by the glass

[Jason]

Ahh yes, the lovely wine pricing debate.This is the third rail in the restaurant world, but here goes.
The fact is, the house has so many expenses that wine (and liquor especially) are the providers.The guest does not comprehend the overhead and this is what kills many inexperienced people opening a place of their own. We have all seen busy places go broke, simply because of too many expenses.
When plates, glasses, flowers, linen, etc. are all factored in the industry average margin is 5-7% of gross. Not a very good way to get rich. We all love Reidel stemware, cotton napkins and oversize 15" plates, but these are all big bucks and very fragile at that.
A few years ago there was a debate in Spectator about the use of proper stemware. The editor's argument was that the house could charge $1 more per bottle and this would finance the breakage. Anybody with a calculator and a Reidel pricing sheet would know that this math is highly skewed.Larry Stone wrote in to say that he went through
$10,000 worth of stemware in the first year of going to a premium stem. The glassware changed very quickly.
This is not to say that some places do not gouge, but many are fair in their pricing. Many places would love to decrease their prices, but simply cannot afford to.
All of those nice details that seperate your favorite place from Burger King carry a price tag and wine carries the burden of balancing it.
And while we're here, why doesn't anyone get upset over paying $4.50 for a shot of Absolut? Do the math, and your $20 bottle looks like a bargain.