Dining out recently has become far more expensive than it was before COVID-19 closed restaurants, causing wine sales to tumble and altering how restaurants sell wine.
The old formula that once existed nationally of charging twice the suggested retail price in a restaurant for a young wine has been junked by many restaurateurs recently as they try to make greater profits from commonly available wines.
This means that not only are we paying more for ordinary wine, but we’re also being charged fees that have been imposed because of high costs restaurants face. The cost of entrées is up, taxes are up, and new added fees have become quite a headache.
In some cities, this has led to a backlash by diners unhappy about cost escalations. Before COVID-19, diners had some control over what they paid. In many cases, that has changed radically.
- Two entrees: $46
- Two salads: $16
- One shared dessert: $8
- One bottle of wine: $25
After COVID-19, entrees are up $2 each, wine is up (by, say, $8), a 3 percent service fee has been added to cover the restaurant’s new costs, and your check total with tip is now $144.15. The same meal you had pre-COVID is now $20 more.
But it gets worse, as wine lovers know. Imagine what kind of wine costs only $25 in a restaurant, where typical markups are three times retail. A $25 bottle of wine probably sells in retail stores for roughly $10.
Imagine what happens when you go into a good restaurant and can’t find any bottle that you'd want for less than $60. (Even that isn’t a great wine.) After sales tax is added, that bottle is $65.40. Add a 20 percent tip, and the price rises to $78.40. Ouch.
And that’s for a wine that probably sells at retail for roughly $24.
Wine prices in restaurants usually are much more than at retail. Since restaurant markups are rising, dining out costs can be shocking. Consider the issue of tipping. Years ago when dining out, we normally tipped the wait staff 15 percent to 18 percent. Lately, 20 to 22 percent is the norm. Some restaurateurs see even that as insufficient.
Tipping remains an American issue; it isn’t widely practiced around the world.
In high-end restaurants, tipping on wine may be fitting. Sommeliers perform crucial tasks such as removing old, fragile corks with aplomb and determining whether a wine is sound.
But with expensive wines (i.e., $200 bottles), the real problem lies in the “routine” 20 percent tip—especially when a wine is young and has been marked up significantly. I’m reluctant to give wine servers $40 just to remove a cork.
A good friend and sommelier told me recently that he is more than satisfied if he gets $25 as a gratuity regardless of the actual cost of the wine. He has served wines that sold for $1,000 and never expected 20 percent gratuity.
In any case, dining out has become almost prohibitive for people who like good wine, and friends who once dined out weekly now tell me they are rebelling against high restaurant wine pricing and high expectations of a tip.
