We don’t cork - New York state and corkage

Over the July 4th holiday we had some interesting experiences trying to get eateries in New York state to let us bring our own wine. An Italian restaurant in Hammondsport had no problem with us bringing our wine and we had no problem with the $10/bottle corkage fee. In Belfast a little eatery said that they could not open or serve us wine but if we wanted to open and pour the wines ourselves they would supply glasses (of all different shapes and sizes). They got a nice tip for that. Then in Ellicotville Miranda asked a waitress in one restaurant if they charged corkage and the reply was yes, so an hour or so later we turned up with a few bottles only to be told by another waitress that they “don’t cork”! When I asked what that meant I was told (by the manager as well) that they don’t allow patrons to bring their own wines and that this was because of a new law in New York state. They were simply unimpressed by the fact that there is ample evidence that many restaurants charge corkage in New York state.

Anyone know why a restaurant in Ellicotville should be subject to “a new law” while one in Hammondsport is not?

Mike

The only way a restaurant in NY State could not legally allow corkage is if the restaurant does not have a license to serve wine AND the restaurant seats more than 20 people. Either the manager is mis-informed or the establishment chooses not to allow it and are BSing about the law.
From: http://www.zagat.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?SCID=40&BLGID=1347.

In NYC, BYO fans may unwittingly be engaging in an illicit activity.
Though the cost of obtaining a beer and wine license in New York City is relatively reasonable (less than $1,000 before legal fees), actually getting a license is no mean feat due to state Liquor Authority restrictions and community board concerns. Mark B. Stumer, an attorney who represents a number of New York restaurants, says that when owners' applications are rejected, "everyone thinks, 'ok, I could have people bring their own.'" Not so – at least not technically. BYO is illegal in New York City for restaurants without a license to serve beer and wine. (Licensed restaurants can legally allow BYO, but they may choose not to permit it.) Just ask Bob Giraldi and Jason Hennings, whose attempts to obtain a liquor license for European Union, the gastropub they hoped to open in the East Village this past spring, faced a number of stumbling blocks. After first being denied a license by the state, largely due to pressure from the Village community board, EU briefly operated as a BYO – until the authorities informed the owners the policy was illegal. The restaurant shut down in the interim, but following months of petitioning and negotiating with the board, it finally nabbed a beer and wine license and will reopen in September.

Though BYO crackdowns aren't the norm, they do happen. Nicky Perry, co-owner of the West Village British cafe Tea & Sympathy, says she let patrons bring their own for more than a decade, until she "got some stinking letter from the Liquor Authority" last year telling her to stop. "I was really shocked – it's ridiculous," Perry says. Her customers would surely raise a glass to that – if they could fill it.

The twist: Restaurants that seat fewer than 20 are permitted to offer BYO even without a beer and wine license.

The only way a restaurant in NY State could not legally allow corkage is if the restaurant does not have a license to serve wine AND the restaurant seats more than 20 people. Either the manager is mis-informed or the establishment chooses not to allow it and are BSing about the law.

This place could seat a lot more than 20 people - we had more than that just with our family reunion folks that were there. Plus they had their own bar and Wine List - so its looking more and more like they were BSing us.

The worst part was that we turned down another restaurant because they would not allow us to bring our own wine and went to this place instead because one of their staff said they did charge corkage. At least the first place was being honest with us.

Mike

[David M. Bueker]

They were either ignorant, unwilling or their distributor (read: wine pimp) "misinformed" them to help ensure meeting his quota. It's not unusual.

A definite bummer in your story is that you show up later with bottles of wines that's disallowed, even after being informed ealier by a staff that you can bring them in with corkage, which you agreed to. It's happened to me once before, too, at the point when everybody's seated in the restaurant, and it's too late to have everybody stand up and march out ... to where om a Friday night in NYC? In my case, I went along with the still-somewhat-reasonable corkage fee, and although restaurant management backed up their wait staff when I called a few days later, I never went back to the restaurant. It's a tough situation, but it's their call at that point. Whether they missed my patronage or not, didn;t matter to me ... I didn't miss them since then.