BYO restaurants: What is the meaning of BYO in Australia?
BYO restaurants are reasonably common in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and other Australian cities. The meaning of BYO is bring your own alcohol – but be wary of corkage charges.
Australia is not exactly a cheap place to eat out. Especially when you factor in the cost of drinks on top of food. That’s where BYO restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other Australian cities are a godsend. But, to the uninitiated, what is the meaning of BYO in Australia?
Meaning of BYO in Australia
The short answer is that BYO means Bring Your Own. And the thing you bring your own of is booze. It is usually assumed to mean wine, but there’s normally not any prohibition on bringing beer either.
The origin of BYO restaurants in Australia dates back to the 1970s, when lots of small restaurants opened up. Many didn’t apply for or get given liquor licences, so an alternative plan was hatched. Diners could just bring their own drinks in from elsewhere.
This has become something of a tradition in Australia, and now even applies to some restaurants that do have liquor licences. The restaurants offering BYO will tend to be smaller and cheaper, and often specialising in cuisine from a different part of the world. It’s relatively common in Thai restaurants, for example.
Corkage in Australian BYO restaurants
The catch to BYO in Australia is corkage. Corkage is essentially the fee charged for the privilege of bringing your own alcohol in. It’s theoretically for things like providing and cleaning the glasses, looking after the bottle of wine and pouring it when glasses are empty. Realistically, everyone pours their own wine anyway, and the corkage fee is whatever the restaurant feels it can get away with. Sometimes it’s a couple of dollars per bottle, sometimes it’s a couple of dollars per person per bottle. And sometimes it’s about as much as the bottle of wine cost from the Thirsty Camel bottle shop across the world in the first place.
Corkage charges in Australia
Therefore, it’s worth asking about the corkage charge when you book a BYO restaurant in Australia. Sometimes BYO is a bargain, sometime it is a fig leaf encouraging you to book, then buy the wine supplied by the restaurant anyway.
More drinking in Australia
Enjoy sunset beers at Aireys Pub in Aireys Inlet, Victoria.
Drink on the rooftop at the Richmond Club Hotel in Melbourne.
Discover how virgin sugar cane rum is made at Husk Distillers in Tumbulgum, NSW.
The waterside brewery at Mindarie Marina in Perth.
Go for a drink at the Apollo Bay Hotel in Apollo Bay – a classic Great Ocean Road pub.