One day, I was bored at work, and since the only defining characteristic of that day was boredom, I can't recall the exact date of the day because I was bored at work pretty much every single effin' corporate-marketing-monkey slave-to-the-PR-grind day of my career life, BQ (Before Quitting).
However, thanks to the wonder of wordpress, I actually can look through my archives and determine that the day of which I write is July 19, 2005.
That was a fateful day. July 19, 2005, while it is known as Five-days-after-Bastille Day, it is also the day that I began my knowledge is power, and power is sexy personal campaign. Like the designer who gave shoulder pads to fashion, I was going to make everyone sexy.
I was also just bored, and when I am bored (even when I'm not bored) I do weird things like make lists in an effort to save my sanity and that of the people around me, as well as keep my idle hands out of the giant plastic bear-shaped container of animal crackers in the company breakroom.
So I made the Screw You! list of corkage fees for Los Angeles restaurants.
Risking my own allergy to talking on the phone, I used up all the minutes on my economy-rate plan to call every restaurant and ask about their corkage policies because restaurants refuse to put that information on line (!). It was a decent starter list, but even with people's comments with additional information about restaurants, the list grew outdated. In the current state of the economy, the list is even more volatile. Restaurants are slashing corkage fees in an effort to attract customers, and sadly, many restaurants are just falling off the list completely.
That older version of the Screw You! list has now officially retired (which is why I'm not linking to it) and is being replaced by the newer, fresher, hotter Get Screwed list that is much more easily manageable in a google spreadsheet.
Take a peek at the list, and if you see that I have left off some very obvious restaurants, need to make a deletion, or have made any errors on fees or policies, please, leave a comment. Hopefully, seeing "$0 corkage" will encourage people to go, enjoy dining out, and keep restaurants busy.
katrina says
$25 to de-cork a bottle? Are they crazy?
Passing along to folks I know in Santa Monica..............
Rachel says
Hey, Fist time reading your blog, and wanted to congratulate you on your awesome work.
You have a really fantastic writing style!
Love it!
Darrell says
Nice list. Here's a few I can add...
Jitlada $8 but if bringing a large party, she's cut it to $4 (20+ foodies)
Ruen Pair $0
Sapp's $0 Yes Nigori sake goes good with Boat Noodles
Sabina's European Kitchen $0 We walk over here after wine tasting at K&L armed with bottles of wine. Bargain dinners
Sanamuluang $0
Krug Tedd is $10-15 I think
Bollini's $0 It might have changed by now...
Clever job app... goode luck
Lori says
I went to the goode site to vote for you but I didnt see where I should vote. I will vote for you if you let me know how. What a job!
Devon says
I would like to share http://www.GoBYO.com which provides 15,ooo+ restaurants that are BYO friendly in the 10 major US metro center. Complete details about all 3,612 restaurants in the Los Angeles area that currently permit BYO, including their corkage fees, can be found at http://www.GoBYO.com.
Cheers!
Annette says
I just called Inn of the Seventh Ray. They now now charge a whopping $20 to pop a cork. I actually laughed out loud!!
Sean says
I was just at Blair's in silverlake (on Rowena), and they now have free corkage. Made my meal there so much cheaper
Emma says
I was at La Grande Orange in Pasadena this past Monday for DineLA restaurant week, and there is no corkage fee for the first bottle, then $5 for each bottle thereafter. Get some English muffins if you go!
God Tastes says
Lawry's Beverly Hills $20 corkage, not $10.
Vicki says
Gjelina has a corkage fee of $20/bottle (found out when I called 'em a few moments ago 4/3/10).
Tom says
Musso & Frank Corkage fee is not $4 but $15.
Gregory says
Do you realize how much it costs to open and run a restaurant? That even in the best of times the failure rate is astronomical? Do you really think that a dish's price listed on the menu truly covers the cost of what it takes to bring it to you? This is America, where any restaurant is permitted the right to fail and any diner can go to where he or she chooses, just do us a favor: leave the smarmy, presumptuous, self-indulgent attitude behind.
akaCorkDork says
Lighten up Greg! Or were you looking in the mirror when you said, "
leave the smarmy, presumptuous, self-indulgent attitude behind."? Thanks for the list Sarah. I will put it to use.
Skogy1 says
What a dork, you must be bald!
Jsmith says
Bandera is now charging $15 per bottle, sadly.
Jsmith says
Capo is now 30 for the first bottle, 60 for the second, 90 for the third, and so on...
schermnaam says
I don't like to pay corkage either, and was recently quite disappointed when one restaurant on this list refused my bottle because it was on their list (uh, marked up 300%). I was miffed and found your helpful list here so next time I'll be prepared. But in the calmer light of morning, I suppose the whole corkage thing, from the restauranteur's perspective, is like bringing your own food to the table and expecting to be served. The break-even point for most restaurants is known to be along a very thin margin as it is. The higher the costs of the business, the more they have discourage BYOB. You wouldn't bring your own soft drinks to even a low end hole in the wall, so a little perspective may be helpful...
Wine2Go says
Josie is closed on Monday. Tuesday is corkage free for 2 bottles and $25 for subsequent bottles.
Jim says
This list is so out of date it is useless. Update it or take it down!