Diving right into the topic of money and money grabs is hardly sensitive to money. Discussing value and cost is not the same as being emotionally charged about the topic.
Yeah that’s fair man. I’m sad that a simple phrase tacked at the end of a post can set so many people on tilt, but I certainly understand the sentiment in the industry. This wasn’t to be part of my thread but I actually contacted the somm because I wanted to know what would be best for them - if he’d rather I BYO with corkage or they were trying to encourage in house purchases with specials. I was definitely a bit turned off in what I perceived to be double dipping IMO, but I always planned on supporting them with a tasting or bottle purchase.
Let’s just say we might expect a “frequent DRC buyer” to be a little more considerate when restaurants are in existential danger. But feel free to keep digging.
Andrew–I thought about this a little longer, and perhaps not all of us are on the same page. Georgia, if I’m remembering correctly, didn’t really shut down much with COVid. But realize in other parts of the country and the world, the situation is radically different. In Seattle, restaurants were shut down totally for an extended period of time. some have done limited take-out. Now they are open for limited outdoor dining, with a few inside tables allowed, but still for almost all, a money losing proposition. Numerous restaurants have already gone out of business, even in strong restaurant chains. Many restaurant employees are out of work, unable to pay rent, going to food banks. there is serious pain. so I think that may be the genesis of some of the responses you have been getting.
Very fair. Indeed we hardly shutdown and reopened very quickly. Today it’s business as usual almost everywhere. Sad to hear about so much carnage with businesses elsewhere when it seems rather unnecessary.
So glad the Underprivileged Middle Class have you and Greg to be their Arbitor of Equity and Justice. ![[worship.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/9/99a8907a1d5b3c023582052741dc72dc9823c044.gif "worship"){kind=small}
I guess we all should drive through suburbia with buckets of cash in the back of the truck flying about in the wind to make ourselves feel better. I have plenty of friends in the restaurant business and I deeply understand the precarious nature of the entire industry. Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about what I perceive to be a double dipping money grab.
Sorry–I’m losing confidence here. Very unfortunately for a lot of businesses, the shutdowns are actually extremely necessary. Many, many lives are at stake. Trust me–I’m a doctor.
can you explain why you believe raising corkage fees is a double dipping money grab?
Do you believe corkage fees in general are money grabs?
I hear what you’re saying. Looking again at your original post, so many establishments having absorbed the impacts of the current business environment, you should probably just expect to see numerous and sometimes conflicting strategies when it comes to wine service. I’m sure both sides of the fence (discounting vs no discounting & raising corkage) have good reasons unique to their situations. I wouldn’t consider it double dipping with the contact you made, just a business decision that they feel works best for them.
Where to dine and having a special wine for your anniversary is personal decision. I’m sure you have plenty of nice options being in the Atlanta area (my hometown). If you can find a spot where you can comfortably have corkage, I’d just recommend some extra consideration for the restaurant somewhere else in the meal. And I’d recommend to anyone dining out these days to show some extra kindness and consideration overall. Restaurants are trying to figure a lot of things out on the fly.
I hope you enjoy your anniversary dinner and that whatever wine you drink is a great bottle. Cheers.
Hey Charlie. The way I approach business is it’s a two way street and it’s a balance between providing a good service at a fair price. In this case their wine list is already priced pretty bleeding edge at 3x retail, so raising corkage and reducing BYO bottle limits to push you into their relatively overpriced list just feels a bit gougey to me. But this may be the new normal and the only way for establishments like this to survive.
I think there’s a misunderstanding of corkage here.
Restaurants don’t necessarily love it when a stranger shows up with his own bottle. But what restaurants do love is repeat diners, regulars as it were. So they offer corkage to be known as the wine-friendly place, hoping that the people who come in with their wine will become regular patrons. Because restaurants want to fill tables.
In every place where I’ve gone with wine more than once, I’ve become friendly with the owners and have gone back and brought friends many times. It ends up not being a one-off for the restaurant, but it becomes a chance to get a loyal customer who sends additional diners to the place. I’ve become fairly close to a number of owners. At times I’ve been asked where my wine was, but my feeling is that if I like the restaurant and they have a nice wine list, I don’t want to be presumptuous. If I have a special group of friends, we’ll bring some wine, but if I’m just out for dinner, I’m happy to order from the list.
Increasing the corkage fee at this point is petty. The restaurant gets an additional ten or twenty dollars. In the long run, that’s peanuts and maybe the restaurant loses a customer. I guess it really depends on whether the restaurant thinks it will survive.
If I were a restaurant owner and if I were able to open, I’d probably be happy to have customers and I wouldn’t increase my corkage fees at this point. We don’t know whether people will feel safe enough to crowd restaurants for the next year or two, so any customer is a blessing. Then again, as a customer, I probably wouldn’t do a BYO at this point either.
Andrew, your initial post didn’t come across as you seeing it as a two way street. It came across as a one way street: you wanting and expecting a discount because restaurants should feel lucky to have a customer at this time. Perhaps not what you meant, but it helps explain some of the responses. It appears even with corkage and 3x mark ups places are barely scraping by, staff are no doubt struggling with precarious hours and low pay. That doesn’t seem like gouging to me. If you like the place enough, you’re probably happy to pay. If not, you will probably go somewhere else.
I do not feel this need. Just the opposite I feel the need to stand up for those struggling. And the reason why I reacted so negatively is that I have so many friends in the restaurant business who are losing their restaurants every day or if they are not owners their livelihoods during this pandemic. Corkage is a hot button for me. I hate as much as anyone here paying 4x retail for wine and generally do not go to corporate places that charge those prices. Most of the higher-end restaurants I prefer are smaller and chef owned so I gladly pay whatever corkage they charge, buy at least one bottle and take very good care of the staff and send them many customers.
I can’t say this enough most restaurants unless they are fast food simply do not make money on food alone.
This pandemic is terrible for so many businesses. However restaurants were on the edge before this, so this is just pushing them over the edge.
They are huge part of the culture of our society. We need to support them, especially as you say we are in the 1%
Do you think that’s foreseeable? Granted I generally only dined our 1x a month Pre COVID.
Having had worked as a waiter for a decade, at michelin starred places and james beard winners, I can count the number of times on 1 hand when a corkage wasn’t 100% my decision to charge and I did it how many people do many things, I profiled.
I’ve never not brought wine in and not offered to waiter. I usually ask if corkage is waived if another bottle is purchased.
Restaurants are shitty businesses models and I wish they actually paid their FoH staff. I hated the concept of tipping as a waiter and I hate it now. It’s demeaning to everyone but ownership. I hope restaurants survive on a broad sense but the ones offering mediocre service and trying to make back profits via corkage fees- well good luck.
We have a bistro in Cole Valley, in San Francisco. They have had corkage free Tuesdays every week for years. Right now restaurants can only be open outside. I recently reached out to them and they said they are maintaining it now, and will do so when they open fully.
At the current time, there is essentially no incentive that would entice us to go out to eat in the current environment, except perhaps carefully socially distanced outdoor dining. This is ultimately the existential threat to restaurants, that people who would normally spend significant amounts of disposable income don’t feel comfortable eating out. In this environment, customers may also be more price sensitive, and raising prices for corkage is likely not a good strategy. Even if we would consider going somewhere, if we weren’t allowed to bring wine at a reasonable price we’d rather simply eat at home.
On the other hand, restaurants may not be able to survive without significant alcohol sales. It’s probably a no-win scenario for them. I think probably incentivizing people to dine out is probably their best strategy, but if they feel like they can’t be profitable without people buying overpriced bottles, then I’m not really sure what the way forward is.
You have to consider the source:
Calling something “a money grab” when he has boasted about buying DRC…
citing “post-COVID” when the virus is full bore first wave…
There is a reason people pile on.
But the avatar makes a statement, doesn’t it? You notice no one attacks people with dogs in their avatars?! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
This.
Almost like discovering a “Karen” within our 1% of oeno-existence.
.