You may be wondering, have corkage fees changed post-pandemic? Has the restaurant industry changed their process regarding bringing a bottle of wine purchased outside of their menu?
Pre-pandemic, we have seen corkage fees run between $10 -$40 per 750 ml bottle. A fee that almost always goes to the house. However, for the restaurants that remained open during the pandemic, the $50-plus profit from a bottle of wine from their menu was preferred to the $25 from a corkage fee. Therefore many asked that customers not bring any outside wine until back at full capacity.
Now that we are seeing light at the end of the pandemic tunnel and most restaurants have opened their doors at full capacity, many are trying to curb financial losses incurred during pandemic closures. As we see the price of goods increase, a good rule of thumb is to always expect to pay a corkage fee now of $25 and up. If it happens to get waived for whatever reason, consider paying it forward in some way!