it (and at that it can vary by county). Virginia law forbids it, except with private parties in a separate room, but there are restaurants there that allow it anyway.

Which other states that you know have laws forbidding bringing your own wine for consumption at a restaurant? These are the ones I found (and in some states listed it's only illegal if the restaurant has a full liquor license - New Jersey restaurants without liquor licenses are apparently forbidden from charging corkage and encourage BYO, and Tennessee law requires corkage be offered):

Virginia
Colorado
Vermont (though apparently not much enforced)
Mass (Wellesley requires a special permit for corkage; and it's obviously allowed in Martha's Vineyard as noted above)
NJ
Michigan
Maryland (possibly only banned in Montgomery County)
Indiana
Ohio
Texas
Vermont
Hawaii (Maui county only?)
Arizona

A side topic, but a lot of people don't realize that most (yes, most) states allow you to recork wine served at a restaurant and bring it home. At least 27 states let you do this and several others have no law one way or the other.

Since I/we really enjoy a bit of fine wine with our meals, I love BYOB places because you truly make your own selection, and get a great price too. Stopping in to purchase an appropriately nice wine for $25 while on the way over to the restaurant rather than electing to purchase a second choice wine, often not nearly as good, and perhaps being even more expensive! Long live BYOB. :)

On the other hand, occasionally I'll see a great new wine to try at a restaurant and sometimes it is extraordinarily well priced. Go figure! :)

BTOB places saved me when I was a poor student. ;)

-Mark

In Texas it's "legal" if permitted by owners in "Dry" areas (where wine may not be sold "across the bar") or when the establishment has no alcohol sales permit (for either beer, wine or mixed drinks).

Much patronized by the national media when the Prez is weekending or longer in nearby Crawford, Waco's "Siete Mares, fresh seafood in the style of the Mexican Gulf Coast, charges no corkage fees and once had the grandest collection of unmatched glasses brought by local patrons before the little place had wineglasses at all - everything from high end Napa boutiques to Rhenish souvenirs. Now, it has its own "dollar store" variety, less charm, but less breakage.

There's celebrities to sight, but from some perspectives, status does not always endow couth.

Pet Peeve...Restaurants that more than triple the normal retail price of modest but drinkable wines. I expect to pay a substantial markup, but not to send the owner's daughter to finishing school (in Switzerland). That business in Cana? The hall had plenty of wine. The manager was simply charging to much!

:rolleyes:
TMO

I just at my first BYOB restaurant in the city this past weekend.

The place was called Think Cafe. Oh by the way, it's in Chicago in bucktown. The food was great.

http://www.think-cafe.com/

This would surprise me greatly, as most states have separate on and off premisis lisences. some places have both, but most restaurants do not have an Off Prem. Lis.

Be surprised! Here are snips (trying to avoid copyright violations) from the Sept. 22 WSJ. The story goes on to explain that the laws were generally made to curb drunken driving by not making diners feel as though they have to finish the bottle they paid for. In some states participation by restaurants is voluntary, in a few, it's required. There are also different procedures - some states require the restaurant to recork it; some require it be put in some sort of sealed bag so you're not temped to drink it in the car. Definitely one of those things you'd want to ask about before you order and expect to take the leftover wine home.


(I was going to give a WSJ link, but it's in the archives for $29.95, I think it is. This site reprinted it in full: http://www.bookofjoe.com/2004/09/waiter_id_like_.html)

1/2 the provinces in canada are byob..with montreal..
 

...having entire neighbourhoods with nothing but byob restaurants...i highly reccomend L'acamie on the corner of St. denis and deluth.