Removing partial bottles of wine from restaurant in Canberra?

patrick_keogh said :

At a practical level let me suggest that as a customer the best thing to do is to not ask. Just cap the bottle, put it in your bag and leave. Most venues will not be too fanatical about policing the law, but sure as hell if you ask for permission they feel duty bound to say no. For all they know you may be a licensing inspector.

Yes. If you tell the restaurant you want their assistance in breaching the terms of their licence, then they really have to say no.
You can ask for your wine cap for a different purpose, and then you can use it as you see fit.

patrick_keogh said :

[
At a practical level let me suggest that as a customer the best thing to do is to not ask. Just cap the bottle, put it in your bag and leave. Most venues will not be too fanatical about policing the law, but sure as hell if you ask for permission they feel duty bound to say no. For all they know you may be a licensing inspector.

Well that was kinda my point.

Many of the criticisms seemed to be attacking the OP for daring to think they should be able to take their wine from the premises.

Jethro said :

Has anyone ever anywhere, in the history of everything, ever heard a report of a restaurant that does BYO and licensed liqour sales losing their liquor license because a customer walked out with a half drunk bottle of wine?

Whenever I read any story involving petty regulations that inhibit the daily lives of regular people, and then I read the plethora of people defending the regulations over the otherwise completely regular and law-abiding people put out by said regulations, I know I’m in a town inhabited by rule-bound bureaucrats.

Please make up your mind about whether you are criticising the law or the restaurant. The restaurant has to attempt to comply with the law as it stands, because yes indeed there have been venues successfully prosecuted for breaches of their licence in this way. The risk is too high to not attempt to comply. So if you as a customer ask “Can I?” of course they will say no. Wait till it is your house that is mortgaged when your business loses a licence to sell liquor before you suggest that venues should ignore the law.

As to whether the law should be changed, that is another matter. Speaking for myself I think that having different categories of liquor licence works pretty well, but this is a democracy and so you are welcome to a different opinion and to vote for politicians who might change it, so best of luck with that.

At a practical level let me suggest that as a customer the best thing to do is to not ask. Just cap the bottle, put it in your bag and leave. Most venues will not be too fanatical about policing the law, but sure as hell if you ask for permission they feel duty bound to say no. For all they know you may be a licensing inspector.

buzz819 said :

schmeah said :

That’s bulls*t

I went to a restaurant the other night, half finished a bottle of wine and walked out with it; didn’t even ask, and to hell with the cap.

You paid for it.

Who says they wont just hold it behind the bar and use the remainder for ‘glass’ purchases. Double dipping on your purchase.

Good, good, forcing the premises to breach their liquor licence.

I mean, it’s only fair, you get what you paid for and they could potentially have their liquor licence suspended, that’s good for business isn’t it?

The place also does BYO.

Has anyone ever anywhere, in the history of everything, ever heard a report of a restaurant that does BYO and licensed liqour sales losing their liquor license because a customer walked out with a half drunk bottle of wine?

Whenever I read any story involving petty regulations that inhibit the daily lives of regular people, and then I read the plethora of people defending the regulations over the otherwise completely regular and law-abiding people put out by said regulations, I know I’m in a town inhabited by rule-bound bureaucrats.

BimboGeek said :

You guys are silly…As for trying to bribe the chef with wine, anything that can be sold by the glass will be, but if the chef is invested in the business you may find him or her extremely unimpressed. It is also a bit rude to imply that the chef doesn’t take pride in his work unless you effectively steal him two bottles of wine!

You did read the bit about it being a movie didn’t you? Apparently, it’s called artistic license…

This seems crazy!

If you buy a bottle of wine from the restaurant, it becomes your property. Exactly the same as if you had arrived with a bottle purchased from the IGA next door, prior to entering the restaurant – the undrunk contents of which you can walk out with.

Methinks the law needs a review.

I’ve done this before. What are they going to do? Chase you to the carpark and wrestle you to the ground for half a bottle of shiraz?
Sometimes I think we’ve become a city of wimps.

I was once chased to the front door of a local club because I took my nieces barely drunk and sealed apple juice with me.

They forced me to throw it out.

schmeah said :

That’s bulls*t

I went to a restaurant the other night, half finished a bottle of wine and walked out with it; didn’t even ask, and to hell with the cap.

You paid for it.

Who says they wont just hold it behind the bar and use the remainder for ‘glass’ purchases. Double dipping on your purchase.

Good, good, forcing the premises to breach their liquor licence.

I mean, it’s only fair, you get what you paid for and they could potentially have their liquor licence suspended, that’s good for business isn’t it?

schmeah said :

That’s bulls*t

I went to a restaurant the other night, half finished a bottle of wine and walked out with it; didn’t even ask, and to hell with the cap.

I’ve done this before. What are they going to do? Chase you to the carpark and wrestle you to the ground for half a bottle of shiraz?

Sometimes I think we’ve become a city of wimps.

My guess is that they have a liquor licence that does not allow them to sell ‘take away’ liquor which means that you cannot take a half drunk bottle away.