Dining During a Depression: BYOB

With much free time on my hands and the pending Great Depression of our generation, I've decided to start a series of blogs dedicated to Recession Responsibility. It'll be a way to continue to support our local economy and have fun without causing you to file Chapter 11.

One of my favorite aspects of the Houston dining scene is the much-welcomed overabundance of BYOB restaurants and cafes....but I didn't realize there were so many that did not even charge a corkage fee! I've uncovered this hidden gem of a link with all of the BYOB restaurants, complete with the corkage fee: http://www.localwineevents.com/Houston-Wine/BYOB-restaurants.html

Some highlights upon first glance:

• Lucio's BYOB on Taft is just plain good (well plain is dull, and their food is anything but) with a corkage fee of $5 a bottle.
• Collina's is known by everyone to be the best Italian food for your hard-earned buck and the fee is $1/person.
• Houston's on Kirby has NO corkage fee. That's right...bring your own bottle of bargain bottles of vino and drink away.
• Dry Creek Cafe has a better menu than Onion Creek and you can bring your wine and enjoy their laid back patio for $2.50 a bottle. As much as I love the O.C., bringing my own $8 bottle, paying the $2.50 puts me at about $2.75 a glass....much cheaper than the $9 that you'll get charged per glass at the bar. Pssst...you can also bring your own brews!!!