Wierd NJ BYO Laws

[=Mark]

Anyone else able to add to these?

=BYO restaurants are not allowed to advertize they are BYO (Almost never enforced)

=Waitstaff in BYO place can open but not pour wine (Ditto)

=Hard liquor is not permitted in BYO (Never enforced)

[Rosie]

They can't open wine.

They can't have wine delivered from a local store.

[tommy]

just about all of the "rules" are ignored. thank goodness.

[Lreda]

just about all of the "rules" are ignored.  thank goodness.

Tommy, I've been following your sense of the restaurant scene for at least 3 years with great respect as I really find you to be an astute diner. ( I hope this doesn't make me a groupie) But I wish you, Rosie & Marc would think before making statements like this.I understand why you prefer BYOB"s but think what Jersey would be without restaurants sans bars. I could have taken the easier path to open a restaurant but I had the dream of giving the complete experience. Maybe I do, maybe I don't, but do you really enjoy going to a BYOB and not having your beverages properly handled. Is it worth it? Hey dude, I'm not comin after you, just trying to gather some reality. I spent a lot on a license and it's 12:50P.M. and I just got home. From my bar. The dining room closed at 10PM. But there's a funeral home next door to me and those paying their last respects decided to toast the dearly departed and have a quick bite to eat. I hung, made a few bucks, not much, but had a few laughs with a gay but celebratory group of people. Just wouldn't change a thing.

Look foward to cocktailing with you, Lou

[Rosie]

Lou--There's room for both in NJ. I have no problem dining at your restaurant and ordering a

bottle of wine from your reasonably priced wine list. However, I also enjoy BYO as I have some interesting wines that I would have to pay from $60 to $100 for in a restaurant. Ironically, people in NJ don't flinch when they go to NYC where there are very few BYO's. Same when traveling. I know the corkage fee in CA is low but I wouldn't think to BYO there.

[TheBoatMan]

Do not want to start a war here....... I don’t doubt the fact that liquor licenses cost a great deal of money but does that cost justify the outrageous cost of the markups? Some restaurants go as far as 300% markups, this is almost criminal. Not to mention oddly enough, the highest markups are on the cheaper bottles. Why not offer the wine at a better price point and try to make up the loss of the markup with volume. I work hard for my money and am sickened at some of the prices I see on restaurant wine lists. When the cost of the liquor license is made up do restaurants lower their liquor prices? I think not. Why should I spend 80 dollars for a 25 dollar bottle of wine? Everyone knows that alcohol contributes a disproportionately large percentage of a restaurant's profits. Scalini Fedeli offers exceptional wine service for a BYOB restaurant. We always bring multiple bottles of red/white when we go and the wine service has always been excellent. Other BYOB’s I know of pull out the Reidel stemware. I admit I have had experiences at the other end of the spectrum, one time even having to open the bottle of wine myself because of a nervous waitperson. But I'll sacrifice shoddy beverage service for cost savings any day. Call me cheap I guess, just my lousy 2 cents worth.

[Rachel Perlow]

Lou - you may want to re-read and edit your previous post. The grammar indicates you arguing for the BYOB, rather than against. And I assume you mean 12:50 AM?

[TCD]

Lou.

Do you permit diners to bring their own wine, charging them a corkage fee for such privilege. If so, how much is the fee? If not, why not? Thanks.

[tommy]

But I wish you, Rosie & Marc would think before making statements like this.I understand why you prefer BYOB"s but think what Jersey would be without restaurants sans bars.

lou,

while i understand and appreciate your passion on this topic, i will venture to say that you misinterpreted my words. i was merely suggesting that the fucked ABC laws regarding BYO restaurants go largely ignored, i.e. no hard liquor, no pouring or opening of wine, etc. i was in no way making a statement on byo vs. licensed restaurants in NJ. that, of course, is an entirely different issue, worthy of its own thread.

oh, and, if you've been following my comments for 3+ years, surely you know by now that i *rarely* think before i speak. surely.

[tommy]

Lou - you may want to re-read and edit your previous post. The grammar indicates you arguing for the BYOB, rather than against.

errr, where. i must have missed that part.

[=Mark]

just about all of the "rules" are ignored.  thank goodness.

Tommy, I've been following your sense of the restaurant scene for at least 3 years with great respect as I really find you to be an astute diner. But I wish you, Rosie & Marc would think before making statements like this.

What is there to think about? It's just a statement of fact. There are some odd little rules about BYO places in NJ which are universally ignored. This was not meant to be a statement for or against places with liquor licenses.

[Lreda]

O.K. Here goes

1. 12:50 a.m. ( 2 glasses of wine, little dinner & a glass of Dow's 84' Port)

2. Yes I will allow customers to bring their own wine, providing it's a quality wine. I actually take it as a compliment that someone would like to bring something remarkable to comliment my food. Corkage fees $10 to $15 max

3. Wine costs in restaurants. Yes, a lot of places mark up outlandishly. My pricing is as follows.

Newton Claret '98 My cost per bottle $13.98, I charge $ 8.00 a glass ( 7 oz) I get 3 1/4 glasses a bottle.

Duckhorn Sav Blanc '00 My cost per bottle $ 17.00. I charge $34.00 a bottle. 100% mark-up

Hess Collection Cab Sav '95 My cost at purchase 5 years ago $32.00. After storing for 5 years until maturing I charge $ 80.00.

Opus One '94 My cost at purchase 5 years ago $ 80.00. After storing for 5 years until maturing $200.00.

I'm not looking to make a killing on wine, I also have to move wine, lest it turn eventually. There are also all the other factors such as glassware, etc, etc.

I think the thing that frustrates me about BYOB"s ( And my father owns a BYOB) is that a lot of them actually store customers wines. There also pour and store their after dinner beverages. The other thing that frustrates me is that BYOB's get done a lot earlier than me and aren't typing on their laptops at 12:50 AM like I was.

[Rosie]

Boatman--"Other BYOB’s I know of pull out the Reidel stemware. " Which ones??? There are not many high end BYO's in NJ.

Lou--You are certainly entitled to your mark-up and you have a very reasonable wine list and a very pretty bar area. You are not in business to lose money. I don't think anyone has a problem with that.

Which restaurants store wine for their customers? I have only seen this done at Shumi, Somerville.

[markabauman]

Some observations-one of the reasons (among many others) that keeps us upstate New Yorkers returning every summer to Cape May, NJ is the plethora of good restaurants that happen to be BYOB's. Many of the wines we bring may not be available in restaurants (not necessarily costly wines) and wines of equivalent quality would be more than I would probably be willing to pay for in a restaurant. We usually bring both red and white wines, therefore we don't have to order invididual glasses of wine or choose one "color" and possibly limit our menu choices (despite my contention of pinot noir with everything). We possibly actually wind up spending more on food and being more adventurous, since the perception is that we are saving money on the wine side. So everyone wins.

[=Mark]

Some observations-one of the reasons (among many others) that keeps us upstate New Yorkers returning every summer to Cape May, NJ is the plethora of good restaurants that happen to be BYOB's.

Did you ever wonder about the net worth of that one Liquor store in the middle of all those Cape May BYOs?

[jparrott]

Did you ever wonder about the net worth of that one Liquor store in the middle of all those Cape May BYOs?

And that store, quite frankly, stinks. There are far too many good restos in and around Cape May for the pedestrian selection offered there.