BYO/Corkage for Gilt City/Groupon/Etc

Is it tacky to BYOB/pay corkage when redeeming a Gilt City/Groupon/Etc. Dining Credit?

  • Yes
  • No
  • It Depends (please explain)
  • Who buys those things?

0 voters

My fiancee and I had an interesting conversation this past weekend about manners in bringing a bottle to a dinner where we are claiming a Gilt City credit (like groupon). The Gilt City ones tend to be nicer restaurants, so I often desire to bring a bottle of wine not on their list. I’m obviously happy to pay corkage, but would you consider it too far to bring a bottle along with the Gilt City credit?

I opted for no. Felt tacky.

We do opt to buy these when the deal is right, so curious to hear opinions from this board!

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Michael, I understand your sense of trepidation. But, you are 1) tipping on the full value of the meal & 2) paying full corkage…so don’t really see it as cheating the restaurant out of anything. If they choose to say “house policy doesn’t allow us to do ________” then that’s that. Otherwise, go for it.

im actually suprised at the answers here. I do ALWAYS tip above and beyond the real value of the meal, but a lot of the time thats a nice tip due to me ordering a bottle off the list! with a 20 for corkage, i might feel bad.

That being said, I like the answers to this thread already!

I feel uncomfortable to byo with a discount deal,and I don’t. But if the web site lists a corkage fee higher than I normally pay, then I feel its ok.

Interesting Question !

I’ve seen restaurants that normally allow corkage exclude it on their Groupon offers when the T&C are closely inspected. I thought that was pretty amazing, and wasn’t very surprised when the venue shut down maybe a year later.

I think some of these places which are doing crazy gotcha filled Groupons should just try corkage free Wednesdays or something and see what does for their business. That might just be a whole lot simpler, and better for building a real book of regulars, rather than coupon / deal chasers.

I would feel tacky using a Groupon rather than the other way around.