Went to a restaurant in LA today and when I got the check I noticed that it was a bit higher than it should be. Then I noticed this 18% service charge. So… We, as customers, need to help pay for their servers instead of the owners paying their servers a living wage. And on top of that they have suggested tip. I called bs on this. I will bet you that the servers do not see a dime of this 18% service charge. [deleted a word so it wasn’t a grammatical horror to read]
WTH is a corkage fee?
A few charged for opening a bottle of wine. It used to only be charged if you brought your own bottle to the restaurant.
How are they supposed to sell wine without opening the bottle? Is it optional? Can I open it myself instead?
In most places its not legal to serve yourself alcohol you brought to the restaurant yourself. So as a compromise many restraunt owners will allow you to bring a bottle of wine that they dont carry, and then charge you a fee to serve it to you. This means they are staying within the law with respect to liquor laws.
For example where I it is illegal to give away alcohol tor free. If a restaurant serves it to you, even if you purchased it before hand, they would be serving it for free and thus a violation of the liquor laws; hence the corkage fee which allows restaurants to so serve you your wine within the law.
https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/corkage-fee/
Right, I finally got it now. I thought a customer had been charged this fee on top of their bottle of wine, but I see now that “corkage fee” is just something that was found on their wine menu, and then it makes sense with your context. Thanks!