Restaurant Wine: By The Glass Or The Whole Bottle?

My wife looked at the wine list at a nice restaurant and noted many were available both by the glass and the bottle. We were out with friends and several in the group were looking at having a glass of wine. If we could all agree on one would it be worth it to buy the entire bottle instead of each ordering an individual glass?

Figuring out whether buying a bottle would save money requires several questions be answered.

What Is The Restaurant’s Wine Pour Size?

The size of a restaurant’s wine pour (serving size) may vary, but is typically five ounces. Before doing any calculations, check with the server to verify the pour size they sell as a glass of wine.

How Many Ounces In A Bottle Of Wine?

A typical bottle of wine is labeled as being 750ml. Since restaurants sell glasses of wine by the ounce, you need to know how many ounces are in a bottle. A conversion calculator easily found through an internet search shows a 750ml bottle of wine equals about 25.4 fluid ounces.

How Many Glasses Per Bottle

To determine how many glasses the restaurant would pour from a bottle, take 25.4 and divide by the pour size given by the server. For example, if the pour size is five ounces, 25.4 divided by 5 is just over 5 servings. Most likely the restaurant would pour 5 glasses from the bottle.

Compare Cost

Now, take the price charged per glass and multiple by the number of servings obtained from a bottle. For example, if the restaurant charges $10 a glass, and 5 servings are poured from the bottle, then buying 5 individual glasses would cost $50.

If the cost for individual glasses exceeds the bottle price, purchasing the bottle is a better deal.

When Buying The Bottle Is The Wrong Choice

  • More Expensive: Obviously if the bottle price is more expensive than the same number of individual glasses, don’t buy it.
  • Not Planning to Drink That Much: If you weren’t going to buy that much wine anyway, don’t buy it.
  • You Have To Drive: drink responsibly

Restaurants may offer the same wine by the glass or by the bottle. If you have several people that could share, it may be less expensive over all to buy the entire bottle. Do the math and decide if it’s the right choice for your situation.

How about you, EOD Nation, do you ever buy wine by the bottle at a restaurant?

About Travis

One Response to “Restaurant Wine: By The Glass Or The Whole Bottle?”

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  1. Money Beagle says:

    Restaurants in Michigan are allowed to cork the bottle and give it the customer to take home if they don’t finish it. I believe many states now allow this. They’d rather see their citizens do that versus drink more and then get behind the wheel because they feel obligated to finish the bottle.

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