It just seems odd that laws are passed that restaurants must make it possible for you to take a bottle of wine home you have not finished (in all but two states) and mechanisms to do so are put in place (re-corking, sealed bag, sometimes sales receipt attached to bag) but it is actually illegal to take it home. Open liquor on the street (usually illegal) and open liquor in a car (illegal except in the trunk as noted above…but you have to walk to the car with it which is illegal).
And the reason for allowing the wine to be taken home is to not encourage drinking too much. If you bought a $100 bottle and it is half full are you leaving $50 on the table or drinking it? Better you get to take it home.
It’s not illegal to take it home (in most states). It just has to be transported in an area not accessible to the driver or passengers, like the trunk.
What about carrying open liquor down the street? If the sealed bag of wine is not legally sealed liquor then wouldn’t that be an open liquor violation while walking (or taking mass transit)?
I’ll admit, where I live (Chicago) it is super unlikely the police will bust you just for this. If they did they would be using it as an excuse…there’d be another reason.
Slight hijack (but I think the OP has been answered) but I’ve been to a few jazz clubs where they’ll be a minimum of, say, $500 for a table. If you order less than $500 worth of food and drinks, the bill is $500 regardless.
Digging around, quick search tells me “open container” is not defined any further in the Canadian criminal code - so under the heading of “you can beat the rap but you can’t beat the ride” - if a police officer tells you that it’s open liquor (any alcohol) and seizes it, or writes you a ticket, or demands a breathalyzer test - then that’s what happens. The judge may throw out a ticket, but you still get it from the policeman.
IIRC the table could seat 5 or 6 in comfort, 8 if you skooch a bit.
That’s not the worst of it though; another similarly-sized table was in a more optimal position and had cover charge of $2000! And this was a club that just had basic bar snacks; you’d have to spend all that on alcohol.
“Luckily” the drinks prices were outrageous.