I read this article with great interest, and while it was humorous, I didn't find the tone or the information particularly constructive. I am someone who enjoys wine, I pay attention to what wines I enjoy, I pay attention to pairings that I prefer, but by no means am I a wine expert or "wine geek". If the author's intent was to educate, inform, or inspire, the effect was lost on me. As the author illustrates, there are many people who dine out at BYO restaurants with wine or a pairing that I would find distasteful, but I belive there are more people who consider their BYO with care and interest (you'll find hundreds of them on this board). Frankly, I don't care what they're drinking at the table next to me. They should drink what they like and I would hope they would allow me the freedom to do the same. Furthermore, The tone and statements in this article project the notion that I need to spend more money on wine so I look more interesting when I drink it. Please.
Secondly, the author paints the picture of Chicago BYO restaurants as trendy sushi bars or fine dining establishments that are reporting the customers' bottle choices to the chef who's prepping foie gras. In my experience, a more accurate picture of Chicago BYO restaurants are that they are often very small, family-owned-and-operated, ethnic, and not particularly trendy (there are exceptions to these characteristics, but this paints a more accurate picture). When I think of BYO, I think of Friendship Chinese, Lovitt, Cafe Suron, Bhabi's Kitchen, and pretty much every little Thai place in town. A quick flip through Ms. Iversen's book will back up this picture. None of these small, friendly BYO places that I frequent would ever dream of decreasing the quality of my food or service based on the fact that they don't like my bottle of wine, and if someone did, they deserve to lose my business. They don't care if I walk in with a Yellowtail or an Opus One. And they shouldn't.
Finally, this statement gives me pause:
BYOB restaurants concentrate on nothing less than superior food, no time and money is wasted on stocking a wine cellar, so do some research and grab a bottle (or more) of decent wine, perhaps an expensive bottle that you can slurge on and go hit a byob.
If these places are so concerned about the wine I bring in, then why wouldn't they want to sell me what they think is good and earn the 100% markup. I sincerely doubt that a BYO restaurant chooses to be so because they consider stocking a wine cellar to be a "waste of time". Most BYO places are that way because they have to be. They can't or don't want to go through the hassle of getting or maintaining a liquor license (a topic often discussed on this board).
If you want a accurate, useful, constructive discussion about BYOB and the associated etiquette,
buy the book (of which I am in no way affiliated).
Best,
Michael / EC
Edited to repair URL tag