San Francisco

There is a website that covers corkage fees in San Francisco and seems to be current:

http://www.sanfranciscocorkagefees.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This thread can serve as a place to discuss SF restaurants. If someone wants to take on thread master duties for the Bay Area, I’ll be happy to have the mods nuke this thread (or merge it, if we have posts). The new thread master is welcome to use the data I had culled when I was thread master at the other site. If you don’t have access to it still, I’ll be happy to send it to you.

huge ups to The Buckeye in Sausalito. We had a guys night out dinner and brought two of our own bottles of wine and corkage was 25$ a bottle. As the night was winding down, I asked for the Som and what he recommended for a third bottle. We discussed several options which were $54, $63 and $90 per bottle. after a few more Q&A back and forth, we determined that the 90$ wine was what we wanted but I was leaning towards the 63$ wine because we were a lil tipsy anyway.

Then he bit. I said, I would take the 90$ Pomerol if he would waive the $50 corkage we built up.

done, he said. The 03 pomerol was very nice and he was right, it finished off the evening quite nicely.

the wine was a Ch. Rouget Pomerol 2003

The website that Poppy links to lists $20 for Perbacco; but what it doesn’t say is that if you buy a bottle, they waive corkage for a bottle. Given that they have a great list with great prices (plus superb wine service), this is a real deal.

Any recommendations? Inexpensive whites in particular (but interested in other thoughts).

Thanks in advance!

The list is very strong, Barry, and there is a story behind almost all of the wines. Consequently, I don’t have time here to digress. I’d suggest talking with the sommelier.

A ways back, they had a bunch of 67 Barolo on the list for a half way reasonable sum. More recently, I think we bought the last bottle of 1999 Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, also at a reasonable price.

The “buy one, one free corkage” policy is pretty common (I often mention it to the restaurants), and a good deal…

Great list linked above. I’m interested in any personal recommendations that are more detailed.

I’m looking for a good corkage-friendly restaurant where I can arrange a dinner with several of my colleagues. By corkage-friendly I mean a place that will allow more than 2 bottles per table, you don’t have to know someone to BYO, and corkage is $25 or (preferably) less. Prefer something more interesting than a steakhouse, ok if it’s on the pricey side if the food is that good, quiet enough to have a conversation across the table is a plus.

Thanks!

David- Kokkari, Boulevard, Spruce & Foreign Cinema immediately come to mind and meet most of your qualifications (exception: 2 bottle rule). Kokkari is the only one that doesn’t explicitly state the 2 bottle max rule on their website. May want to call & doublecheck.

I recently had a reservation at Perbacco. I walked in, asked for the sommelier, and handed him a bottle of wine that I asked to have decanted and ready at my party’s table after I exited the bar.

They were professionals. No questions or challenges - and the service could not have been better. I did not receive or pay the check that evening, but whatever it was, it was worth the respect and consideration given.

I never told them it was a wine I produced or had any relationship to - that night it did not matter. They were discreet and I would highly recommend them. I was very pleased.

Had dinner this past weekend at Rich Table in Hayes Valley. Sat at the bar as we didn’t have reservations (RT sets aside a portion of their seats for walk-in parties). Corkage is $30/bottle, but we took advantage of the “buy a bottle off their list and get a corkage fee waived” policy. Ordered a '13 Scribe Chardonnay 500ml, which paired perfectly with the first half of the chef’s pairing multi courses that we ordered. All the while, an '07 Pahlmeyer merlot I’d brought was decanting. The head bartender was knowledgeable about the wine list, and was very appreciative of the pours we provided him of the Pahlmeyer.

Would highly recommend RT to anyone if you can get a reservation, or time your walk-in so you don’t have to wait too long…

We took an aged Littorai that we picked up from K&L to State Bird Provisions last year. No issues and the server even took a minute to chat with us about the bottle

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It looks useful though Yoshi’s in the City is long gone.

Just FYI, I was recently in contact with State Bird Provisions re: their corkage policy.
Here is what I was told (received via email December 2015):

Our corkage policy is: 750 ml bottles $30 for the first and second, $60 for the third and $90 for the fourth and so on (going up $30 per bottle after the first two bottles). Magnums are $60 for the first, $120 for the second, $180 for the third and so on.

Didn’t BYOB to Osso Steakhouse last night, as a vendor ordered bottles off their list. But I did notice that corkage is $10, with no limit. The location on top of Nob Hill a block and a half from the Fairmont/Top of the Mark/Stanford Court triumvirate is a little off the beaten path, but on the flip side it could definitely host larger parties.

Any recent feedback on this place? I see corkage is $15 now, still very reasonable. Any experience with the food other than steaks for the seafood inclined? Atmosphere?