Two
years ago our government finally and legally allowed BYOB to come to British
Columbia and I quickly created this blog to list as many restaurants as
possible that allowed corkage. Some restaurants embraced the concept others
wanted no part of it, but corkage is here to stay and now there is a mobile app
that makes navigating corkage friendly restaurants a lot easier than reading this blog both here in Vancouver and if travelling in the United States.
CorkageFee originally launched stateside and now has growing Canadian content. The restaurant information is FourSquare populated and corkage fees and ratings are verified by crowd sourcing. I would highly recommend that restaurants
check and update their corkage policy and pricing for accuracy.
The free app allows users to find and view restaurants using filters for location, distance,
corkage prices, user ratings and tips. A one tap call button is perfect for making reservations. There is integration with Uber
(not available in Vancouver yet again) along with driving instructions; both these features are great when travelling to unfamiliar cities or neighbourhoods. User ratings are based on a five-point info-graphic along with basic wine service questions.
User Uploaded Lists |
Driving Instructions |
Due to restaurant list population by FourSquare you will come across restaurants that do not have alcohol licences i.e take out pizza, sushi, and kebab establishments so a bit of foresight is required. A web link to restaurant websites would be a great future feature allowing the user to see what wines are currently listed and avoid the cardinal rule of never bringing a bottle of wine that is already on the wine list. As a user, I would like to see other users add extra content in the tip section, i.e sommelier's name or e mail address or a special menu item to consider trying. You can add up to one hundred characters of tip information.
The app also
allows you to find wine shops; which I found were missing a number of options
for Vancouver, possibly due to FourSquare sourcing or that a fee is charged for shops to be listed. An advertised shop can have an email, web link, and product placement forefront of the competition in the apps search engine.
I'm looking forward to using the app at home and away and I recommend it for any of my blog followers. The current release works fine on both my IPhone 4S and 6. The app can be downloaded at the itunes or Android Store.
I'm looking forward to using the app at home and away and I recommend it for any of my blog followers. The current release works fine on both my IPhone 4S and 6. The app can be downloaded at the itunes or Android Store.