Picnic Wine & Provisions — Restaurant in Rogers Park Township

I'm going to start off by saying I bought what was supposed to be a $24 bottle of wine and paid more than double that price for it. I will also say I was made aware of these charges, though it's hard to say no sometimes as someone adds multiple extra charges and you see the final total and are horrified.

So I bring the bottle labeled "24" (dollars) to the counter. The person behind the counter, who has done and will do nothing for me other than check me out and uncork my wine (no table service, not even a check-in to see how we're doing, though they may have cleaned up the table after we left), lets me know the corkage fee is $15. I'm shocked. This is three times the largest corkage fee I've paid to bring outside alcohol into a restaurant (I've never paid a corkage fee at all to have alcohol I bought inside of any establishment, restaurant or otherwise), but I say OK. That's on me. I probably should've said "that's an insane and baseless charge," but I didn't; I said "that's ok...." Again, that was my choice.

Next, I'm informed that, despite making my purchase individually at the counter without having been helped in any way, without any kind of table service for me or any other people in my group, the size of our party means an automatic 20% gratuity is being applied to carry my own wine to the counter and be handed two glasses.

I tip minimum 20% as a rule at restaurants. I support corkage fees. I understand that boutique stores have higher prices. This experience was, at bottom, infuriating and mind-boggling. There is no cognizable reason why a bottle of wine, already being sold at a mark-up (again, understandably), more than doubles in price because I carried it from the shelf to the counter.

As long as I live, I will never set foot in this place again, and I will tell everyone I know that I don't think the price is worth it. That said, I wish you divas well. I'm sure there are plenty of wealthy white women who are in dire need of a...

Opened in 2019, this spot is great. They have multiple places for you to sit both indoors and outdoors. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable about the wine and even the vendors they work with.

They do have a small section of non-alcoholic beverages (NA Cocktails, Sparkling Water, etc). They have snacks and was surprised when they had began cheese and a vegan chorizo!

I got a large sparkling water...

I’ve been waiting for this place to be open when I’ve just been walking by and finally, as I walked by today the sign said OPEN. People, I was not disappointed. This place is all kinds of adorable charming. It’s full of wonderful people and wine, bread and cheese! I couldn’t ask for more. And they have a HAPPY HOUR! If I could give them 10...