A fee that a restaurant charges when you bring your own bottle of wine to drink there instead of buying wine from their menu.
From 'cork' + the suffix '-age' (meaning a fee or charge for a service), arising in British English during the 18th century when restaurants began charging for the privilege of uncorking customer-supplied bottles.
Corkage fees reveal hidden restaurant economics—they're cheaper than full bottle markups but protect the restaurant's wine profit margin, and wine-obsessed diners actually see them as a deal since restaurant wines are often marked up 200-300%.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.