BYOB

[lakeview]

Lola's, Sukho Thai, Mona Lisa....any others????

[pilaf]

Mona's, Eat New Orleans, Hilly Billy BBQ, Bennachin . . .

[bonesmd]

lebanon's is too

[underworld gourmet]

As is the Babylon Cafe...

[bbares81]

St. James Cheese Company is....

[Frolic]

Lola's now sells wine, although the corkage fee is modest for outside bottles.

[zetcat]

I'm not sure if I'm clear on the full meaning of BYOB. I know what it stands for, but have never been to a restaurant that operated with a BYOB policy. Tell me how that works, please.

[pilaf]

There are several variations on the "bring your own" theme, which mostly involve showing up with a bottle of wine in-hand. Most are restaurants that don't serve alcohol, although they have wine glasses and openers, and the restaurant allows you to bring your own bottle with no corkage charged (e.g. Bennachin, Mona's, Eat N.O. etc.) Others used to be no-corkage BYOB places, but have since acquired a license, and they generally charge a nominal fee ($2-$5)(e.g. Lola's, Mona Lisa).

Levels of service with respect to wine vary. For example, Lola's will open your bottle for you; others simply hand you an opener. You mostly pour the wine yourself, although some servers are more hands-on (e.g. Eat).

The third variation are restaurants that have never been known to allow outside alcohol, but they make special exceptions if you call ahead. I have done so at Galatoire's and August. In both cases, it was a special bottle for a birthday. No corkage was charged, but we did order a couple of bottles off the wine menu.

[Frolic]

No liquor license. Everyone has to bring their own hooch. Sometimes there is a modest corkage fee, sometimes not.

[Tonto]

Normally it is a restaurant that does not have a liquor license. If you have an exotic wine or champagne restaurants that serve wine and liquor will usually permit you to take it to the table for a fee which in some cases can be rather steep.

[zetcat]

What if your taste is more in the line of brew, beer, or ale?

[Tonto]

The same applies if there is no liquor license and a restaurant with a license, it would be their call, same with port, expensive liquors, brandies etc.

[malenky]

beer is the same. I bring beer to Suko Thai

[Adrienne]

The explanations here are perfectly sufficient, but I wanted to add that in some states, liquor licenses are harder to come by, which I think is the origin of the BYO as a popular style of restaurant. I lived in Philadelphia for 6 years and they have a policy in Pennsylvania that there are a limited total number of licenses, forcing some restaurants to wait years to get theirs! So in Philly BYO is a very popular way to go, and most of those restaurants charge $3 or less per bottle and bring you a wine stand with ice etc., and proper glasses and pour it for you.

[B.Jule]

Baru. Brand new Carribean place on the corder of Magazine and Amelia. BYOB and they have some outside tables.