BYOB (I.e. Bring Your Own Bottle/Beer/Booze) in your Country/State/Region/City...

[JohnS]

This thread has come about basically because I was reading my news feed this morning and came across an interesting proposal to adjust current BYOB laws in north Chicago. The two business partners are doing that whilst seeking to open a Cigar Bar. You can read more about it here.

So, how does BYOB (i.e. Bring your own beer/booze/bottle) laws operate in your country/state/region or city? Please share as I think the cultural differences that exist in relation to this around the world would be interesting to read about.

[Blazer]

In Georgia the regulations are usually defined by the individual counties and then the individual establishments in those counties. Our county allows BYOB, even if the lounge/restaurant serves alcohol. Many restaurants, which make most of their money on alcohol sales, don't allow it. The restaurants that do allow it have limited it to wine and have increased their corkage fees significantly ($35-$50) since Covid. We have our first cigar lounge coming to our county, my guess is they will allow full BYOB to get a better draw. (no pun intended)

[Chibearsv]

John, as you read in the article, smoking is only allowed indoors if 80% of the business sales are tobacco (state law I think).  They can’t sell alcohol and allow smoking, numbers don’t work, so BYOB makes sense. 

[riderpride]

I try to make it to Chi every Sept. I've only been able to make Bigg's and Pippin's work so far. Do whatever it takes!

Canada in general sucks in this regard. 

Good luck.

That is all.

Cheers!

[Li Bai]

"Le droit de bouchon", tbh I thought it was a French thing until now 😅

[JohnS]

3 hours ago, Li Bai said:

"Le droit de bouchon", tbh I thought it was a French thing until now 😅

Of course, the term in English has come to be known as 'corkage'. Since England and France has a shared cultural and economic history going back a thousand years, and with 35 to 40% of the English language in fact derived from French, it's no surprise that the concept of bringing one's own alcohol to an establishment in exchange for a fee for the bottle originated from these two countries.

In Australia, the idea of 'BYO' (Bring your own - booze) is well known. It gained popularity in the 1970s. Today, some licensed restaurants even offer a BYO option.

[BrightonCorgi]

In my state of Massachusetts, BYOB laws are town dependent. In Boston, BYOB is not allowed, but some suburbs do allow it.

If they do allow it, corkage fees are rare. The BYOB option is used as a reason to visit said establishments.

[El Hoze]

I grew up in New Jersey. It is very common for restaurants to not have liquor licenses. It’s a great thing as you have some pretty fantastic restaurants that you can BYOB a nice bottle of wine with no charge. I am a beer drinker too, sometimes it is a pain to have to bring your own beer but it’s still a net positive.  

In Florida, it’s extremely rare to find a restaurant that does not have a liquor license so BYOB is fairly uncommon if not unheard of.  

I also lived in San Francisco for a while. In SF, and in wine country, restaurants typically have extremely fair corkage policies given the wine culture/industry there. Alot of places merely ask that you not bring a bottle that they have on their list. Interestingly, if you bring a bottle that has been opened beforehand (say you want to decant or give it some air ahead of time) the server will always balk a bit and tell you it’s technically not permitted, but they always allow it (especially if you offer them a glass). My wife claims I am someone who “follows the rules” too much, but that is one rule I have a hard time following if I am going to be drinking a really good bottle that I think will benefit from some air ahead of time. 

[Cigar Surgeon]

11 hours ago, riderpride said:

I try to make it to Chi every Sept. I've only been able to make Bigg's and Pippin's work so far. Do whatever it takes!

Canada in general sucks in this regard. 

Good luck.

That is all.

Cheers!

Facts.

Additionally I tend to transport all booze, whether open or not, in the trunk to avoid entanglements with police. Legally you can't transport open containers where they can be reached in the vehicle, and I apply the same rule to closed to be safe.

The only situation I can think of for a BYOB is if someone gets an AGLC event permit, which I know Adam has done a bunch of times, then you can do BYOB.