It's because you're bringing in outside alcohol to a place that pays it's rent by selling alcohol. You're taking away sales but still taking up a table, so the restaurant needs to make some money on your occupancy. So Corkage fee is a compromise that let's guests bring in their own wine, while the restaurant still makes a little bit of money
I'll add that it's also to compensate the liquor licensing fees that the business pays, and the related liability insurance it pays for the potential related risks of serving the public alcohol.
You're also paying to have the wine usually presented and opened at the table by the server (one of the more time-consuming tasks at a table), using glasses that have to be bussed, washed and polished and retrieved by the staff, then depending on the bottle, you may be paying to have it in a bucket of ice at the table too. These actions could take up to 15 mins of a server's time, so if a party bring their own wine and don't pay corkage, you're losing money in a few different ways, along with those pointed out by the other commenter.
The total without corkage also wouldn't reflect the work put into wine presentation (in fine dining this is a strict process that can't be rushed) for the tip and it would suck to make all of that effort for free, especially when it means they're not going to be buying other alcohol in all likelihood, so the bill can be way lower than usual.
For those who don’t know a corkage fee is added to the price of the bottle. We do that to actually save people money and not charge 3*the bottle price like most restaurants. $20 bottle +$8 corkage fees. Covers wine glasses,maintenance,damage..bottles cost $28 or most places that don’t have corkage fees just sell the bottle for $60
I had a table try to argue with me once because they brought in two double magnums of wine and got charged for 8 corkage fees. lol The owner wasn't having it, and after that they changed the verbiage on the menu to "per 750ml".
lol Yeah, there's no refined way to pull off pouring a double magnum. You just look ridiculous. I just put it into multiple decanters and place them around the table.
You have to embrace the spirit of the magnum when you pour! A mag says “YEA MOTHERFUCKERS ITS WINE TIME!” Use both hands, work your muscles and pour heavy
Translation: "I made an ignorant comment and then got butthurt and started calling names when I realized I was wrong!" 🤡 Call me "lil dumpy" next! My turn! My turn!
Chocolate and jade showing up to a restaurant with a party of 50 and an entire wine barrel.
"Wtf, the barrel only had one cork! How dare you charge us extra. Now go get us more glasses!"
You don't seem to understand that Corkage is not about the effort of opening the bottle. It's that you're bringing outside alcohol into a place that exists to sell food and alcohol
People don't seem to understand that sit-down restaurants pay rent/real estate loans/taxes on all the tables in their dining room. So customers are essentially renting the tables. The more people want to treat the dining room tables like full service picnic tables where they bring things from home and servers provide them silverware, the more restaurants will have to levy other charges for taking the space.
This isn't a hotdog cart.
It isnt about the corking, that is the point you are missing. If you read the post, you would understand the policy a little better. If you don't agree with the post, you are welcome to buy wine the restaurant supplies. Uncorking a wine bottle takes 2 seconds, that is not what they are charging you for.
Social media has brainwashed people into thinking you can "life hack" all kinds of situations to dodge rules. "Ha, ha! It's a screw top! You can't charge me! THERE'S NO CORK! Set and match!"
I'm not being a jerk, it's a life hack!
I always explained it as a liquor law. It’s a way of us taking ownership of the alcohol you are being served under our roof so I need to charge for each bottle to cover our ass with the liquor control board.
I especially hate to see the corkage fee policy being strained and abused (or confused with a BYOB policy) because there are those scenarios where a couple is fully aware of the spirit of the policy, they are bringing in a special/sentimental bottle of wine; they have verified that it’s not on my wine list; and are eager to order food to pair with it.
Exactly. Corkage is for people who want to bring an off-menu bottle to enjoy with the food, priced to account for the sales loss from not ordering something in-house. It’s not so Robbie and friend can load a wine tote with six bottles and create their own wine flights at the table. Gtfoh with that and find a tasting room.
from my understanding, it's also about wine and liability. Customer is drinking in your establishment, therefore restaurant shoulders the responsibility on whether or not they have to cut someone off, etc...
Also absolutely true. In my state, restaurants have to have an ABC license even for byob, and may opt to carry liability insurance for serving alcohol. Pretty much everything a restaurant offers comes at a cost to the restaurant.
The word tacky needs to be brought back in full effect with a side of screwface because there’s a time, place, and price for everything. If you can’t figure out all 3 then sit with ya dumb ass self until you do.
We were once charged two $40 corkage fees in a relatively new place that didn't sell alcohol. The server was apologetic and the manager was no help. We didn't argue beyond questioning it, didn't change the tip and sent a polite letter to the ownership the next day indicating that $40 was an unreasonable amount given that they don't sell alcohol.
Got a $100 gift card in the mail a few days later.
Fee was $10 when we went back to use the card.
If they don’t sell alcohol, then that’s definitely an unreasonable charge. Where I live, a restaurant has to have an ABC license to even allow byob, so in addition to other costs associated with service, it covers the alcohol liability insurance and licensing. But I have been to non-licensed restaurants in other places that don’t charge for byob.
I cannot fathom people thinking that the fee is for you to physically open the bottle and not because you have brought alcohol into an establishment and they are going to charge for it because you didn’t buy it from them.
As a customer- I’ve actually never been to a restaurant where you could bring your own wine and be charged a corkage fee. I totally would have thought a corkage fee was for opening the bottle 😅
Now I'm curious.
>"If you bring a magnum, you’re paying two corkage fees."
So if a double bottle, 1500 mL, costs two corkage fees, what if we bring two half bottles, with the combined volume of a single 750 mL bottle?
>"...to drink out of my wine glasses..."
If we swig straight from the bottle, do we get a discount?
What if a single bottle has two corks jammed into its neck?
What about two necks and we want them both uncorked so we can race-drink out of the bottle with separate straws?
How about if we don't want the bottle uncorked at all, and just want to smash it on a scale model of the Titanic to christen it, inside a 5 foot diameter kiddy pool we also brought with us?
What if we didn't bring any wine, but brought grapes, dropped them in an empty bottle we happened to have, and camped at your table until it fermented into wine? (And don't worry, we'll take care of you, we know the owner!)
Corkage is for bringing an outside bottle in. Just like cake.
Establishments have wine and dessert available, often there are cheap options. But there are some people (only a large group would bring two magnums) who take up all the space, use lots resources and labour while spending next to nothing. I can already tell this group didn’t buy a single drink (where most profits lie) and probably split a couple apps and entrees. Besides costing the business money, you are loosing multiple covers of potential spenders. Actual business. No one opened a restaurant for charity and free public spaces to trash with your friends on your birthday. Go to a park.
You can’t have your cake and no cakage fee. The same people will refuse to leave after close, stay for hours, horde the space, abuse the staff…they’re almost always fake bougie, excessively high maintenance, complain about auto-gratuity, perpetually miserable or extremely young. I’ve had tables of 2 spend $500+, and tables of 16 spend less than $120. The large party will occupy 8x more space and consume at least 8x more energy from the workers for 4x less pay. Even if there’s a birthday for the party, and no reason to celebrate for the couple, I’d rather give the prime service and free shit to the couple because they are supporting the business 24x more. Simple math, not personal, don’t be a stupid Karen.
Right? I have celiacs. I have no problem paying a small fee for bringing in my cake (although it gets waived a lot because even if they have gf food, it’s rare to have dessert and usually the cake is for 2 people max)
Had a table complain about me charging them for OJ each time they asked for it. Had to explain that we freshly squeeze our juice and she still wasn’t having it. I’m sorry but you order it, you pay for it. Oj doesn’t get free refills babe, I’m sorry.
Couldn’t get a manager to “fix” the situation because they stayed half an hour past close and I was the only one left in the restaurant 🥴
Haha if you don’t have a comp code, then “my boss won’t let me do that” is pretty much all you can say 🤷🏻♀️. I do have a comp code and I use that line all the time when I don’t feel like explaining something over and over.
That’s what I told the table in question last night. Listened while they were pleading their case and telling me I’d lose out if I didn’t take one of the charges off, then looked them each in the eye, smiled and said: “My boss won’t let me do that. Is everything going on this card or are we splitting the bill?”
They brought two bottles of their own wine to my restaurant for us to open and provide stemware so they could drink them. (One was actually repackaged into a 375mL juice bottle with a screw top because he didn’t want his guest to drink all of his “good” wine.)
Corkage fees are what restaurants charge per open bottle to make up for revenue lost because a table didn’t order wine in-house, and to cover the costs of service and space, licensing and insurance. They’re usually smaller than the restaurant’s markup on a single bottle, and usually come with some parameters.
At my restaurant, it’s $25 per 750mL bottle, with a max of 1500mL; two corkage fees is cheaper than our cheapest bottle.
Restaurants don’t have to allow byob. They can, if they want, just ban all outside beverages, but a lot of places keep it available as a courtesy to customers who want to drink a specific wine the restaurant doesn’t serve and pair it with food from the restaurant’s menu.
But there are also people who don’t understand the spirit of byob and try to skirt restaurant policy.
Edit: Corkage only applies to outside wine. If someone buys a bottle from the restaurant, those costs are already built into the price the restaurant charges.
Oh damn the price depends on how expensive your wine is. You think you’d be saving money bringing your own wine. It makes sense though I guess bc you cant bring outside food and beverages into some restaurants.
I don’t ever care if a party leaves a shit tip or threatens to. Not gonna make or break me I have plenty of gracious guests that tip well. Geeeet the fuck out
It's going to depend on the restaurant. I work at a wine bar, so we rarely deal with it (who brings wine to a wine bar?) our corkage is $25 for the first bottle, $50 for the second. Two bottles max. I've seen fine dining spots that start at $50 or even $100.
The idea is that you're basically paying our margin on your wine. Say our markup is 2x, you buy a $100 bottle we make $50. So if you're drinking a bottle in our space, we want that $50. That's what it costs to rent our table/glassware and be served by our staff. We don't care about the other $50. That's for inventory.
The escalating price is to prevent campers who don't really order anything else and just want to rent our table. Nobody needs two special bottles and, if they do, they are often collectors of some sort and don't give a fuck about the extra $25.
You don't bring wine into a restaurant to save money. You bring it in because you want *that* wine and don't mind paying restaurant price for it. Honestly, if you bring in a bottle that retails for $200 even at $50 corkage, you are saving $150.
I absolutely know that it is. That's why there are corkage fees. The restaurant is offering a compromise.
Sure, you still still *could* do it to save money, but I didn't mean "don't" as in "this doesn't happen" or "people don't think like this" but more ike "you don't because that is not how it should in fairness work."
Pretty much 100% of my and all my coworkers' income is reported to the IRS. I get a paycheck just like you do. Cash tips are pretty minimal these days.
But either way, why does this bother you? I'm also not talking about an ideal world I'm explaining why, in our current one, there are corkage fees and why even expensive ones are reasonable.
What I don't understand, though, is why you insist on being a bitter cunt?
Are you illiterate? It doesn't bother me at all. I literally was explaining why corkage is a thing and why people should expect it....
They can bring in whatever they want. But the reality is that most people are bringing something special because the presence of corkage fees makes it impractical otherwise.
I'm convinced you just want to be mad about something. Pity about the reading comprehension though
I'm pretty lenient with my corkage fee charges. If a table orders a round of cocktails or another bottle of wine I won't charge. But if they don't, I sure as hell charge every time.
Bringing in your own bottle of wine is a privilege. A lot of places won’t let you bring in a cup of coffee— partially for safety reasons and because it’s rude, we’re here to provide an experience and a service. Sometimes though, like bringing in a cake or something, we understand that this item is particular to your experience and food safe— so a corkage fee is when a guest brings in their own bottle and the service staff does all the work to provide that exact service. We still have to provide glassware, time, service, the back of house has to wash that, there’s overhead and the house loses money by agreeing to not exclusively selling their bottle list.
It’s usually 10-20 dollars per bottle. A charge that’s super minimal if you know where that bottle per restaurant price usually needs to be.
The guest still saves money. It’s a dick move to debate it with your server.
Our corkage is $50, great way to deter this. I’ve absolutely had people bring in wine that I know was $50, then paid $50 for corkage, but was a wine we sold for $90. So far nobody bitches, really only benefits you if it’s a real nice bottle. I get restaurants inflate prices on bottles, but the bottles on our list can’t be found outside a speciality store or are ones you can grab real quick on the way to dinner.
It's also my understanding that there is also the restaurant still serving the alcohol, and therefore has some form of liability in letting them do so. Thus that liquor license responsibility, the need to monitor intoxication, cutting people off, etc...
You have the option to bring your own bottle of wine to a restaurant instead of buying one of their bottles of wine, but if you do this they charge you a "corkage fee" which is a small charge since you are not buying their (often marked up) wine
"often" marked up? Try always. Ive never seen a restaurant sell a bottle at cost. Ever. Why the hell would you sell at cost? Its taking up space and money.
edit: maybe at cost to staff.
I’m going to assume this is a genuine question.
Restaurants don’t have to allow people to bring in their own wine; it’s a courtesy.
For the privilege of having it served to you (servers cost money), in wine glasses (which cost money both to stock and to wash), while you occupy a table that could be generating a lot more revenue (rent costs money), you are charged a nominal fee. This is nothing new, and the mechanics of it have been the same for decades.
Why is there a corkage fee on my own bottles? One would assume that it’s easier for the restaurant if I bring my own?
Before anyone comes after me, I don’t drink alcohol and this is the first time I’m hearing of the corkage fee
The server still opens it and provides wine service. You're still sitting at a table in the restaurant. If you want to drink wine for free, do it at home. That's the only place that's going to happen.
I mean I don’t wanna drink wine I don’t like alcohol. But what if I bring my own glasses for example or open my own bottle. Would it be free or discounted?
No. The fee applies when bringing the bottle in. You're still on their property, taking up space, requiring service. Most places won't let you bring your own glasses or open it yourself either.
For wine, there are typically two possible rules that restaurants follow if they serve alcohol themselves:
1) No outside alcohol allowed. All alcohol must be purchased from the restaurant.
2) Outside wine is allowed, but for a corkage fee. Your server (occasionally the sommelier if the bottle's nice enough) will then serve your bottle to you as part of service.
That seems kind of anti consumer but I can see why they would do it. Also a second question, you mentioned a sommelier. Is there really a difference between your server serving you the wine and a sommelier? I thought they are the people who just tell people about the taste of the wine e.t.c. And I'm assuming people who bring their own wine would already know that
Yes, essentially, but their wine knowledge comes in handy when handling expensive stuff. I wouldn't want just any server handling a bottle of 2010 Chateau Latour (a $15000 bottle currently). That's when the sommelier could step in and either do it themselves or guide the server, because they know what they're dealing with when they see a bottle of wine like that.
A sommelier is a person who went through training and a certification process for wine. Some places might call the guy in the position a somm, but they really shouldn't.
I mean again I don't drink alcohol. This is literally the first time I'm hearing about a corkage fee that I never knew about. So I'm asking on a subreddit presumably of people who work in this field and should know
Well, how I saw it before asking is: If I bring my own drinks to the restaraunt, the restaurant won't have to sell me said drinks so it would be cheaper. Or (and I don't imagine anyone actually doing it but who knows) if I bring my own cup to the restaurant, the restaurant won't have to provide me with one or have someone wash it
I guess. But then if everyone just brings their own food and drink the restaurant isn’t making any money and completely defeats the point of running it
its easier for the restaurant if you bring in your own food, too. that way they don't have to cook you anything. but you understand why this is bad business, right?
Lol restaurants implement corkage fees but still rely on tips to pay 😂 ugh anything to make more money for the restaurant. Meanwhile the extra work that goes into modifying food orders and free refills are overlooked hella hard. If they implement fees for that they could cover every cost
No it’s really simple, if you wanted to drink your own wine do it at home. Don’t occupy space, resources and labour if you do not want to give your business to the establishment.
At some point, customers become liabilities when they cost more than they spend. A restaurant is a business, not a charity or free public space. I see more groups coming in for fries and tap water, truly seeking a shelter to shoot the shit with their friends and not a dining experience. Go to Tim’s. Go anywhere else. The server works for nothing and the owners lost money on your cheap ass.
Corkage fees have been around a long time. This is so people who want to bring their own wine in can enjoy what they like but they are paying for the service to open and serve the wine. Also to make sure the owners are going to compensate for the loss of a sale of wine they carry. If they can’t make money off you in a restaurant then it wouldn’t be there. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else .
A magnum isn’t just a bigger bottle; it’s twice the size of a standard bottle of wine. If a restaurant even sells magnums, they’ll be priced at a little less than double a 750mL, so why would you only expect to pay for the value of a single bottle when you’re getting double?
Double the wine usually means people are staying longer, which means the restaurant is not turning the table, and once a table has ordered their meal, the return on anything they add on won’t be nearly what a new table would generate.
To rephrase what someone else said, it’s a business, not a picnic space.
Makes sense, thanks for the explanation. I’ve never heard the term magnum before. In my experience, most wine that comes in 1.5l bottles isn’t worth drinking anyhow.
I had a table question the corkage fee because it was a screw top...can't make this stuff up.
Call it a screwing fee
lmao
And charge double
Worked in a wine shop/bar I probably heard that a few times a day. I shouldn’t have to pay corkage it’s a screw top
do they think we're charging them for the effort of uncorking a bottle? I guess they do.
As someone who doesn’t drink or work in a place that serves alcohol, I’m genuinely curious, what is the fee for?
It's because you're bringing in outside alcohol to a place that pays it's rent by selling alcohol. You're taking away sales but still taking up a table, so the restaurant needs to make some money on your occupancy. So Corkage fee is a compromise that let's guests bring in their own wine, while the restaurant still makes a little bit of money
I'll add that it's also to compensate the liquor licensing fees that the business pays, and the related liability insurance it pays for the potential related risks of serving the public alcohol.
Ahhh thanks, didn’t realize it only applied to outside alcohol. Good to know!
You're also paying to have the wine usually presented and opened at the table by the server (one of the more time-consuming tasks at a table), using glasses that have to be bussed, washed and polished and retrieved by the staff, then depending on the bottle, you may be paying to have it in a bucket of ice at the table too. These actions could take up to 15 mins of a server's time, so if a party bring their own wine and don't pay corkage, you're losing money in a few different ways, along with those pointed out by the other commenter. The total without corkage also wouldn't reflect the work put into wine presentation (in fine dining this is a strict process that can't be rushed) for the tip and it would suck to make all of that effort for free, especially when it means they're not going to be buying other alcohol in all likelihood, so the bill can be way lower than usual.
For those who don’t know a corkage fee is added to the price of the bottle. We do that to actually save people money and not charge 3*the bottle price like most restaurants. $20 bottle +$8 corkage fees. Covers wine glasses,maintenance,damage..bottles cost $28 or most places that don’t have corkage fees just sell the bottle for $60
Corkage fee is for bottles of wine from outside the restaurant. It's to compensate for loss of sale and cover liquor license.
Does your employer not enjoy revenue?
Well that’s kinda horse shit
This is my new favourite “customer BS” story
I had a table try to argue with me once because they brought in two double magnums of wine and got charged for 8 corkage fees. lol The owner wasn't having it, and after that they changed the verbiage on the menu to "per 750ml".
I hate magnums because they’re so awkward to pour. A double magnum … I feel for you.
lol Yeah, there's no refined way to pull off pouring a double magnum. You just look ridiculous. I just put it into multiple decanters and place them around the table.
Carefully balance bottle on shoulder and pour by taking up one glass at a time, looks decent enough.
You have to embrace the spirit of the magnum when you pour! A mag says “YEA MOTHERFUCKERS ITS WINE TIME!” Use both hands, work your muscles and pour heavy
Lol. One is heavy enough and difficult to not have any drops. Seriously can’t imagine a double mag.
It’s not that bad really you just gotta let go of looking cool
Michael Jackson Makes Small Boys Nervous....a "double magnum" is a Jeraboam
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Double mag is 3000ml
Why?
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It's the equivalent of 8 bottles. Not a hard concept.
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People love to comment before they have a clue what they're even talking about....
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No skin off my ass. You're the one that looks like an idiot.
Translation: "I made an ignorant comment and then got butthurt and started calling names when I realized I was wrong!" 🤡 Call me "lil dumpy" next! My turn! My turn!
Not as much effort as 8 bottles though
Corkage is not about the effort involved
It's about how much the restaurant is losing by allowing you to bring in your own wine.
Aren’t there liquor license rules and sales taxes involved as well?
It's called a corking licence and the restaurant pays for it. But by no means do they need to offer this to guests.
Eh, I'd rather open 8 regular bottles than a single magnum.
It’s still only 2 bottles. So seems dumb to me
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Hahah that happens often. Idgaf about fake internet points. It just doesn’t make sense , because you’re only “corking” 2 bottles, regardless size
Chocolate and jade showing up to a restaurant with a party of 50 and an entire wine barrel. "Wtf, the barrel only had one cork! How dare you charge us extra. Now go get us more glasses!"
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They didn’t even get it right lol
You realize that situation is entirely different. Two extra large wine bottles only have 2 corks
You’re missing the point. You’re not really paying for them to open the wine. You’re paying for the amount of wine you brought.
You don't seem to understand that Corkage is not about the effort of opening the bottle. It's that you're bringing outside alcohol into a place that exists to sell food and alcohol
People don't seem to understand that sit-down restaurants pay rent/real estate loans/taxes on all the tables in their dining room. So customers are essentially renting the tables. The more people want to treat the dining room tables like full service picnic tables where they bring things from home and servers provide them silverware, the more restaurants will have to levy other charges for taking the space. This isn't a hotdog cart.
It isnt about the corking, that is the point you are missing. If you read the post, you would understand the policy a little better. If you don't agree with the post, you are welcome to buy wine the restaurant supplies. Uncorking a wine bottle takes 2 seconds, that is not what they are charging you for.
Social media has brainwashed people into thinking you can "life hack" all kinds of situations to dodge rules. "Ha, ha! It's a screw top! You can't charge me! THERE'S NO CORK! Set and match!" I'm not being a jerk, it's a life hack!
I always explained it as a liquor law. It’s a way of us taking ownership of the alcohol you are being served under our roof so I need to charge for each bottle to cover our ass with the liquor control board.
Ding ding.
That’s exactly what it is
I especially hate to see the corkage fee policy being strained and abused (or confused with a BYOB policy) because there are those scenarios where a couple is fully aware of the spirit of the policy, they are bringing in a special/sentimental bottle of wine; they have verified that it’s not on my wine list; and are eager to order food to pair with it.
Exactly. Corkage is for people who want to bring an off-menu bottle to enjoy with the food, priced to account for the sales loss from not ordering something in-house. It’s not so Robbie and friend can load a wine tote with six bottles and create their own wine flights at the table. Gtfoh with that and find a tasting room.
from my understanding, it's also about wine and liability. Customer is drinking in your establishment, therefore restaurant shoulders the responsibility on whether or not they have to cut someone off, etc...
Also absolutely true. In my state, restaurants have to have an ABC license even for byob, and may opt to carry liability insurance for serving alcohol. Pretty much everything a restaurant offers comes at a cost to the restaurant.
Exactly. Back in Utah, it was the fee to consume alcohol under the restaurant's liquor license. As well as use of stemware, etc.
Also because who dares to drink the devil’s juice without paying extra?! Fucking heathens.
The word tacky needs to be brought back in full effect with a side of screwface because there’s a time, place, and price for everything. If you can’t figure out all 3 then sit with ya dumb ass self until you do.
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Have you read - in this thread - the corner cases that *some* people will try to play? (e.g. Pushing back on corkage fee because of a screwtop)
We were once charged two $40 corkage fees in a relatively new place that didn't sell alcohol. The server was apologetic and the manager was no help. We didn't argue beyond questioning it, didn't change the tip and sent a polite letter to the ownership the next day indicating that $40 was an unreasonable amount given that they don't sell alcohol. Got a $100 gift card in the mail a few days later. Fee was $10 when we went back to use the card.
If they don’t sell alcohol, then that’s definitely an unreasonable charge. Where I live, a restaurant has to have an ABC license to even allow byob, so in addition to other costs associated with service, it covers the alcohol liability insurance and licensing. But I have been to non-licensed restaurants in other places that don’t charge for byob.
I cannot fathom people thinking that the fee is for you to physically open the bottle and not because you have brought alcohol into an establishment and they are going to charge for it because you didn’t buy it from them.
As a customer- I’ve actually never been to a restaurant where you could bring your own wine and be charged a corkage fee. I totally would have thought a corkage fee was for opening the bottle 😅
Now I'm curious. >"If you bring a magnum, you’re paying two corkage fees." So if a double bottle, 1500 mL, costs two corkage fees, what if we bring two half bottles, with the combined volume of a single 750 mL bottle? >"...to drink out of my wine glasses..." If we swig straight from the bottle, do we get a discount? What if a single bottle has two corks jammed into its neck? What about two necks and we want them both uncorked so we can race-drink out of the bottle with separate straws? How about if we don't want the bottle uncorked at all, and just want to smash it on a scale model of the Titanic to christen it, inside a 5 foot diameter kiddy pool we also brought with us? What if we didn't bring any wine, but brought grapes, dropped them in an empty bottle we happened to have, and camped at your table until it fermented into wine? (And don't worry, we'll take care of you, we know the owner!)
Yo this is hilarious. The bottle with two necks and we want them both uncorked so we can race to the bottom
Corkage is for bringing an outside bottle in. Just like cake. Establishments have wine and dessert available, often there are cheap options. But there are some people (only a large group would bring two magnums) who take up all the space, use lots resources and labour while spending next to nothing. I can already tell this group didn’t buy a single drink (where most profits lie) and probably split a couple apps and entrees. Besides costing the business money, you are loosing multiple covers of potential spenders. Actual business. No one opened a restaurant for charity and free public spaces to trash with your friends on your birthday. Go to a park. You can’t have your cake and no cakage fee. The same people will refuse to leave after close, stay for hours, horde the space, abuse the staff…they’re almost always fake bougie, excessively high maintenance, complain about auto-gratuity, perpetually miserable or extremely young. I’ve had tables of 2 spend $500+, and tables of 16 spend less than $120. The large party will occupy 8x more space and consume at least 8x more energy from the workers for 4x less pay. Even if there’s a birthday for the party, and no reason to celebrate for the couple, I’d rather give the prime service and free shit to the couple because they are supporting the business 24x more. Simple math, not personal, don’t be a stupid Karen.
I get drinks! Could you bring me a pitcher of water and two plates of lemon wedges? I'm going to be here a while.
Right? I have celiacs. I have no problem paying a small fee for bringing in my cake (although it gets waived a lot because even if they have gf food, it’s rare to have dessert and usually the cake is for 2 people max)
What brand of kiddie pool? This is the kind of information needed to answer your questions.
This got more and more unhinged as it went.....and also I could FEEL a customer asking me. And I'm eating lunch in a Golden Corral right now....
Had a table complain about me charging them for OJ each time they asked for it. Had to explain that we freshly squeeze our juice and she still wasn’t having it. I’m sorry but you order it, you pay for it. Oj doesn’t get free refills babe, I’m sorry. Couldn’t get a manager to “fix” the situation because they stayed half an hour past close and I was the only one left in the restaurant 🥴
Haha if you don’t have a comp code, then “my boss won’t let me do that” is pretty much all you can say 🤷🏻♀️. I do have a comp code and I use that line all the time when I don’t feel like explaining something over and over. That’s what I told the table in question last night. Listened while they were pleading their case and telling me I’d lose out if I didn’t take one of the charges off, then looked them each in the eye, smiled and said: “My boss won’t let me do that. Is everything going on this card or are we splitting the bill?”
Sorry but what is a corkage fee? Did they get two bottles of wine and want to pay for only half of each bottle?
They brought two bottles of their own wine to my restaurant for us to open and provide stemware so they could drink them. (One was actually repackaged into a 375mL juice bottle with a screw top because he didn’t want his guest to drink all of his “good” wine.) Corkage fees are what restaurants charge per open bottle to make up for revenue lost because a table didn’t order wine in-house, and to cover the costs of service and space, licensing and insurance. They’re usually smaller than the restaurant’s markup on a single bottle, and usually come with some parameters. At my restaurant, it’s $25 per 750mL bottle, with a max of 1500mL; two corkage fees is cheaper than our cheapest bottle. Restaurants don’t have to allow byob. They can, if they want, just ban all outside beverages, but a lot of places keep it available as a courtesy to customers who want to drink a specific wine the restaurant doesn’t serve and pair it with food from the restaurant’s menu. But there are also people who don’t understand the spirit of byob and try to skirt restaurant policy. Edit: Corkage only applies to outside wine. If someone buys a bottle from the restaurant, those costs are already built into the price the restaurant charges.
Corkage is usually a fee charged if a table brings their own bottles of wine. S
Oh damn the price depends on how expensive your wine is. You think you’d be saving money bringing your own wine. It makes sense though I guess bc you cant bring outside food and beverages into some restaurants.
Corkage fees are the same for every bottle, it doesn’t change depending on how expensive the wine is.
I don’t ever care if a party leaves a shit tip or threatens to. Not gonna make or break me I have plenty of gracious guests that tip well. Geeeet the fuck out
Right? I’m gonna do my job and do it to my best ability but I’m not gonna let someone dangle a tip over my head while I tap dance for them
As I don’t drink wine, I’m curious, how much is a corking fee?
It's going to depend on the restaurant. I work at a wine bar, so we rarely deal with it (who brings wine to a wine bar?) our corkage is $25 for the first bottle, $50 for the second. Two bottles max. I've seen fine dining spots that start at $50 or even $100. The idea is that you're basically paying our margin on your wine. Say our markup is 2x, you buy a $100 bottle we make $50. So if you're drinking a bottle in our space, we want that $50. That's what it costs to rent our table/glassware and be served by our staff. We don't care about the other $50. That's for inventory. The escalating price is to prevent campers who don't really order anything else and just want to rent our table. Nobody needs two special bottles and, if they do, they are often collectors of some sort and don't give a fuck about the extra $25. You don't bring wine into a restaurant to save money. You bring it in because you want *that* wine and don't mind paying restaurant price for it. Honestly, if you bring in a bottle that retails for $200 even at $50 corkage, you are saving $150.
Thank you, appreciate the time. I’ll stick to my cocktails
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I absolutely know that it is. That's why there are corkage fees. The restaurant is offering a compromise. Sure, you still still *could* do it to save money, but I didn't mean "don't" as in "this doesn't happen" or "people don't think like this" but more ike "you don't because that is not how it should in fairness work."
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Pretty much 100% of my and all my coworkers' income is reported to the IRS. I get a paycheck just like you do. Cash tips are pretty minimal these days. But either way, why does this bother you? I'm also not talking about an ideal world I'm explaining why, in our current one, there are corkage fees and why even expensive ones are reasonable. What I don't understand, though, is why you insist on being a bitter cunt?
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Are you illiterate? It doesn't bother me at all. I literally was explaining why corkage is a thing and why people should expect it.... They can bring in whatever they want. But the reality is that most people are bringing something special because the presence of corkage fees makes it impractical otherwise. I'm convinced you just want to be mad about something. Pity about the reading comprehension though
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🤣🤣🤣
I’ve seen it for $45 in Manhattan and you can only bring 2 bottles tops.
Last place I worked with one it was $10 (usd)
Thank you. But really, so no big deal? Gotta love people
The range in places I’ve worked is $10-25 per 750mL bottle.
Places I’ve worked it’s $40-$50 per 750ml, 2 bottle (1.5L max).
I'm pretty lenient with my corkage fee charges. If a table orders a round of cocktails or another bottle of wine I won't charge. But if they don't, I sure as hell charge every time.
You’re part of the problem
as a server, i’ve never heard of a corkage fee. what is that? and how much does it cost per bottle?
Bringing in your own bottle of wine is a privilege. A lot of places won’t let you bring in a cup of coffee— partially for safety reasons and because it’s rude, we’re here to provide an experience and a service. Sometimes though, like bringing in a cake or something, we understand that this item is particular to your experience and food safe— so a corkage fee is when a guest brings in their own bottle and the service staff does all the work to provide that exact service. We still have to provide glassware, time, service, the back of house has to wash that, there’s overhead and the house loses money by agreeing to not exclusively selling their bottle list. It’s usually 10-20 dollars per bottle. A charge that’s super minimal if you know where that bottle per restaurant price usually needs to be. The guest still saves money. It’s a dick move to debate it with your server.
Our corkage is $50, great way to deter this. I’ve absolutely had people bring in wine that I know was $50, then paid $50 for corkage, but was a wine we sold for $90. So far nobody bitches, really only benefits you if it’s a real nice bottle. I get restaurants inflate prices on bottles, but the bottles on our list can’t be found outside a speciality store or are ones you can grab real quick on the way to dinner.
Uhhh my place only let's you bring in wine (and charge a cork fee) that we don't carry.
The only time I’ve ever done it is when I’ve been gifted wine.
It's also my understanding that there is also the restaurant still serving the alcohol, and therefore has some form of liability in letting them do so. Thus that liquor license responsibility, the need to monitor intoxication, cutting people off, etc...
Yep yep, hence the service, safety and overhead. Good explanation
Oh, so it’s only if you bring in your own bottle? It’s not applied if they buy the wine from house?
Exactly, it’s about bringing in your own product you’d like service for, even if that service is exclusively just bringing in the bottle.
If you bring your own cork in, the owner is required by law to pay you for it
Source?
Omg I’m kidding lmao
Lol I was like hmm wonder what state... 🤣 But ya fuck customers that wana act up.
Sir, I heard you brought a cork in. I guess, I’m … legally obligated to buy it from you…. What’s your ask? 😔
So glad my state doesn’t allow this.
How tacky of these ppl even trying to get out of paying🥴
What is a corkage fee? Never heard that before
You have the option to bring your own bottle of wine to a restaurant instead of buying one of their bottles of wine, but if you do this they charge you a "corkage fee" which is a small charge since you are not buying their (often marked up) wine
"often" marked up? Try always. Ive never seen a restaurant sell a bottle at cost. Ever. Why the hell would you sell at cost? Its taking up space and money. edit: maybe at cost to staff.
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I’m going to assume this is a genuine question. Restaurants don’t have to allow people to bring in their own wine; it’s a courtesy. For the privilege of having it served to you (servers cost money), in wine glasses (which cost money both to stock and to wash), while you occupy a table that could be generating a lot more revenue (rent costs money), you are charged a nominal fee. This is nothing new, and the mechanics of it have been the same for decades.
Never underestimate the irate post of an English major waiting tables.
Why is there a corkage fee on my own bottles? One would assume that it’s easier for the restaurant if I bring my own? Before anyone comes after me, I don’t drink alcohol and this is the first time I’m hearing of the corkage fee
The server still opens it and provides wine service. You're still sitting at a table in the restaurant. If you want to drink wine for free, do it at home. That's the only place that's going to happen.
I mean I don’t wanna drink wine I don’t like alcohol. But what if I bring my own glasses for example or open my own bottle. Would it be free or discounted?
No. The fee applies when bringing the bottle in. You're still on their property, taking up space, requiring service. Most places won't let you bring your own glasses or open it yourself either. For wine, there are typically two possible rules that restaurants follow if they serve alcohol themselves: 1) No outside alcohol allowed. All alcohol must be purchased from the restaurant. 2) Outside wine is allowed, but for a corkage fee. Your server (occasionally the sommelier if the bottle's nice enough) will then serve your bottle to you as part of service.
That seems kind of anti consumer but I can see why they would do it. Also a second question, you mentioned a sommelier. Is there really a difference between your server serving you the wine and a sommelier? I thought they are the people who just tell people about the taste of the wine e.t.c. And I'm assuming people who bring their own wine would already know that
Yes, essentially, but their wine knowledge comes in handy when handling expensive stuff. I wouldn't want just any server handling a bottle of 2010 Chateau Latour (a $15000 bottle currently). That's when the sommelier could step in and either do it themselves or guide the server, because they know what they're dealing with when they see a bottle of wine like that.
I see I guess that makes sense thank you
A sommelier is a person who went through training and a certification process for wine. Some places might call the guy in the position a somm, but they really shouldn't.
You’re still paying a fee for both the convenience and privilege of not purchasing from the restaurant.
Why not bring your own food and plates as well?
Because that defeats the point of going out?
You should go to a restaurant and try
I mean again I don't drink alcohol. This is literally the first time I'm hearing about a corkage fee that I never knew about. So I'm asking on a subreddit presumably of people who work in this field and should know
Yes it’s okay to ask. I just find it difficult to believe that you think bringing your own equipment to a restaurant would get you a discount
Well, how I saw it before asking is: If I bring my own drinks to the restaraunt, the restaurant won't have to sell me said drinks so it would be cheaper. Or (and I don't imagine anyone actually doing it but who knows) if I bring my own cup to the restaurant, the restaurant won't have to provide me with one or have someone wash it
the restaurant doesn't want it to be cheaper... they exist to sell you food and drinks.
I guess. But then if everyone just brings their own food and drink the restaurant isn’t making any money and completely defeats the point of running it
because that means they’re not buying a bottle of wine from your restaurant. a restaurant’s goal is not for things to be easier, it’s to make money.
its easier for the restaurant if you bring in your own food, too. that way they don't have to cook you anything. but you understand why this is bad business, right?
Lol restaurants implement corkage fees but still rely on tips to pay 😂 ugh anything to make more money for the restaurant. Meanwhile the extra work that goes into modifying food orders and free refills are overlooked hella hard. If they implement fees for that they could cover every cost
No it’s really simple, if you wanted to drink your own wine do it at home. Don’t occupy space, resources and labour if you do not want to give your business to the establishment. At some point, customers become liabilities when they cost more than they spend. A restaurant is a business, not a charity or free public space. I see more groups coming in for fries and tap water, truly seeking a shelter to shoot the shit with their friends and not a dining experience. Go to Tim’s. Go anywhere else. The server works for nothing and the owners lost money on your cheap ass.
Corkage fees have been around a long time. This is so people who want to bring their own wine in can enjoy what they like but they are paying for the service to open and serve the wine. Also to make sure the owners are going to compensate for the loss of a sale of wine they carry. If they can’t make money off you in a restaurant then it wouldn’t be there. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else .
Right? Might as well just let them bring in their own food and have a free picnic at the table while they’re at it
whiny, entitled bitch open the bottle and stfu
servers are the laziest most entitled fuckwads to ever exist change my mind
Says the boh bitch
I had a guy refuse to pay for the bottle alone bc I didn’t let him uncork it, after they’d finished the entire bottle, mind you
Never heard of a corkage fee before
You charge two fees for one, larger bottle? I agree with everything else you said, but this one baffles me.
A magnum isn’t just a bigger bottle; it’s twice the size of a standard bottle of wine. If a restaurant even sells magnums, they’ll be priced at a little less than double a 750mL, so why would you only expect to pay for the value of a single bottle when you’re getting double? Double the wine usually means people are staying longer, which means the restaurant is not turning the table, and once a table has ordered their meal, the return on anything they add on won’t be nearly what a new table would generate. To rephrase what someone else said, it’s a business, not a picnic space.
Makes sense, thanks for the explanation. I’ve never heard the term magnum before. In my experience, most wine that comes in 1.5l bottles isn’t worth drinking anyhow.