After the credit crunch, many restaurants went bankrupt or lost clients. Drinking wine in a restaurant usually double your check in Paris. Whether there is a great wine list or not doesn’t change it. As a result, many of us either stopped going out as much as they use to or even more worrying: stopped drinking while dining.
There are also the lucky ones, who didn’t stop going out at all and have a hard time consuming all the fantastic bottles standing in their home cellar.
For the sake of all, there is something to be done.
After reading The Winesleuth articles (one and two) on BYOB practices in London, I wondered whether or not it was something we could find in Paris. “BYO”, or “BYOB” stands for Bring Your Own Bottle to a restaurant. It doesn’t translate well in French and the closest expression you will find is “droit de bouchon” (for corkage), which doesn’t imply you can bring your own in any case.
This default of translation talks by itself: bringing your own bottle in a French restaurant isn’t a common thing. It is even so rare that I had never given myself the right to think about it. Now if I had, I would not dare bringing my wine to not offend the restaurateur.
Nevertheless, alternatives do exist in Paris. What you are more likely to find around the French capital today are wine shops with a food menu that allow you to buy one of their bottle and drink it on the spot. These are called “Cave à manger” (A wine cellar where you can eat). For some it is free of supplementary charge, others add up a corkage fee (usually around 7 euros). This is slightly different from the BYOB because you can’t really bring your own but have to pick a bottle from the shop.
Other restaurants, mainly the one that don’t have a license for selling alcohol, allow you to bring your own, and you should not forget to take it with you if you want your daily glass of wine.
Finally, there are few restaurants where you can BYO bottle only certain days of the week. This is a perfect way to attract new costumers and discover new wines while still making the normal restaurant mark up on wines the other days (Le Tarmac and Le Fin Gourmet).
Here you’ll find a list of “Cave à Manger” and restaurants that will allow you to buy wine at lower prices or bring your own. Thank you to all you that helped on building this list.
For this reason, don’t hesitate to comment on them or give the details of your favorite place.
You will also find an extensive selection on La fourchette.
Cheers!
“Cave à Manger” selection in Paris:
You can’t bring your own in these, but you’ll find a wine list with an extensive selection of bottles at retail price. A corkage fee will be added depending on the place.
Grains Nobles. No corkage fee. 8 Rue Boutebrie, 75005 - 01 43 54 93 54.
La cave de l’os à Moelle. No corkage fee. 181 Rue de Lourmel, 75015 Paris – 01 45 57 28 28
Lavinia. No corkage fee. 3 boulevard de la Madeleine – 75001- 01 42 97 20 20
le Barav. Corkage fee : 4 euros. 6 rue Dupuis, 75003 - 01 48 04 57 59.
Racines. Corkage fee : 8 euros. 8, passage des Panoramas 75010 - 01 40 13 06 41.
Le Garde-Robe. Corkage fee : 6 euros. 41 Rue de l’Arbre Sec – 75001 - 09 66 12 47 23.
5ème Cru restaurant. Corkage fee: 3 euros. 7 Rue du Cardinal-Lemoine 75005 - 01 40 46 86 34.
Le Rhône en Bouche. Corkage fee: 7 euros. 20, r. Henri-Monnier 75009 - 01 40 16 41 77.
Le Verre Volé. Corkage fee: 7 euros. 67 rue de Lancry , 75010 – 01 48 03 17 34.
La Cremerie. Corkage fee : 8 euros. 9, rue des quatre vents 75006 – 01 43 54 99 30.
Les Papilles. Corkage fee : 7 euros. 30 rue Gay Lussac, 75005 – 0143 25 20 79.
Aux Provinces. Corkage fee : 8 euros. 37, rue Cambronne 75015 - 01 47 34 62 27.
Les domaines qui montent. 22 rue Cardinet, 75017 - 01 42 27 63 96 or 136 bd Voltaire 75011 - 01 43 56 89 15.
Au Fil du Vin. Corkage fee : 6 euros. 145, quai de Valmy, 75010 – 01 46 07 28 36.
“Bring your Own” Restaurants in Paris
Soushiya – Japanese Restaurant, Bring your Own with no corkage fee. Rue Pradier 75019.
Kastoori – Indian Restaurant. Bring your Own with no corkage fee. Place Gustave Toudouze. 75009.
Chartier – French Restaurant. Bring your Own with no corkage fee. Just don’t do it every time you come around! 146 rue du président Wilson, 92300 Levallois Perret. 01 47 37 07 21
Le Fin Gourmet – French Restaurant. Bring your Own with no corkage fee on Wednesdays. 42 rue Saint Louis en Ile, 75004. 01 43 26 79 27.
Le Tarmac – French Restaurant. Bring your own on Monday Nights. 33 rue de Lyon, Paris 12e. 01 43 41 97 70.
Le Porte Pot. Bring your Own with a corkage fee of 7 euros (Book and let the restaurant know about it in advance). 14 rue boutebrie 75005 paris – 01 43 25 24 24.
l’Atelier Berger – French Restaurant. Bring your Own nice old vintage with a corkage fee of 10 €. 49 rue Berger, 75001, Paris. 01 40 28 00 00.
Mojita & Bob – Bring Your Own with a corkage fee of 5 euros. 3 rue Oberkampf, 75011, Paris. 06 64 14 33 73.
4 Comments
That's too bad. In NYC, corkage is a little known thing that almost every restaurant has to offer. It some undercover gentelman's code or something. If the restaurant didn't offer it, they'd be shamed for some reason. The corkage fees are a bit higher though it seems, which means it's only worth it if you bring a really nice bottle. And it's considered good etiquette to call and check to make sure they don't have the wine you're bringing on their list already.
Great list of NYC corkage fees:
http://nycorked.wikispaces.com/
Very interesting! I love the idea of undercover gentleman's code ;).
I'd also noticed that it was more expensive overseas, even in London it can go up to 25 pounds.
Price is probably one of the only advantages we have in Paris.
Very interesting! I'm glad I was able to inspire you to take a look at your own backyard. I would do BYOB in Paris but on the other hand, for me it's such a great experience to see what's on wine lists there, I don't think I'd want to do it unless I had something really good.
Yes, i understand your view. But I am not a tourist here, I am becoming very concerned on the matter. So I hope things will move!
Even though I want it to change, as a perfect Parisian, I still forget to take a bottle on my restaurant nights. Hard to change mentalities!