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Restaurants Allowing Corkage in DC DelMarVa

vengroff

By vengroff
in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

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vengroff

vengroff

Posted
Posted

What are the laws in DC, VA, and MD concering bringing one's own wine to a restaurant?

Obviously the normal etiquette rules about not bringing a bottle on the restaurant's list, expecting to pay corkage, etc... apply. I just want to know if there are any state or district laws regulating the practice, and whether it is common.

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

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jparrott

jparrott

Posted
Posted

Legal in DC.

Free Mondays at Lavandou and Sundays at Melrose.

As I recall, $20 at Equinox. Plenty of other places allow it for around that. Do call ahead.

Jake

Jake Parrott

Ledroit Brands, LLC

Bringing new and rare spirits to Washington DC.

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  • 3 weeks later...
mr food

mr food

Posted
Posted

It's really up to the restaurant in DC, no matter what they tell you. Bistro Francais and La Chaumiere are $15 which is my limit for corkage. The Caucus Room is the most wine friendly place I've been to. They've waived corkage whenever I've gone and their stemware is excellent. Best advice, call ahead and ask. Be a good corker and offer wine to the staff, tip well, and maybe order a bottle off the list as well AND don't bring anything cheap (why bother?).

Jay

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Al_Dente

Al_Dente

Posted
Posted

In the Delray section of Alexandria is a great little restaurant called Evening Star. They have an adjoining wine store with a pretty good selection. You can make a purchase at the store and drink it in the restaurant. If I recall correctly it's a $5 corkage.

peak performance is predicated on proper pan preparation...

-- A.B.

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jparrott

jparrott

Posted
Posted

Don't, don't, don't order anything at Evening Star that wasn't shipped very recently. The storage conditions at Daily Planet Wines are abysmal, and I've had enough cooked bottles that I don't bother anymore. In addition, they pull wines off the store shelves, which means even reds need a decent chill because of the heat in the store (and whites a bit more), yet they push you to order food and bring it far too quickly. Result: you're only halfway through the wine by the time you're done with your mains, and there's a crowd waiting for a seat, and they not-so-subtly push you out. And no cheese available to drink with the remnants of your wine.

Sorry for the rant, but this place baffles me.

Jake

Jake Parrott

Ledroit Brands, LLC

Bringing new and rare spirits to Washington DC.

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hjshorter

hjshorter

Posted
Posted

Can anyone tell me if Maryland allows BYO?

Here in Montgomery County, home of the stupidest liquor laws on the planet :angry: all booze must be purchased from the county distributors. You can imagine the selection we get, and the prices we have to pay. There must be some equally stupid provision that covers bringing wine to a restaurant.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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Al_Dente

Al_Dente

Posted
Posted
Don't, don't, don't order anything at Evening Star that wasn't shipped very recently.  The storage conditions at Daily Planet Wines are abysmal, and I've had enough cooked bottles that I don't bother anymore.  In addition, they pull wines off the store shelves, which means even reds need a decent chill because of the heat in the store (and whites a bit more), yet they push you to order food and bring it far too quickly.  Result: you're only halfway through the wine by the time you're done with your mains, and there's a crowd waiting for a seat, and they not-so-subtly push you out.  And no cheese available to drink with the remnants of your wine.

Sorry for the rant, but this place baffles me.

Jake

Hmmm. I haven't been there in a few months. Perhaps things have gone downhill.

peak performance is predicated on proper pan preparation...

-- A.B.

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jparrott

jparrott

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Hmmm. I haven't been there in a few months. Perhaps things have gone downhill.

My experience has been consistent over at least a couple of years. Food's always been decent.

Jake Parrott

Ledroit Brands, LLC

Bringing new and rare spirits to Washington DC.

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  • 1 year later...
sara

sara

Posted
Posted
\The Caucus Room is the most wine friendly place I've been to. They've waived corkage whenever I've gone and their stemware is excellent.

Given their BYO policy and my growing wine collection, I'd like to know--how is the FOOD at The Caucus Room? I'd never heard of it before this thread...

Food is a convenient way for ordinary people to experience extraordinary pleasure, to live it up a bit.

-- William Grimes

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Mark Sommelier

Mark Sommelier

Posted
Posted
\The Caucus Room is the most wine friendly place I've been to. They've waived corkage whenever I've gone and their stemware is excellent.

Given their BYO policy and my growing wine collection, I'd like to know--how is the FOOD at The Caucus Room? I'd never heard of it before this thread...

Food is fine. It is basically a steak house.

Mark

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JPW

JPW

Posted
Posted (edited)
Maryland law is set at the county level, I believe.

Wrong, Jpw. Montgomery County is the only controlled COUNTY in the US. They do a truly shitty job.

Uuh, Mark?

Granted it's an old thread, but jparrot was the author, not me.

The lovely Montgomery County money grub is why I buy most of my wine in VA or DC.

That and the VA ABC is why I buy my booze in DC. :smile:

Edited by JPW (log)

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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DonRocks

DonRocks

Posted
Posted

Elliot Staren (the owner of Wide World of Wines) maintains this fine list of restaurants in DC that allow you to bring your own wine and pay a corkage fee:

Restaurants Allowing Corkage

Having done this many times, I can offer the following advice:

1) It's always appropriate to call and ask first.

2) Never bring a wine on the restaurant's wine list.

3) If you're going to a decent restaurant, bring a decent wine.

4) Order something off the list, even if it's just a Martini.

5) Tip well on top of the corkage fee.

The general theory behind restaurants allowing this is so that their patrons can have a decent bottle of wine with dinner without the restaurant needing to maintain an extensive (and expensive) inventory, not to provide customers with an avenue for a cheap drunk!

Bringing a Gallo Hearty Burgundy and gorging on free dip and tap water,

Rocks.

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Mark Sommelier

Mark Sommelier

Posted
Posted
Maryland law is set at the county level, I believe.

Wrong, Jpw. Montgomery County is the only controlled COUNTY in the US. They do a truly shitty job.

Uuh, Mark?

Granted it's an old thread, but jparrot was the author, not me.

The lovely Montgomery County money grub is why I buy most of my wine in VA or DC.

That and the VA ABC is why I buy my booze in DC. :smile:

Oops, sorry JPW.

Mark

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evilcartman

evilcartman

Posted
Posted
Montgomery County is the only controlled COUNTY in the US. They do a truly shitty job.

Tell me about it I grew up in Damascus...it's a dry town!! So you have to go to Mt. Airy or Germantown to get booze. Explains why there are no decent restaurants there, though. I don't know of any places in Mo Co that allow BYOW, but then I've never explored BYOW outside of DC.

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jparrott

jparrott

Posted
Posted
Maryland law is set at the county level, I believe.

Wrong, Jpw. Montgomery County is the only controlled COUNTY in the US. They do a truly shitty job.

Maryland law pertaining to corkage is set at the county level. Illegal in Montgomery, legal in Howard and Baltimore City (obviously up to resto's policy).

Jake Parrott

Ledroit Brands, LLC

Bringing new and rare spirits to Washington DC.

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SWoodyWhite

SWoodyWhite

Posted
Posted

I did some checking here in Rehoboth Beach, DE, on this topic.

At the Blue Moon, there is a $10 corkage fee if the wine is on their wine list, a $5 fee if it is not.

As for taking a bottle with you when you leave, it must be corked, wrapped and bagged.

Other places that I asked had much the same response.

We'll not discriminate great from small.

No, we'll serve anyone - meaning anyone -

And to anyone at all!

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sextons

sextons

Posted
Posted

VA ABC law prohibits BYOW and corkage fees. The only time you can bring your own is "for private parties conducted by legitimate groups in private rooms not accessible to the public. Only then may the licensee allow the group to possess and consume their own lawfully acquired alcohol." Legitimate groups :hmmm: .... Anyway, there are restaurants in VA that will still do it - especially for special/regular customers. I've even been in a restaurant where they allowed a customer to bring in their homemade beer to drink with dinner. I'm sure it helped that they offered the owner/manager a glass - always appropriate.

Some say the glass is half empty, some say the glass is half full, I say, are you going to drink that?

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  • 2 weeks later...
tjaehnigen

tjaehnigen

Posted
Posted
Maryland law is set at the county level, I believe.

Wrong, Jpw. Montgomery County is the only controlled COUNTY in the US. They do a truly shitty job.

Maryland law pertaining to corkage is set at the county level. Illegal in Montgomery, legal in Howard and Baltimore City (obviously up to resto's policy).

Wow this is news to me. Are you SURE? I have a few places I know and have an 'in' with in MD, but can't share their names in fear of them getting fined or whatever. But if it's legit in some parts of MD that would be COOL. Most times, I BYOW in DC, since there are so many fine restaurants that allow it.

RogueFood - Wino Depot - Vinocellar - CellarTracker
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