dicksond wrote:what makes a place without a liquor license special?

The whole meal ends up $20-50 cheaper.

Part of the savings is on the markup, but part of it is also a certain "sunk cost" mentality in grabbing a bottle off the shelf at home that I don't mentally include in the meal cost.

Say you get dinner for two at TAC Quick for $30 including tax and tip. If they sold wine and you bought a bottle, you could easily add another $30 to the bill vs. maybe $10 if you bring your own. The difference between a $30 meal (with $10 paid weeks earlier) and a $60 meal is significant. And if you're a larger party with more people and more drinking, the price difference can be quite substantial.

I wouldn't really be comfortable bringing my own bottle to a place with a wine list unless it was particularly interesting, special, or rare, which is almost never the case.

We're always looking for BYOB because the price difference can make my failing, old parents gag. We like:
1. Sticky Rice
2. Mundial Cafe
3. Lao Szechuan (is now BYOB)
4. Big Buns & Pita
5. Hashalom
Of course Schwa is pretty good and Sweets & Savories lets you bring a bottle once a week. I once asked for some BYOB recommendations on LTH forum and got jumped for implying I'd tried most of the BYOB's in Chicago. Of course we haven't 'cause there's hundreds that don't meet our criteria, but we're always on the lookout for that special place with food a cut above that will let us bring our own.

My favorite BYOB in the city is:
Los Nopales, 4544 N Western Ave
It is so, so good, and an unbelievably good deal. Think creative, regional Mexican food at crazy-reasonable prices.

For late-night BYOB, you can't beat Pizza Metro, 1707 W Division St. Good people-watching too!

Aaron Deacon wrote:

dicksond wrote:what makes a place without a liquor license special?

The whole meal ends up $20-50 cheaper.

Part of the savings is on the markup, but part of it is also a certain "sunk cost" mentality in grabbing a bottle off the shelf at home that I don't mentally include in the meal cost.

Say you get dinner for two at TAC Quick for $30 including tax and tip. If they sold wine and you bought a bottle, you could easily add another $30 to the bill vs. maybe $10 if you bring your own. The difference between a $30 meal (with $10 paid weeks earlier) and a $60 meal is significant. And if you're a larger party with more people and more drinking, the price difference can be quite substantial.

I wouldn't really be comfortable bringing my own bottle to a place with a wine list unless it was particularly interesting, special, or rare, which is almost never the case.

You miss my point, but perhaps I get yours. I almost always bring my own wine. That way I drink better and more economically. But I do understand that if your intention is to bring some inexpensive bottle you just picked up, the chance of a problem is much greater if the place has their own wine list. Me, I accumulate wines that may not cost much more than yours, but they have usually resided in my basement for some years, so they are older than the restaurant's (I have had some interesting exchanges at places where they had the same wine - strangely both times Chardonnays, one California, one Burgundy, on their list, so they objected. Once I got the Sommelier and pointed out my bottle was 5 years older than theirs, we were able to agree that it was not really the same wine, so I prevailed), and they almost always are more obscure, even if they may also be cheaper.

Anyway, I now officially get it. While one can save the same amount of money going to a purely BYOB or a place with a liquor license, and likely eat as well, there is a risk of a problem in the place with the liquor license if you are not careful about what you bring. Yup, that problem is real, though I choose to address it with the fallback position of buying a bottle off their list if I must (it happens to me once or twice a year), rather than avoiding certain restaurants. But the risk is real, and the more mainstream and newer your wine, the greater it gets.

Thanks Aaron. Conflict avoidance, with freedom to choose to bring whatever strikes your fancy with no worries. A BYOB does offer that. Maybe I just like the challenge, the conflict - I do, after all choose to be a referee and accept that abuse.

In one sense, I'm with you dickson. I'll happily bring my own wine to a place that already has a wine list, as long as they have a reasonable corkage policy.

Oddly, this does not apply to beer for me. I don't think I've ever gone as far to bring a six pack of beer into a restaurant that sells their own beer, nor have I ever seen anyone else do this. When it comes to beer, I fall with Aaron on "conflict avoidance".

A good majority of BYOBs seem to be Asian: Chinese, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese; all cuisines that I generally prefer to pair with beer over wine. The ability for me to choose a particular beer with my meal is fun and interesting for me.

Best,
Michael

I bring my own wine to almost any restaurant, as long as the corkage policy is reasonable. Follow some very basic rules and almost any restaurant will welcome you with bringing your own wine.

1. Don't bring a bottle that's on their list
2. Don't bring a current vintage.
3. Don't bring crap (i.e. Yellowtail)
4. Don't go to a popular restaurant on a weekend night.
5. Offer the waiter and/or manager a taste
6. Tip well, 25-35%

Five favorite BYOBs
Vinci
Cotes du Rhone
Agami
Magnolia Cafe
Rick's Cafe

The reason restaurants change reasonable corkage policies is due to a few idiots that screw it up for everyone else. They (the idiots referenced above) bring wine because they are incrediby cheap. They bring in cheap wine that does not compliment the food, they show up at 8'oclock on a Saturday night, then they want to tip 15% on food. The people putting together the wine list are appalled at the poor quality wines the clash with the food. The waiters complain because they make substantially more on people who buy drinks at the restaurant, and the restaurant then implements a draconion corkage policy to discourage people from bringing their own wine.

BYOB'd at Vinci tonight. Both bottles were 10 years old (gets the 0 corkage) but tipped in the 35% range to cover the lost revenue to the servers.... offered tastes to the server (no taken) and to the manager (taken, nicely done, small pours) then left a portion of the red in the decanter so I hope the server will get a chance to try a somewhat rare CnP from a great producer (Bonneau)

mhill95149 wrote:...left a portion of the red in the decanter so I hope the server will get a chance to try a somewhat rare CnP from a great producer (Bonneau)

The next time you have too much Bonneau, or any Bonneau for that matter, please let me know. I would be happy to help.

FYI, Izumi on Randolph is BYOW (Not beer, they also serve sake & cocktails, but they have no corkage if you bring your own wine) which makes it a nice option in that area.

FrankP wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:...left a portion of the red in the decanter so I hope the server will get a chance to try a somewhat rare CnP from a great producer (Bonneau)

The next time you have too much Bonneau, or any Bonneau for that matter, please let me know. I would be happy to help.

I did bring home one glass of the Baumard-Tres Speciale 1997

As RR would say... YUM-O!

My most fav BYOB-places:

1. TAQ Quick
2. Semirami's
3. Rique's Regional Mexican
4. Rick's Cafe
5. Glenn's (small corkage fee)

To get back to corkage fees: In general-restaurants that offer wine certainly should want to discourage the customers from bringing their own. Its simple economics -they already have a stock of wine and profit margins are tiny enough. Again, this is a general statement. Regular customers should be cut some slack, and the fee should be in keeping with the level of the restaurant. If a place is doing a brisk business-no big deal, but not many places could exist with a low fee and too many people bringing their own. Booze sales often account for 30-35% of the bill.
Even if everybody tipped well-the establishment doesn't see that $.
I mean, to reverse things- you wouldn't bring in your own snacks to a wine bar that offered some food items.
Its clear that nobody who posted above is abusing byob, but if corkage fees were too reasonable and the unwashed masses got wise...