Olive Garden Might Let You Bring Your Own Wine But There's A Catch

The Italian-inspired restaurant chain Olive Garden lets you bring a bottle of your favorite wine with you, even though it has plenty of great wines on its menu. However, before you pack that bottle in your purse and head to your nearest Olive Garden, be warned that the privilege comes with a catch. You have to pay a corkage fee, an extra charge many restaurants add to the bill if you bring in your own wine.

When you bring your own bottle, the staff opens your wine for you, pours it for you, and, if needed, even chills it for you. The corkage fee is designed to cover the cost of these services, and is applicable to each bottle you bring and consume. It also helps the restaurant offset the potential lost revenue from customers not ordering wine off the menu. The fee varies from restaurant to restaurant, but you should plan on spending around $15 per bottle at Olive Garden. Other restaurants may charge as much as $100 for this service.

Some restaurants are strictly BYOB (bring your own bottle) restaurants. They usually don't carry wine on the menu, and sometimes don't charge a corkage fee. But, at restaurants such as Olive Garden, which do sell a variety of wines in different price ranges, consider just purchasing a bottle off the menu.

Just because Olive Garden generally lets you bring your own bottle doesn't mean every location does. In many cases, it's up to the restaurant to allow this privilege, and whether or not to charge the corkage fee. Additionally, restaurants still fall under local laws, and some states don't allow the practice at all. Utah, for example, does not allow BYOB policies. So, while you can bring your own wine and pay a corkage fee at an Olive Garden in California, you can't do the same at an Olive Garden in Utah. Even restaurants in places that do let you bring your own bottle can limit the number of bottles you can bring. To be on the safe side, and to avoid potential problems or embarrassing situations, call the restaurant ahead of time to check on the policy and any corkage fees attached.

Olive Garden is a great choice for date night, so bringing a special vino is perfectly understandable, but you may not save money once you add in the corkage fee. Keep a few additional things in mind before you go (after you've confirmed you're allowed to BYOB): check the restaurant's menu ahead of time to make sure there are dishes that pair with the wine you're drinking, and bring a new, unopened bottle since the restaurant might refuse it if they can't confirm the contents. If you're dining with others, account for their tastes; either bring a red and a white, or order additional wine from the restaurant so everyone can drink something that goes with their tastes and meals.