"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs -- including guides, the latest trends, rapid bar reviews and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
Wisconsin state law prohibits bars and restaurants from allowing customers to bring in their own wine or beer. Next week on OnMilwaukee.com, local restaurateurs will weigh in on this issue and dish up the pros and cons of the law.
In the meantime, let's examine this issue.
Illinois does not have this law, and consequently, hundreds of Chicago restaurants allow diners to bring in a bottle of wine. Sometimes a "corkage fee" is charged, but sometimes not.
Personally, I believe that BYO-friendly restaurants would encourage people to dine out more often. In this economy, it seems like any incentive to seat people at tables is a good idea.
I mentioned this to a lawyer friend and jokingly asked her to change this law en pronto. She came back with a truthful response: that lawyers sometimes write the laws, but citizens actually change the laws.
So, what do you say, Milwaukee? Who's with me? Shall we band together and change this law? I’m thinking "WTF?" to Wisconsin’s ban on BYO.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
