Why can’t you bring outside drinks into bars/restaurants?
Really? This is a real question?
Because the bar/restaurant wants you to buy the drinks they serve.
You can in some places. There are restaurants with no liquor license that let patrons bring their own in. There are clubs that let you bring in your own bottled alcohol and then charge you a hefty fee to let them serve it to you. There are some big party spots like New Orleans where it is pretty common to be allowed to walk around with an open container and wander from one bar to the next.
Some of these policies exist for the purpose of getting around restrictive liquor laws: they charge the corkage fee in lieu of being able to secure a liquor license, or until the license comes through.
For the same reason you’re not supposed to bring outside candy/snacks into the movie theater, and you’re not supposed to bring your takeout McDonalds value meal into Ruby Tuesday.
Guys hold on, I think the OP is on to something. Think of how much money you could save if instead of buying expensive restaurant food and drinks, you walked into the restaurant with your own meal prepared and bagged at home! (I actually had someone do this once at a restaurant where I worked, but he was with someone else who was ordering stuff so even though I gave him dirty looks I didn’t say anything. And it wasn’t from home but from a fast food joint down the block)
I was at an upscale seafood place once, and a family of four came in (mom, dad and two kids probably around 5 or 6 years old)
The parents had a bag with a couple of Happy Meals or something similar for the kids, while the parents ordered dinner for themselves.
I was a bit surprised (though it certainly was none of my business) but the server who waited on them didnt seem to bat an eye…
Afterwards, I thought this actually made a lot of sense for that family; the kids get a (inexpensive) meal that they would enjoy, while the parents get to eat at a nice place without making the little ones have something (seafood) they may not have enjoyed.
It was something I have never seen again, but does anyone think its a) acceptable in some cases OR b) an outrage beyond measure
(c) Time to get a sitter. What are kids who need a Happy Meal to be content doing in an upscale seafood place?
Having a meal with their parents?
Actually, many upscale restaurants have no problem with you bringing a bottle of wine with dinner. They may charge corkage, but even if not, they’d rather have you order a meal and drink your own bottle of wine than go somewhere else.
Some state liquor laws may prevent it, however. And some restaurants will only do it for wines that are not on their wine list.
My brother is a fairly picky eater and has done this before. He wasn’t exactly a kid at the time either.
They could have had a meal with their parents at McDonald’s. If they aren’t capable of eating what the upscale restaurant offers (and behaving in a manner appropriate for an upscale restaurant*), then perhaps such an experience should wait until they are older.
*Not saying that these kids were misbehaving. But the likelihood seems increased if they gotta have a Happy Meal to be, well, happy. What happens when the French fries run out and Mom and Dad have just gotten their appetizer? Will the kids still be able to sit quietly or is it a meltdown waiting to happen?
There’s a reason why some restaurants don’t have children’s menus, highchairs, and crayons for the placemats.
As to whether it’s acceptable, it’s entirely up to the restaurant management. Clearly the cost to them of the food they sell is just a small part of the overall cost of running the restaurant, and they need to recover not just the cost of the food but all their costs in the charges they make to patrons. They’re perfectly within their rights, and behaving entirely reasonably, to say that they don’t wish to provide space, shelter, seating, utensils etc to people who are not buying food or drink from them. On the other hand, for the sake of customer goodwill they may be happy to do this for people accompanying paying patrons, or at any rate for young children doing so, especially if they themselves don’t cater to the infant palate. Or, for a middle ground, they could levy a cover charge on people accompanying paying patrons.
In this part of the world (Western Australia), bringing your own drink is extremely common. It used to the case that there were regulatory barriers in the way of a restaurant getting a licence to sell alcohol, so you brought your own and the restaurant levied a corkage charge and served it for you. This is so popular with diners that restaurants which do have a licence usually let you bring your own, if you wish. Only very upmarket restaurants with extensive wine lists can get away with not allowing it.
Licensing laws have changed recently, and it’s now much easier for a restaurant to get a licence. Obviously restaurants do much better selling drink than simply charging corkage. It remains to be seen whether this will lead to a reduction in the number of restaurants allowing you to bring your own.
[Moderating]
Let’s not get sidetracked into a discussion of kids in restaurants. Please stick to issues of restaurant policy of outside food and drink.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
If the kids are not happy eating upscale seafood, I don;t see why the parents should be expected to put up with McDonald’s.
I think we can distinguish between excluding diners because they are disruptive, and excluding them because they aren’t paying for food. The OP raises the latter point only.
The question is whether people who like to eat different things can eat in the same restaurant by having some of them bring their own. To which my answer is, if it isn’t a problem for the restaurant, yes, they can. But for the reasons given in my post above, it may be a problem for the restaurant.
OK, agreed. I was just following a point brought up by a later poster. Going by the Happy Meals only, I think the restaurant would be justified in saying sorry, but you can’t bring that in.
I really have to wonder what’s the point of having a restaurant if you’re going to allow people to bring in their own food. Surely a person can tolerate not getting to eat exactly what they want for one meal. Even those with food issues (vegetarians, allergies) can learn to make other arrangements. It’s just one meal.
When a friend of mines son was 5 or 6 it was difficult to have him content with what some restaurants had to offer. In most cases she simply didn’t bring him to restaurants. During this period we did have a few meals at Morton’s. It was acceptable to them for us to bring a happy meal for him while we had our regular dinners. It was kinda cute, they would take the happy meal at the door into the kitchen and send it out on a plate like it was actually from them. Morton’s asked nothing for the service and the manager said it was not entirely unusual. If they billed us for doing so, we’d have no objection.
In general however it would be extremely rude to show up at a restaurant and expect to be able to bring in outside food or drink. Your welcome to ask. Sometimes the answer may be yes. I feel no is a perfectly acceptable answer as well. It is their business and selling food and drink is how they make money.
Of course I have no idea if these people were regulars who had the OK from the staff beforehand to BYOHM, but the server acted like it was just fine with her; I guess she figured that it was another table, and more $$$ in her pocket at the end of the night…
(for the record, as I recall the kids were well behaved, and the restaurant was not very busy)
My favorite local sushi place has no liquor license, nor are they pursuing obtaining one. They allow outside wine, and happily serve it without a corkage fee. I make my own wine, bring bottle or two, and spend extra on our meals. And we eat there way more often then if we had to buy a grossly marked up bottle of wine!
In Vegas, you can take your cocktails to whatever bar or restaurant you want. Suck on it, every place else.