Apr 28 2009
BYO’s Spreading Like the You-Know-What Virus
While the SLA has been cracking down on restaurants with temporary BYO policies — those that allow BYO while they await their liquor license — several restaurants are following in the footsteps of Alto and either waiving or relaxing their BYO policies to attract customers. We all know the NYC BYO mainstays (think Tartine, Nook, Poke, Cube 63, Peking Duck House, Persimmon, etc.) but did you know, for example, that Houston’s is BYO with no corkage fee at both Manhattan locations or that The Little Owl is BYO with no corkage fee on your first bottle? In a recent WSJ piece, Danny Meyer explained why he’s been relaxing his restaurant’s BYO policies: “I would imagine that many wine lovers have more bottles in their cellar than they’re going to drink in a week, a month, a year, maybe even a lifetime and they’re waiting for a special occasion to open them. We wanted to encourage people to enjoy what they already own and at the end of a delicious meal, they can see that the check is smaller.” In fact, for the month of May, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe is reducing its corkage fee from $25 to $10, which is “really gentle” according to Meyer. We agree. To find some other “really gentle” BYO policies, we’ve done a bit of groundwork on GoBYO.com and created a list of some of the best BYO spots around the city with corkage fees of $10 or less. But please always call first to verify. We’d hate for you to be left holding the bottle.
A Cafe & Wine Room – BYO w/ no corkage fee
Alto — BYO w/ no corkage fee
Apiary — No corkage fee on Monday nights
Baoguette / Baoguette Cafe — BYO w/ no corkage fee
Bar Blanc Bistro — No corkage fee on Sunday nights
Beacon — No corkage fee on Sunday nights
Broadway East — No corkage fee on Sunday and Monday nights.
Cafe Himalaya (aka, Himalayan Cafe) – BYO w/ no corkage fee
A Casa Fox – BYO w/ no corkage fee (the fireplace is a plus)
Cherin Sushi – BYO w/ no corkage fee
Chow Bar — BYO w/ $10 corkage fee
Cipolla Rossa — BYO w/ no corkage fee
Cipriani Downtown — BYO w/ no corkage fee
Dylan Prime — Corkage fee has been waived through Memorial Day Labor Day
El Parador — No corkage fee on Monday nights and 20% off any bottle on the list
Houston’s — BYO w/ no corkage fee at both locations
Island Burgers & Shakes — BYO w/ no corkage fee not BYO anymore
Joe’s Shanghai — BYO w/ no corkage fee at both locations
Keste Pizza & Vino — BYO w/ no corkage fee (N.B., still BYO as of 4/27/09)
La Palapa West — BYO w/ $10 corkage fee
La Sirène Bistro : BYO w/ no corkage fee (cash only)
Megu: BYO w/ no corkage fee on Tuesday nights
The Modern — No corkage fee on Sunday nights
The Orchard – No corkage on Sunday nights
Palacio Azteca — BYO w/ no corkage fee (thanks to our friend Andrea for telling us about this one on the UES)
Philip Marie — BYO w/ $7 corkage fee
San Marzano Pizzeria — BYO w/ no corkage fee
Square Meal — BYO w/ $2 corkage fee
Tabla — BYO w/ no corkage fee on first 2 bottles, $25 each additional bottle
Tadka – BYO w/ no corkage fee
Tribeca Grill – No corkage fee on Monday nights
Union Square Cafe — Reduced corkage fee from $25 to $10
Via dei Mille — BYO w/ $10 corkage fee
Wo Hop — it’s BYO w/ no corkage at this Chinatown spot know for it’s late night/early morning dining
Yama – BYO w/ $10 corkage fee
AND HERE ARE THE USUAL SUSPECTS ON THE BYO SCENE:
Panna II Indian Restaurant (East Village)
Cube 63 (Lower East Side)
Tartine (West Village)
Peking Duck House (Chinatown)
Poke (Upper East Side)
Ivo & Lulu (Soho)
Gazala Place (Midtown West)
Sticky Rice (Lower East Side)
Bellini (Upper West Side)
Persimmon Kimchi House (East Village)
Sigiri Sri Lanka Restaurant (East Village)
Nook (Hell’s Kitchen)
Di Fara Pizza (Brooklyn)
Kuma Inn (Lower East Side) $5 — Click here for our dinner at Kuma Inn
Grand Sichuan (Various Locations) $5 but only if they don’t have your bottle on their list
Zaytoons (Brooklyn)
At El Parador every Monday no corkage fee and 20% off any wine list selection
thanks alex. we’ll add el parador to the list.
tnanks but for the love of god, please take out the apostrophe!
the plural of BYO is BYOs.
Thanks for the list! This is going in Bookmarks.
@ musigny — i agree with you. in the plural sense, BYO should be BYOs. i think i was using it in the sense that “BYO Is Spreading Like…”, so i think “BYO’s”, as in “BYO is”, is appropriate grammar. but since i do like talking about BYOs in plural, i think i’ll list another good one for you — corkage has been waived until memorial day at dylan prime.
Ivo and Lulu is BYO and delicious. Unsure about corkage fee, but I don’t believe there is one.
Café Cortadito in the East Village. 210 E 3rd. Great cuban spot. No corkage fee.
@ katiebakes — you’re right about ivo and lulu. no corkage. at first this list was just gonna be all the byo spots that people wouldn’t think are byo, but i added a “usual suspects” section to include the tried and true old-school NYC BYOs. thanks.
@ sashanyc — thanks. i’ll include cafe cortadito. sounds like you found me yet another great e village byo spot to try out.
Zagat.com also has a list of BYOs not mentioned on here.
If you go upstairs at Tabla for the Tabla’s 10 menu on Wednesday nights, you can drink your first two bottles of wine without a corkage fee.
[...] Wined and Dined has compiled the most comprehensive list I’ve seen (and believe me, I’ve seen many) of BYO/reduced corkage fees in restaurants across this swine flu-ridden city of ours. Behold, here. [...]
Island Burgers is no longer BYO w/o corkage. They serve a pretty generic selection of beers and wines now. Went there the other week, they charged $10 for a six pack of beer, or $2 per bottle. Not sure on the wine $$.
You may also want to check out Eat-pisode on Ludlow St bet. Rivington & Delancey. Good Thai food, and at last count, BYO w/ no corkage fee.
Andy,
Thanks for including us in your research. We hope we fulfilled all your BYO finding needs. Please let us know if you have any feedback regarding the site.
- Roman & the GoBYO.com team
tai thai on 1st street and 1st ave is byo. not sure if there is a fee. good thai food. im quite sure its affiliated with eat-pisode on ludlow.
A Casa Fox is NO longer BYOB (and they were kind of rude about it!!)
Dylan Prime has now waived their corkage fee through Labor Day
Has anyone tried the new byo delivery service from new york vintners? i saw a piece in serious eats on it the other day….