Corkage Fee for Beer?

[Phunhog]

It is pretty common, at least in CA, for restaurants to charge a corkage fee if a customer brings in a bottle of wine to drink with dinner. It is usually around 10 dollars. Does anybody know if you can do that with beer? Let's face it a lot of really good restaurants have pretty crappy, or at least very limited beer offerings. It would be nice to bring in a bomber of something unique and/or special and enjoy a nice meal with it. I think it would also go a long way in showing that craft beer is important to diners. Thoughts??

 

[dnslater]

Interesting question, I look forward to the responses. I assumed they allow you to bring your own wine because of the importance of the wine industry in California.

 

[Beezy]

I have never heard of the fee. I know some places are byob. I don't think they charge but this is places with no liquor license. For me though I don't go out to eat often but when I do I look at the tap list before the menu lol. Ideally good on both ends tho.

 

[Phunhog]

Maybe it is a CA thing....My brother is a winemaker and we will bring a bottle of his wine for a special dinner. Assuming of course that the restaurant doesn't carry his wine. It got me thinking......why not do that with some sort of special release from a favorite brewery that you will probably never find in a restaurant.

 

[chezhed]

Years and years ago in the South you could brown bag in certain restaurants in dry counties. They sold setups at a nominal upcharge, about 50 cents more for anything that wasn't your normal beverage, tonic water, etc. Of course nobody homebrewed beer......
Local pizza place would let me bring in beer and didn't charge. But this is I guess Lousiana and drinking seems to be a right, not a privledge. Its going to vary immensely by location I suspect.

 

[vinyl_key]

Depends on where you go. I've had corkage fees for beer at one place, and none at another.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I work at a fine dining establishment her in good old California. We charge $16 for corkage, as our restaurant has a wine list with over 1000 bottles on it (we are known for our wine selection which spans several decades). At any rate, if a customer brought in a bottle of special beer and wanted to enjoy it on premises, I would charge them a corkage without thinking twice about it. You are bringing an outside beverage into an establishment that sells food and drink, so your carry-on beer is cutting into their profits. That money has to be recouped somewhere, hence the corkage fee. I'd call the establishment first and make sure BYOB isn't going to insult/upset the sensibilities of the restaurant's management/ownership, then bring that tasty brew to dinner and laugh at all the jealous BMC drinkers.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

I was so thinking this was Canada-CA not California-CA, because I thought the craft brew industry/market in California would not allow for poor beer offerings at any place serving good eats. I think the only restaurants in Portland that don't offer craft brew are McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I was so thinking this was Canada-CA not California-CA, because I thought the craft brew industry/market in California would not allow for poor beer offerings at any place serving good eats. I think the only restaurants in Portland that don't offer craft brew are McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc.

Not every person in CA want's good beer when they eat good food. So it goes.

 

[Phunhog]

I work at a fine dining establishment her in good old California. We charge $16 for corkage, as our restaurant has a wine list with over 1000 bottles on it (we are known for our wine selection which spans several decades). At any rate, if a customer brought in a bottle of special beer and wanted to enjoy it on premises, I would charge them a corkage without thinking twice about it. You are bringing an outside beverage into an establishment that sells food and drink, so your carry-on beer is cutting into their profits. That money has to be recouped somewhere, hence the corkage fee. I'd call the establishment first and make sure BYOB isn't going to insult/upset the sensibilities of the restaurant's management/ownership, then bring that tasty brew to dinner and laugh at all the jealous BMC drinkers.

Thanks!! Nice to know!!

 

[Airborneguy]

BYOB is very popular in NJ because liquor licenses are tightly controlled. I do not believe you can bring outside alcohol to a place that does sell alcohol though. I've never been charged a corkage fee at the places we've been to, but again, they can't sell alcohol so they probably can't charge anything in relation to alcohol at all.

As a side note, BYOB really makes going out to dinner cheap! I had never done it until I met my wife and she's brought me to a few great restaurants that we would have had big checks at had it not been BYOB.

 

[pauljmccain]

Moral of the story: someone needs to open a reverse-biergarten.

 

[motobrewer]

all of this is illegal in wisconsin....

 

[DregAddict]

It doesn't seem very economical for the patron if they pay a corkage fee for beer. In Vegas, we have a similar system as the OP in regards to wine corkage fees. If you bring in a bottle that isn't on the restaurant's wine list, they will charge you a $10-15ish corkage fee to drink it in their establishment. For a nice bottle of wine that could be $50+ retail, and potentially much more, this is economical for the customer, because a similar varietal and vintage might be 150+ per bottle off the restaurant's wine list. But even if the corkage fee is reduced for beer to say $7-8, there are not too many beers that are expensive enough to make paying a corkage fee a wise choice versus picking a beer off the bottle list.

 

[Jsamp]

I work in a restaurant that charges the corking fee. I need to ask if wine like bottles of beer could be included just out of curiosity. It does make since to charge a corking fee in my opinion. It would be like taking a house salad to your favorite restaurant and asking them for their dressing.

 

[BrewBrain]

I was so thinking this was Canada-CA not California-CA, because I thought the craft brew industry/market in California would not allow for poor beer offerings at any place serving good eats. I think the only restaurants in Portland that don't offer craft brew are McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc.

Wine is definitely still king by miles in California. You're likely to see Blue Moon and possibly Fat Freaking Tire if you're lucky. I rarely even see a California beer for craps sake. I usually drink wine or water. I like wine, but usually by itself. Beer goes much better with food IMO.

 

[Beezy]

Thats crazy I thought there were as many breweries in Cali as the rest of the country combined? Most bars here look at you stupid if you ask for a dark beer or an ale of any sort but there are good bars just have to know where to go.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

all of this is illegal in wisconsin....

False. Corkage is prefectly legal in WI but falsly represented incorrectly by some places. It is legal and a decent place who is serious with themselves will cork a bottle for you. That said, it isn't entirely common. Many places aren't willing to do it, or heard it is "illegal" from someone or another.

$16 is a ridiculous amount to charge for corkage. That is a joke. The only people who bring in bottles (in any decent drinking state like WI) are people who will be eating well and paying a bunch anyway. Plus you can always refuse corkage. If someone brings in a Franzia box, just say "we don't do that here". But if I bring in something special, that you don't carry, and you want to charge $16 to pull the cork, you are getting a ****ty ass tip. That $16 is coming right out of your tip. Sorry man.

Corkage is cool, and savy places will be cool with it. I have never rocked a beer, but it would be interesting to see hwo it was handled. I would call ahead, and just give them a heads up. To me, it likely won't be worth it unless the corkage fee is really small (<$5), but who knows.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Actually, know that I think more, $16 isn't too bad. I think I have paid that. My bad, the crazy sauce came out of me there....

 

[Jsamp]

Actually, know that I think more, $16 isn't too bad. I think I have paid that. My bad, the crazy sauce came out of me there....

Besides the companies charging policy should have nothing to do with the tip you give your service staff. The service of the staff is what matters. Im going to charge a corking fee for anyone that comes in. I can afford to lose a tip but I cant afford to go without an income.

 

[eastoak]

beer revolution in oakland sells bottled beer to go and charges a few bucks when you buy a bottle of beer and drink it in the bar. you pay, say, $6 for a bottle of pliny, then $2 to drink it. lol

 

[Airborneguy]

I can definitely understand a place that serves alcohol charging a high corkage fee. Afterall, the markup on alcohol is huge, and it can be the biggest source of income for a lot of restaurants.

As I mentioned earlier, my only experience with this has been true BYOB places, where they don't have an alcohol license. Legally, they can't profit off of alcohol at all, so no corkage fee. But, it does benefit a good restaurant because a person can eat there twice for the same amount they would spend on one meal with drinks.

I can bring the exact same bottle of wine to a BYOB restaurant for $15 that a place with a liquor license would charge $50 or more for.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

The advantage of a corkage fee is not in casual diners. The only time a corkage makes sense is for a special occasion or a special bottle. In both cases, you want people to have a special experience in your restaurant, so the nominal fee makes sense. No one brings in a cheap bottle to a restaurant.

WI, to my knowledge, has no BYOB food places. Who doesn't have a liquor license? Silly southerners

 

[Airborneguy]

Who doesn't have a liquor license? Silly southerners

NJ has some weird system where a certain locality - town or county, I'm not sure which - only has a certain number of liquor licenses. So basically, a place can't get one unless they get it from another place. It's almost like the taxi medallions here in NYC. I've heard ridiculous stories of restaurants paying another restaurant over $300k to get their liquor license. Because of this, BYOB's are fairly common in NJ and very popular.

In NYC, pretty much anyone can get a liquor license. Hell, I looked into the licenses for a brewpub and it would only cost me about $1500 a year!

 

[Phunhog]

The advantage of a corkage fee is not in casual diners. The only time a corkage makes sense is for a special occasion or a special bottle. In both cases, you want people to have a special experience in your restaurant, so the nominal fee makes sense. No one brings in a cheap bottle to a restaurant.

WI, to my knowledge, has no BYOB food places. Who doesn't have a liquor license? Silly southerners

That is exactly what I am talking about! If my wife and I go out to a nice dinner I don't want to be stuck drinking something I don't really like. It isn't really feasible for most restaurants to carry "special beers". I think it would be totally worth it to splurge on a 15 dollar bottle of beer, pay the corkage fee, and have a really nice experience. If the restaurant balks.....bring a Belgian and tell them it is "Belgian Champagne"

 

[SDCore]

False. Corkage is prefectly legal in WI but falsly represented incorrectly by some places. It is legal and a decent place who is serious with themselves will cork a bottle for you. That said, it isn't entirely common. Many places aren't willing to do it, or heard it is "illegal" from someone or another.

$16 is a ridiculous amount to charge for corkage. That is a joke. The only people who bring in bottles (in any decent drinking state like WI) are people who will be eating well and paying a bunch anyway. Plus you can always refuse corkage. If someone brings in a Franzia box, just say "we don't do that here". But if I bring in something special, that you don't carry, and you want to charge $16 to pull the cork, you are getting a ****ty ass tip. That $16 is coming right out of your tip. Sorry man.

Corkage is cool, and savy places will be cool with it. I have never rocked a beer, but it would be interesting to see hwo it was handled. I would call ahead, and just give them a heads up. To me, it likely won't be worth it unless the corkage fee is really small (<$5), but who knows.

If you're gonna get mad and NOT tip a waiter for corking a bottle that you bring into the establishment then as a manager I would tell you to leave and never come back. I have worked in many restaurants and you're gonna make it the waiters fault? It is not his decision to charge you, I'm sure most people would love it if you drank you're bottle without paying. That's just incredibly unfair to fault the waiter. That being said, from California I know plenty of places that serve good food and good beer, but I've never been turned down from bringing in bottles of wine or bottles of beer. They do charge a different fee, at least the places by me will, for wine and beer. If you're going to bring in your own alcohol to a place that serves that, therefore taking money out of their pockets, since they then assume "hey he is bring in a beer/wine, then the customer could potentially have wanted some of our liquor." To me it's the same as bringing your own food to a restaurant.

 

[Phunhog]

Yeah...I would NEVER bring in beer to a restaurant knowing that they sell that particular beer. That is just disrespectful and tacky. However I know a lot of really good restaurants that have pretty awful beer lists, almost like an after thought. They just assume you will have wine or cocktails.

 

[rexbanner]

I have been wondering this myself for a long time. I would have no problem paying around $15 to bring in a nice beer for my table to share for a special occasion. I have a strong dark and tripel going right now. I probably wouldn't bring anything weaker to a restaurant, it's kind of a waste. I would think that a restaurant wouldn't care if you brought a beer rather than wine, but you could just bottle it with a cork and no one would notice.

 

[Jsamp]

I would think that a restaurant wouldn't care if you brought a beer rather than wine, but you could just bottle it with a cork and no one would notice.

I think people keep forgetting that when they bring a bottle into an establishment the establishment still provides the services to serve that beverage. You are also enjoying that establishments environment or else a person wouldnt select that place for a "great dining experience with my hand selected bottle". Try taking a bottle into Burger King and see what happens.

 

[rexbanner]

I think people keep forgetting that when they bring a bottle into an establishment the establishment still provides the services to serve that beverage. You are also enjoying that establishments environment or else a person wouldnt select that place for a "great dining experience with my hand selected bottle". Try taking a bottle into Burger King and see what happens.

Who's forgetting that? I said I'd pay. I agree with you.

 

[rgontasz]

The only place I've been to that was BYOB was in Baltimore and it was $.50 a bottle for beer and $10 for wine. I think us beer drinkers make out in that situation!

 

[bigbeergeek]

False. Corkage is prefectly legal in WI but falsly represented incorrectly by some places. It is legal and a decent place who is serious with themselves will cork a bottle for you. That said, it isn't entirely common. Many places aren't willing to do it, or heard it is "illegal" from someone or another.

$16 is a ridiculous amount to charge for corkage. That is a joke. The only people who bring in bottles (in any decent drinking state like WI) are people who will be eating well and paying a bunch anyway. Plus you can always refuse corkage. If someone brings in a Franzia box, just say "we don't do that here". But if I bring in something special, that you don't carry, and you want to charge $16 to pull the cork, you are getting a ****ty ass tip. That $16 is coming right out of your tip. Sorry man.

Corkage is cool, and savy places will be cool with it. I have never rocked a beer, but it would be interesting to see hwo it was handled. I would call ahead, and just give them a heads up. To me, it likely won't be worth it unless the corkage fee is really small (<$5), but who knows.

OK. Cue the server's rebuttal.

I realize you changed your mind and said $16 dollars isn't "too bad" for a corkage fee.

But you did tip your hand and revealed a little bit about what kind of restaurant patron you are: the worst kind. You have clearly represented yourself as are the type of person who treats the service staff as though they are personally responsible for restaurant policy, and if you are displeased with any aspect of your dining experience (the steak was too salty, parking was a hassle, or you were charged a corkage fee) you feel justified punishing your waiter by shortchanging him/her on their tip. The tip is part of the social contract we Americans follow when we dine out in this country. It varies across the country with respect to tipping rate, but the foundation couldn't be more clear: you tip your waiter for serving you. You sit in a chair and they bring you everything you could possibly need to enjoy a meal. If you get a reasonable level of service, you tip your waiter whatever the going rate in your area demands. In central California, that means around 18% of your bill. Unless you feel your server went out of their way to insult you or intentionally make your evening unpleasant, you should never tip less that the going rate, period. Food talking a long time is not a server's fault. A kitchen running out of your favorite cut of pork is not a reason to ignore all the work they do for you and the diners around you. And openly admitting that you'd subtract your tip from an otherwise satisfactory server because of a corkage fee is insulting to me, a man who supports a wife and two children with "tips."

People who think the way you do about dining out need to be corrected, or at the very least you shouldn't eat out anymore. Stay home and pry open all the bottles of wine you want for free. But if you want to carry alcohol into an establishment that sells alcohol, you're going to have to pay up. And if the establishment is like mine, where pages and pages of bottles sell for well over $500 (at an approximate 100% markup from retail prices, if such rare vintages could actually be found in retail stores), bringing in equivalent wine and paying a $16 dollar fee is a bargain indeed. FYI, corkage fees are not voluntary -- you pay or you never come back.

To conclude: some people need to stop blaming their server for their own personal issues which are well beyond your server's control -- issues like being impatient, cheap, or ignorant. Your server is doing an unpleasant job and is being paid the legal minimum to perform it. If your dining experience isn't everything you hoped it would be, try to rationally decide what your server is (and isn't) responsible for -- just chill out, tip correctly and have a few homebrews when you get home. Don't hurt honest hard working people by taking income out of their pockets.

There's my server rant. Don't say you didn't ask for it -- because you did.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Moral of the story: someone needs to open a reverse-biergarten.

Move to CA now & let's get this puppy rolling. o_o



Edit @bigbeergeek: I haven't worked in anything that could be described as an "upscale dining establishment", but I completely agree on the point that servers deserve more respect than they receive. After working at an Applebee's for 2 years, I realized long ago that the people who bring your food are extremely under-appreciated, and the lengths they normally go to in order to appease their clients often goes completely un-noticed. Depending on the establishment, obviously, I hold no qualms about restaurants setting their own corkage fees. If people feel the need to bring their own beer/wine/whatever into an establishment that already provides similar drinks, then it's entirely on the customer's shoulders to pony up & just pay what is being asked, because it's practically a faux-pas to short-change the person bringing your food (who often depends on the tips they receive). Good rant, by the way.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

I agree with most of what you are saying. I generally use 20% as my default...you have to be fairly incompetent, neglectful, or rude for me to consider reducing that number. I may even pay more if the service was exceptional. I am always verbally grateful for the service I receive. But there is a significant percentage of servers who look at gratuity with a sense of entitlement. I understand there are a lot of difficult people out there but it's called "gratuity" for a reason...make me grateful.

Edit: that last statement was not meant with a "stick-up-my-butt" tone, btw...just saying

 

[bigbeergeek]

I agree with most of what you are saying. I generally use 20% as my default...you have to be fairly incompetent, neglectful, or rude for me to consider reducing that number. I may even pay more if the service was exceptional. I am always verbally grateful for the service I receive. But there is a significant percentage of servers who look at gratuity with a sense of entitlement. I understand there are a lot of difficult people out there but it's called "gratuity" for a reason...make me grateful.

Edit: that last statement was not meant with a "stick-up-my-butt" tone, btw...just saying

Agreed, gratuity isn't mandated in most situations... if only it were!!!

I personally believe there is a strong case for entitlement in the service industry. Servers are paid minimum wage. The restaurant is able to maintain a staff of professional, hard-working, intelligent servers paid for minimum wage. This translates to lower menu prices etc for the consumer. "Gratuity" is what keeps university-educated people like myself in the waiting game. In non-tipping countries, servers are well-paid individuals and menu prices must reflect that fact. So while tipping is technically voluntary, skimping on your server's tip is a violation of sorts -- especially when the majority of poor tips are beyond the control of the waiter.

I tip 20%, minimum, 100% of the time -- of course more if I was delighted with the server's performance. If I feel a server was distant or under-performing, I'll scribble a quick note saying "I wait tables for a living and I'm going to tip you appropriately, but a lot of people would have reduced this tip this tip because..."

I think the general public has no idea what waiting is all about. If everyone in America waited tables at some point in their lives for one month, ignorance about dining out etiquette would disappear completely.

 

[motobrewer]

False. Corkage is prefectly legal in WI but falsly represented incorrectly by some places. It is legal and a decent place who is serious with themselves will cork a bottle for you. That said, it isn't entirely common. Many places aren't willing to do it, or heard it is "illegal" from someone or another.

Tell that to Riversite in Mequon. They had to stop allowing it because they heard it was illegal.....but he heard it from the ATF.

from the owner himself:

Unfortunately, the Wisconsin ATF has informed us that the BYOB night is in violation of state statutes. That also includes corkage of any kind. No alcohol may be brought into any establishment that holds a liquor license. Some filed a complaint against us for the violation so we have had to cancel all such events. Sorry.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

If a restaurant billed itself as a BYOB/BYOB optional place and there were no signs and nothing on the menu that said a corkage fee was charged, I'd be pissed that the wait staff didn't tell me before opening the bottle. That would probably have a negative effect on my tip. Then again, we don't have that in Texas, so I wouldn't know to expect that in another state. If it was commonplace in Texas, I would probably have less of an issue not being told because I would likely already expect it.

Whether it's permitted in your state is going to be a question of your state's liquor laws. I don't believe it is permitted in Texas and I have never gone to a BYOB place and been charged a fee for either beer or wine. I think Texas specifically outlaws consuming alcohol at a serving establishment if the alcohol was not bought from the establishment.

I definitely understand the rationale for restaurants to charge corkage fees -- drinks are well marked up and very profitable. I'd probably take advantage of it. I've gone to a lot of restaurants, even those referring to themselves as a "wine bar" and had bottles of wine I could buy for $10-15 at a grocery store sold for $40-50 (or more). Even a $15 corkage fee makes the store-bought bottle cheaper than the restaurant. It makes me curious whether that option makes restaurants serve more high end wines, less likely to be found at stores, and fewer low end wines because it's cheaper to let people bring it in themselves and charge the corkage fee than to stock and store it themselves.

 

[motobrewer]

i read a great article about a month or so ago on corkage...wish I could find it now.

anyway the lady recommended proper corkage practice involves calling the restaurant before and tell them what you're bringing. When you get there, present to the sommelier or owner, and when they open it offer them a taste.

also, kabouter, the actual statue that bans people from bringing alcohol into a restaurant is State Statute 125.32 6a, in case you're wondering.

it might be tax-related, something my friend brought to my attention the other day. Liquor sold thru a restaurant or bar is taxed higher than liquor sold retail.

I made the comment to my friend who is a cook that he could get booze cheaper if he brought it off his restaurant and he said it's more expensive. He said it's illegal for the owner to run to a liquor store to buy a bottle and serve it, and that there are state employees that go around checking the bar codes to see if they were purchased thru legal channels.

 

[ozzy1038]

Quite a few restaurants have corkage fees. It's their way of making a little money since you are not buying their wine. This is typically the case with more upscale restaurants.

 

[ozzy1038]

Agreed, gratuity isn't mandated in most situations... if only it were!!!

I personally believe there is a strong case for entitlement in the service industry. Servers are paid minimum wage. The restaurant is able to maintain a staff of professional, hard-working, intelligent servers paid for minimum wage. This translates to lower menu prices etc for the consumer. "Gratuity" is what keeps university-educated people like myself in the waiting game. In non-tipping countries, servers are well-paid individuals and menu prices must reflect that fact. So while tipping is technically voluntary, skimping on your server's tip is a violation of sorts -- especially when the majority of poor tips are beyond the control of the waiter.

I tip 20%, minimum, 100% of the time -- of course more if I was delighted with the server's performance. If I feel a server was distant or under-performing, I'll scribble a quick note saying "I wait tables for a living and I'm going to tip you appropriately, but a lot of people would have reduced this tip this tip because..."

I think the general public has no idea what waiting is all about. If everyone in America waited tables at some point in their lives for one month, ignorance about dining out etiquette would disappear completely.

I used to chef it up until my carpal tunnel forced me out of the game. In the establishments I worked in, it was not uncommon for the servers to take home $200-$300 a night. A lot of that tip money comes/came from alcohol sales (mostly wine).

I tip 20% unless the service really sucked. IMO a mediocre meal is made good by great service. On the flip side, great food can be made bad by crappy service. Dining is about the experience and the food and service work in unison to create that experience. I have no problem leaving a penny as a sign of horrible service. IMO the server is not entitled to 20% if they have done little or nothing to deserve it.

That being said, I empathize with servers as some people don't realize that their living is based on tips.

What irks me however is the restaurants you go to where no service is given other than at the counter (our local Smash Burger) and there is a tip jar on the counter. WTF is that about!? I would almost equate that to panhandling.