Because they can hold your life hostage, opentable style. No, joking. The moral of the story was that if you abuse the policies restaurants set in place to be nice and accomodating, then don't expect the restaurant to be nice and accomodating. Therefore, the point of the article was to explain a sometimes confusing policy, so you can choose to be a nice and accomodating dinner guest.

These repeated threats of BLACKLISTING! (OMGZORRS!) on OpenTable are getting very tired. "Look upon the slam-book ye mighty and tremble!" Puh-leeze.

Two questions:
1) What if the restaurant is BYOB (like the many such establishments in Philly)? Does this mean that you can bring swill, if that's what you want to drink, without incuring the wrath of the server, since you aren't depriving the restaurant of any wine revenue? I would think so, since there is no corkage fee at such places.

2) What if your sentimental bottle of wine happens to be swill? Not everyone has good taste in wine; not all cheap wine is bad; and, not all expensive wine is good.

Did anyone else picture Uncle Leo and his stenciled "evil eyebrows" when they mentioned the blacklisting? (non Seinfeld fans need not reply)

A couple of other rules.

Always call first and ask if they permit corkage, what restrictions they place on it, and what the corkage fee is. If the restaurant doesn't permit corkage, don't argue with them.

If they limit the number of bottles, stick to the rules unless you have gotten permission from the restaurant to exceed the limit.

If you can (i.e., there are enough of you to make it feasable) buy a bottle from the list in addition to bringing one or more.

Not only shouldn't you bring a wine that is on the list, it is pretty bad form to bring the same wine but a different year, unless of course you are talking about bringing one that is quite a ways off (i.e., don't bring a 2002 if the 2001 is on the list, but you shouldn't feel bad about bringing that '89 Bordeaux out of the cellar, even if they have the 2000 on the list.)

Don't act like a wine snob. You are taking a bottle to enjoy it with a great meal, not to impress anyone.

Note to d and cheah. Corkage is a privilage, not a right. I wouldn't think of taking a cheap bottle of wine to any restaurant, especially one as good as the one Nadya works in (I live in the city she is from and know her restaurant very well.)

As to sharing, there is nothing more enjoyable to the true wine lover than sharing a good bottle with someone who appreciates it. I can't count how many times I've shared my wine with the server or sommelier ore even the couple at the table next to me, and I've had other perfect strangers offer me a glass of superb wine when they saw that I was "into" wine.

Who has the time to look through a wine list. Sometims those things are as big as a the phone book. It's my guess that most people don't even bring bottles...so this may be a non issue. Nadya where do you work in DC? Most likely I have been there?

What about craft beers? Can we bring those to the table?

"don't bring a 2002 if the 2001"

You obviously don't know anything about wine or how vastly different vintages only one year apart can be.

P.S. That was a troll.

Thus far, only dinwidde and W have added anything of value to this comment thread. People are taking Nadya's comments about opentable blacklisting waaayy to seriously. And come on, you don't have time to look at a wine list, but somehow have time to go out to dinner?

Miguel, you obviously either don't eat out much, understand that restaurants are a business, or (likely) both.

Nadya, this column is great, and keep up the good work!

Clearly the writer has no idea where BYOB came from, and these "rules" are very "chi-chi, NYC, I'm so rich I have to have MY wine". Actually BYOB started as a way around liquor licensing laws since many establishments could not get a liquor license yet wanted to have customers. It has generally been easier to get a BYOB license than a liquor license. Nadya would up the creek in Australia, where BYOB is the rule, not the exception.

In some places, like Baltimore (which is only an hour away, so you could have just done a little research!), the number of liquor licences is controlled to a set number, and no new ones are issued. Thus if you open a new establishment, you'd better hope someone goes out of business so you can buy their license; this often becomes the most prized asset a business has when the business goes belly up. In other places the numbers of licenses are controlled as well, sometimes owing to how states chose to respond to the repeal of Prohibition.

DC with its free-flowing alchohol doesn't suffer the license issue as much, but you try opening an establishment somewhere other than K street, like oh say Shaw and try getting a license.

One of the best meals I ever had was at an Italian restaurant off South Street in Philly that was BYOB. There were maybe 8 of us, and we stopped by the store just before going to eat, and picked up some pretty cheap bottles wine. No one seem to care how much our bottles cost, and the food was great. I feel in love with philly after that. A very donw to earth city.

DC is very much about status and what you can afford. I am a wine drinker, however I have never ordered a bottle of wine for over $50 in a restaurant and in my collection at home, nothing is more than $26 or so. But I think they taste just as good as those bottles that cost more. The point is, why should you be looked down on because you bring a $10 bottle of wine, I am sure some bottles on a Restaurants list are not much more than that

While I agree with the article, there is one point that I do take issue with-- that "most diners believe restaurant wine prices are outrageously inflated compared to retail". Wine markups *are* too high in DC. Taking a look at the wine list prices of a certain restaurant relevant to this article, I see a couple of $10 retail bottles are marked up to $43 and $44. With a more than 4x markup, no wonder people have the impression that wine inflation is high at DC restaurants. Fortunately, places such as Dino, Tallula, Corduroy and Ray's have brought wine markups down to a more reasonable level... hopefully that trend will continue.

Copperred- "Clearly" this article did not require any research into liquor licenses because that has no bearing on what the author was discussing. The subject was bringing a bottle of wine to a restaurant that presumably offers wine for sale. The "BYOB" on your cousin's 4th of July BBQ invitation is a world apart from the corkage fees and processes she discussed. Anyone who either a) has ever provided high-quality wine service, b) has ever enjoyed high-quality wine service, or c) knows why you'd want an '03 or '05 bordeaux over an '04, would recognize and appreciate the merits of this piece.

And everyone talking about personal taste vs. expensive bottles- stop being ridiculous. I'm the first to crack open a bottle of yellowtail if I'm grilling burgers, but I'm sure as shit not going to bring it to a restaurant. If I'm dropping $200 on food I'd certainly want the wine to be on par.

respecs - I don't know that I've ever attended a cousin's BBQ, but if I did, I certainly wouldn't bring wine. Nice classist shot there, bravo!

So shut up and serve ... the customer is always right.

No, no they're not. In fact, quite frequently they're not. I'm pretty much convinced that excessive deference to asshole customers in restaurants is one of the main reasons the whole country has been getting less and less polite. Restaurants need to start treating assholes like assholes, so that they can see there are some consequences to their actions.

This story has made me reconsider my use of OpenTable. It is convenient but who knew that it was being used as a weapon against customers, I'm done with them. Making a phone call isn't that hard.

PS. sorry, my previous comment should have been directed at Nadia, not Mr. Mugmon.

I find it amusing that people keep trying to make this a class-based argument, as if the alleged negative consequences of bringing in a cheap bottle of wine were due to the staff's low opinion of the customer's tastes. Let's try to explain this again: corkage policies are NOT in place in order to offer diners an opportunity to save money on their wine.

Bringing a cheap bottle of wine to a restaurant is really no different than bringing your own dessert, or picking up a salad at McDonald's on your way to dinner because the restaurant's salad prices strike you as too high. It's tacky behavior, just like low tipping, excessive special ordering, getting disgustingly drunk at the dinner table, or any number of other things that restaurant staff will notice and remember, and which are likely to affect the level of service you receive that night and in the future. A service like OpenTable just gives servers and hosts a place to actually record their reactions for posterity.

The amusing thing about this whole "debate," of course, is that the type of people who take advantage of corkage fees are extraordinarily unlikely to bring cheap bottles of wine with them to dinner, and the people here who are getting the most outraged by the post probably aren't actually interested in taking advantage of the policy. It's sure fun to get outraged and gripe about persecution, though, isn't it?

I'm with Nupe1911 here, the comment at 4:16PM. If you are going to have issues, don't be passive-aggressive about it, just don't offer the service.

The customer isn't always right. If anything, the customer is just as wrong as any other human on the planet, on a regular basis. Still it behooves you as the service provider to forgive this and to be patient and be helpful; otherwise you should have been a software developer.

I agree that the class debate is silly, but that notwithstanding, the tone of this article is super pretentious. Next time I'm at Nadya's restaurant, I'm bringing a bottle of Wild Irish Rose, claiming it was my father's favorite drink, and that we're celebrating the 10 year anniversary of his death by liver failure.

I just had dinner at an really wondeful Italian in Philly this past weekend. "Prima Donna" was it's name, it was in Center City.
This year I've been traveling a lot to Philly, taking full advantage of the BYOB fun and really enjoy it. I most often see people eating at the Philly BYOB's with bottles of Yellow Tail (Not that there's anything wrong with it) and we all know that it is of the lower cost wines often sold in convenient locations such as CVS, 7-Eleven, Safeway etc.
Nadya's restaurant that she works at is quite liberal with their corkage policies and we should allll welcome that practice. But I agree, it is a privilage not a right.
Does anyone know the current law or obstacles on starting or creating a BYOB restaurant in D.C. ??
I'd be interested to know.



Nadya, it's so wonderful to see you contributing here!

"Charlie Palmer Steak has no fee on up to two bottles of American Wine, which is a great deal!"

Charlie Palmers, which is right across from the Capitol Building, put this policy in place back when everyone was mad at the French about Iraq. It was a gimmick that they have pretty much been stuck with. They charge corkage for all bottles over 2, regardless of the size of the party, and they charge corkage on any non-US wine. (They also have an excellent wine list and a very good sommelier.)

If you think the mark up on wine is high, figure out what it is on coffee, tea, or sodas. I agree that a 4X mark-up is obscene, and I don't pay those kinds of markups, but that is not the norm in DC. Two to two and a half is normal, not just in DC, and is not unreasonable, especially if the restaurant takes the trouble to have a good list and good wine service.

And talk about tone, a lot of reverse snobbery in this place too.

I have a really nice 2000 White Zinfandel from the vineyards of Franzia that I am dying to enjoy at your restaurant. Do corkage fees apply to boxed wines, when there is no actual cork involved? Franzia is the world's most popular wine, so don't even try to tell me that it isn't good enough for your establishment.

Nadya,

Be careful what you ask for - you might get it. ;-)

Cheers, dahlink!
Rocks.

So, to recap:
Corkage fees - classist.

Cabbie cell phone fear - racist (possibly sexist).

Customers - ALWAYS right, unless they're not.

Breasts with Bear heads - fantastic.

Nupe, maybe I'm wrong but aren't we the hand that feeds you? Maybe you shouldn't bite.

"if her restaurant still has a problem after letting its customers know that its corkage policy only extends to limited circumstances, it should discontinue the policy."

You know, some things are handled really well with a balance of policy, courtesy and common sense.

I fail to see how anyone can view a corkage policy as anything but pro-customer. It's a courtesy extended to customers, who would do best to return the courtesy by utilizing it in the way it was intended. It's really that simple.

"if her restaurant wants people to observe its corkage policies in a certain way, it should let it's customers know."

Isn't it self-evident in what way a restaurant wants a corkage policy observed? It's a nice way for a restaurant to accommodate diners that want to bring a special bottle to enjoy at the restaurant. Not a way to avoid paying for part of your meal.

if it were self-evident that her restaurant wants its corkage policy observered only in limited circumstances, she wouldn't have felt the need to write this article.

Like them or not, they're the rules of the road. Respecting them is classy. Would you expect to be treated well if you brought a Subway sandwich to munch on to a dinner with friends at Taberna?

"I'd like some wine. What do you recommend?"

"The most expensive bottle is excellent."

"Fine, bring me that."

"Excellent, sir."

[LONG PAUSE]

"Oh my god! He tricked me again!"

Bringing your own wine to upscale restaurant that has its own wine list is tricky, and it should be avoided if you are uncomfortable at such restaurants in general. Just order one of the lower priced wines on the list and no one will criticize your choice.

Nupe, I have to say something about your statement regarding being made uncomfortable at fancy restaurants, if you are not comfortable somewhere don't go back!! Seriously, there are all different ranges of restaurants with different cuisine, atmospheres, locations, and price ranges. What you call "fancy" places someone else might have gone into and thought it was low brow. There is nothing wrong with it. I go out all the time and get that snooty feeling from restaurants but I don't want them to change. I just know it's not for me. They have their niche. I just know when I go out I prefer a Zaytinya type scene over a 1789 scene. I don't want 1789 to start catering to me anymore than I want Matchbox to start requiring jackets for dinner and having elaborate french dishes I can't pronounce. That being said, did you ever wonder if waiters weren't looking down at you for your wine choices but maybe your attitude? I would never think less of someone because of any lack of wine or food knowledge. As a waiter I love suggesting things and guiding customers along who are "less experienced". More fun than know-it-all foodies any day. But if I had a customer with an attitude like yours.
"How can you look down on me, and you are a waiter or host?"
" am just tired of Restaurant help, talking bad about the customer. Get a new job if it's that bad"
you better believe I would have an attitude right back. We don't like being treated like trash either. You are the exact holier than thou customer who treats waiters like "the help". Get over yourself. I work a full time analyst job in the day which requires a college degree and it is 30 times easier than my evening job waiting tables. I get entry level wages at my day job and if I think I am overpaid at one of my jobs it is my office one. I sit in an airconditioned office in a comfortable chair all day. At night I am on my feet all night running through hot kitchens, burning my hands on hot plates and getting talked down to like I am an idiot or failure because I am serving you food. And lastly this goes for everyone, it dissappoints me that we still have so many people in such an educated and normally classy polite city who treat servers like they are beneath them. Some people always assume that waiters are some uneducated losers who must have failed in life at some point to end up cleaning dirty plates off your table. At my restaurant we have 2 people working on phd's right now, 3 on masters degrees and a handful of college students. 4-5 of us have full time entry level office jobs.

"What happened to taking care of the customer?"
"Where is the customer service here?"

It seems to me that the customer service you're looking for is in allowing you to bring in your own wine at all. The restaurant is doing this entirely for your benefit, not theirs. It would, indeed, be much easier on all parties, and particularly the restaurant, if it was simply not allowed. But because some customers derive great pleasure from drinking precisely the right wine for the occasion, whether that's due to taste or sentiment, many restaurants choose to cut their own profits for the night and let you bring in that special bottle. If that's not customer service, what is?

So take advantage of it when it will make your dinner more special, which is the intended purpose, but not just to save a buck or two at the restaurant's expense. How difficult is that?

I actually have had people bring in Yellowtail. They wound up paying more for the yellow tail than they would have for some very nice wines on our list. But that was not an issue with us, it was their choice.

But I am not really aware of any other business where a large part of product can be brought in by the customer. When I go to my auto mecahanic, I cannot bring in my own parts. I can't go to the local Jiffy Lube and bring in my $.99 oper quart Penzoil and expect to pay less for my oil change.

We are one of the realtively small number of restaurants that actually put any thought whatsoever into our wine list. Places that actually employ someone to make the choices on the list are a small number. DC is home to many a restaurant with quirky lists driven by actual personalities. Its a shame not to support them.

There is a larger number of places that just leave it up to their distributor. How many restaurants ahve a liine on their wine list saying Pinot Grigio and give neither vintage or winery information? How many time have you asked for a glass of wine only to be told merlot or syrah as if there was no import as to whose it was?

Remember that the typical restaurant in DC or most any large city is an Olive Garden or something of that ilk. The typical list is a corporate piece of crud with Yellow Tail, Kendall Jackson and Clos du Bois if you are lucky!

When someone brings in a great bottle from their cellar, thats a complement to my establishment. They are bring in something of value to enjoy in my restaurant. I love that. When someone brings in yellowtail or a bottle on my wine list, well that just seems to be cheap, but we open and poiur it with a smile nonetheless.

Dean is too modest, his restaurant has a fantastic and extremely well priced list that I've enjoyed buying from on several occasions. He has also been very gracious when we have brought a nice bottle with us to his restaurant. I don't know anybody who knows more about Italian wine that he does.