BYOChartreuse

August 11, 2008 12:26 AM

BYOB restaurants: just wine and beer? Or can I be an alcoholic?

When going to a byob restaurant, are you only legally allowed to bring wine/beer, or can you bring along your favorite liquor, say, scotch or chartreuse?

I'm in Lawrence, Kansas, if it matters.

posted by speef to food & drink (19 comments total)

Call ahead. Some places'll allow liquor and will charge you a fee for a 'setup': a glass of mixer & ice. Some places charge outrageous bullshit wine 'corking' and beer bottle opening fees. Some don't. Some don't allow any hard booze at all. It varies from one block to the next in most dry-ish areas. Fun game: bring the rankest wino-approved booze you can find (think:MD 20/20, T-Bird, Steel Reserve, any bottom-shelf tequila with a picture of Pancho Villa pasted on it), then let the staff serve it to you. Unless you know & trust the place implicitly, there's a fair chance that the staff would just replace the high-dollar beverages you've brought in with one of the aforementioned wino-approved items, keeping your Patron & $30 bottles of wine for themselves, to be consumed after their shift ends. I've seen it happen - hell, I'm only a little ashamed to say that I reaped the benefits of such a transaction once or twice back in my younger, more carefree days.

Call ahead.
posted by Item at 12:51 AM on August 11, 2008

there's a fair chance that the staff would just replace the high-dollar beverages you've brought in with one of the aforementioned wino-approved items, keeping your Patron & $30 bottles of wine for themselves, to be consumed after their shift ends

How, exactly? Every time I have ever seen wine (or what have you) uncorked at a BYOB restaurant, it was done at the table, in front of the customers, and then left on the table. Is this not the normal way?

[not snarking]
posted by paisley henosis at 1:10 AM on August 11, 2008

How, exactly? Every time I have ever seen wine (or what have you) uncorked at a BYOB restaurant, it was done at the table, in front of the customers, and then left on the table. Is this not the normal way?

Yeah, that's standard procedure at any decent restaurant, precisely in order to avoid even the accusation of bottles being switched. If they're not opening your bottle tableside, don't trust the restaurant, whether it's their bottle or yours.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:59 AM on August 11, 2008

there's a fair chance that the staff would just replace the high-dollar beverages you've brought in with one of the aforementioned wino-approved items, keeping your Patron & $30 bottles of wine for themselves, to be consumed after their shift ends

Surely you would notice this by the taste alone?
posted by atrazine at 2:05 AM on August 11, 2008

One would imagine so, atrazine.

Also, the point of BYOW is generally that you get to have a special bottle of wine, something you've been saving, that the restaurant probably doesn't have in its cellar. Thunderbird would sort of render that pretty useless.

Also, corkage fees aren't 'bullshit'. If you're drinking wine with your meal, chances are you would buy wine anyway. The restaurant is making up for that lost revenue and profit--markup on wine is generally pretty significant.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 2:11 AM on August 11, 2008

The point's not always to get that special bottle - Some smaller places don't have full licenses, but are allowed to serve what a customer brings, and in some places local codes only allow alcohol at restaurants this way. I worked at a pizza joint in my early years that supplied the corner convenience store a lot of business from folks buying a six-pack to have with their meal.

To answer the question, call. It may be a restaurant policy, or a local code thing, but the staff will know.
posted by pupdog at 2:34 AM on August 11, 2008

I've sat next to folks drinking scotch at my favorite BYO sushi restaurant. I've seen folks drink Soju in Korean BBQ places. Here in Philadelphia it's not uncommon. Also, corkage fees are bullshit. And staff switching your bottles? This boggles my mind.
posted by fixedgear at 2:48 AM on August 11, 2008

Call ahead.
posted by Item at 3:41 AM on August 11, 2008

Yeah, the corkage fee is there because they have to pay to have a liquor license, and need to get money back for that. Then again, places that charge $10 upwards are being ridiculous.

So whether or not they'll let you open your tasty, tasty chartreuse depends on their license. Perhaps they're only allowed beer and wine on their license, but I'd assume anything alcoholic is fine. The phone-ahead is your friend.
posted by twirlypen at 4:32 AM on August 11, 2008

I think the OP is talking about BYOB restaurants as meaning restaurants without a liquor license, not places that serve alcohol and impose a corkage charge if you bring your own wine.

As such, you can certainly bring whatever you want to bring up to and including grain alcohol. But be aware of state motor vehicle laws regarding the carrying of opened containers of alcoholic beverage in your car. Taking home the unfinished portion is probably illegal, especially if it's carried in the passenger compartment rather than in the trunk.
posted by beagle at 5:06 AM on August 11, 2008

I've been at restaurants (relatively inexpensive ones, even) that will keep bottles for their regulars - not just wine, but sake at Japanese restaurants and even whiskey at some places. So, I think it depends on the place - definitely call ahead.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:04 AM on August 11, 2008

If the restaurant is BYOB as in "doesn't have a liquor license, you may therefore bring your own" they are generally, in my experience, okay with liquor. As long as you aren't an ass about it. (e.g. a cocktail is fine, body shots of tequila, not so much.)
posted by desuetude at 6:40 AM on August 11, 2008

I think the OP is talking about BYOB restaurants as meaning restaurants without a liquor license, not places that serve alcohol and impose a corkage charge if you bring your own wine.

Well, yeah that's what I thought, that's why I can't understand people defending corkage fees. So a question about this. Do people generally bring in their own wine/beer/whatever to a place with a liquor license? I've never seen this.
posted by ob at 9:44 AM on August 11, 2008

Some restaurants that have liquor licenses allow people to bring their own one day a week. Some allow it all the time.
posted by fixedgear at 9:48 AM on August 11, 2008

It's gauche to bring anything but wine or beer to a byob.

It's gauche to bring beer, wine or liquor to a restaurant that has a liquor license.
posted by Zambrano at 10:37 AM on August 11, 2008

It's gauche to bring anything but wine or beer to a byob.

It's gauche to bring beer, wine or liquor to a restaurant that has a liquor license.

Not if expressly invited to do so by the establishment.
posted by desuetude at 10:44 AM on August 11, 2008

A date & I brought premade margaritas to a BYOB Mexican restaurant in NJ. The waiter (politely, and discreetly) informed us that liquor was not allowed by law, but if we hid the bottle, he'd bring us wine glasses to drink it out of.

Got a suitably nice tip.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:48 PM on August 11, 2008

It's gauche to bring anything but wine or beer to a byob.

This is ridiculous. My friends adopted a child from Russia. We live near a large Russian neighborhood. To celebrate, we went to a huge Russian restaurant. It's a BYOB. Guess what? Bottle(s) of vodka on every table.

It's gauche to bring beer, wine or liquor to a restaurant that has a liquor license.

What desuetude said.

Also, since you are (maybe) in Italy shouldn't it be 'siestre' and not 'gauche?'
posted by fixedgear at 1:17 PM on August 11, 2008

err, 'sinestre'
posted by fixedgear at 1:19 PM on August 11, 2008