That’s hilarious. If a restaurant is paying MORE for wine than the average consumer they DESERVE to go out of business. If a restaurant needs to make most of their money selling wine, they should open a wine shop.

And don’t call me a cheapskate. This past Sunday despite having a couple of cases of wine in the car, I paid $60 for a bottle of wine in a restaurant in the Napa Valley. Why? Because I knew that that was the ONLY place that I was going to find that particular wine and that the restaurant was smart enough to have it on their list.

And while I’ll normally take a $20-$30 wine with me, if we’re just going out for a quick bite for dinner I’ll grab whatever’s handy. Like the other night, I grabbed a $10 wine to take because I knew I liked it and didn’t want to risk paying $25 or $30 on something I didn’t particularly like on an evening that wasn’t particularly special. In fact, I offered the waiter a glass of it after he opened it and he said that while he’d like to, he couldn’t. But guess what, he waived the corkage!

Before opening mine, I’ll always check their list. If I see something I really like, I’ll order from their list instead. It often comes down to making sure that I’m going to like what I’m drinking.

I just wish that more restrateurs would figure out that they would come out ahead by lowering their wine prices. They’d sell more wine and their restaurant would be more popular. One of the best examples I know is Passionfish restaurant in Pacific Grove, CA. They offer fine dining (Zagat rated 25 for food!) and a huge wine list that is priced at RETAIL. You can buy a bottle of wine there for anywhere between $11 and $250. It’s packed every night and has been that way for many years. How do they stay in business without ripping people off on wine? Check out their website along with their wine list: http://www.passionfish.net

Landmarc in Tribeca has a similar policy of pricing wine basically at retail. Food is not amazing, but it's good enough, and it's also packed every night despite the somewhat-annoying policy of only taking reservations for parties of 6 or more.

"Last week I came across a USD 30 wine being sold for USD 118 on a wine list -- does that qualify? And to make it FT related, this was at Cool River Cafe in Terminal D at DFW."

I think the operative word there is "Terminal". I don't recall ever finding a bargain in an airport.

"If a restaurant is paying MORE for wine than the average consumer they DESERVE to go out of business. "

Perhaps you might want to look up tax laws in different areas. In some places, bars and restaurants are taxed extra on alcoholic beverages. Next time, doing some homework might be a good idea.

"And don’t call me a cheapskate. This past Sunday despite having a couple of cases of wine in the car, I paid $60 for a bottle of wine in a restaurant in the Napa Valley. Why? Because I knew that that was the ONLY place that I was going to find that particular wine and that the restaurant was smart enough to have it on their list."

By your own words you were complaining about the markup on a bottle of wine being $3 too high. Someone who does something like that an routinely brings his/her own wine into restaurants is a cheapskate. You can maybe pass one or two off on as the restaurant not having anything you liked, but please, not many people on here are stupid.

"And while I’ll normally take a $20-$30 wine with me, if we’re just going out for a quick bite for dinner I’ll grab whatever’s handy. Like the other night, I grabbed a $10 wine to take because I knew I liked it and didn’t want to risk paying $25 or $30 on something I didn’t particularly like on an evening that wasn’t particularly special. In fact, I offered the waiter a glass of it after he opened it and he said that while he’d like to, he couldn’t. But guess what, he waived the corkage!"

Hahahaha. I have to thank you for that one. You brought a $10 wine into a restaurant? You're all class. I was crying I was laughing so hard at that. No doubt, the waitstaff were doing the same. Did you ever think that the waiter might have been just saying that he couldn't as a convenient excuse to avoid drinking your wine? I guess you never figured that s/he might waived the corkage fee as s/he felt sorry for someone who brought a $10 bottle of wine into the restaurant.

"I just wish that more restrateurs would figure out that they would come out ahead by lowering their wine prices. They’d sell more wine and their restaurant would be more popular."

Perhaps you might want to study some economics sometime. You could say the same thing about Apple's iPod prices, the price of Windows, a Rolex, etc. Lowering prices might stimulate demand, but it will not necessarily lead to increased profits especially when you're dealing with a product that has inelastic demand. The people who run restaurants like making money. There is a reason why they have markups on the things you buy. They are in a tough business and need the revenue.

"You can buy a bottle of wine there for anywhere between $11 and $250. It’s packed every night and has been that way for many years. How do they stay in business without ripping people off on wine? Check out their website along with their wine list: http://www.passionfish.net"

You must be in a dilemma there. Would you still bring in your own $10 wine? Pointing out one exception does not a rule make. There is probably a Pinto around somewhere with half a million miles on it that has never had a thing go wrong with it. That doesn't mean that every Pinto turned out like that.

Given that you're so upset about this. Where are your threads about the price of sodas, coffee, tea, etc. The markup on these items is huge. Where are your threads protesting this item? Do you expect to be able to bring in your own thermos of coffee if the restaurant isn't serving coffee from somewhere you like? What about the food? Do you expect to bring in your own if you don't like the menu? I fail to see, logically, how this should be any different. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from someone who commonly brings a $10 bottle of wine into a restaurant.

By the way, take a wild guess why many restaurants don't allow corkage. The simple answer is that some poeple are so cheap that they would rather bring in their own $10 bottle of wine rather than buy the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu. Some people, as with most things, ruin it for everyone else.

Restaurants don't allow corkage??? That's sad. You can bring your own wine into any restaurant in California. Your area of the country will soon catch up my friend. Last Friday we went to an early dinner at a place called Moxie before a play and all six tables that had come before us had brought their own wine. And before you accuse Moxie of being a truck stop, just Google them and you'll see it's not. I brought a $25 bottle of Pinot that was delicious. There are also restaurants out here that pride themselves on the fact that they don't charge ANY corkage. (e.g Bandera, part of the Houston's chain)

Yes, some do not allow for the reasons listed above. Thanks for your post though. It's clear you have no retort for anything that I've said.

Some restaurants really should have a sign that reads bring your own wine in and leave your class at the door.

Sheet, in Oootah we been schelpping our $5 swill into da cafes fer ever. Only way a soober parson can git a descent drink in dis stat. Too many freekin revinnuers. My problem is dat the only beer most cafes serve is red neck bottles of piss water out ole Saint Louis. Ya think ya look cheap bring a ya $10 wine in, you shud see look on the waiter face when I bring in a big ole 22oz bottle of Moose Droll beer to wash my grits down with. Best part - I can pop the top with my two front teeths - so no corkage fee!! Buuuuurppppp.