Backward Laws

A few days ago, we tried to bring a bottle of wine into one of our favorite Arlington, Va., restaurants. The hostess who had answered the restaurant's phone had mistakenly told me this was okay. But the only corkage fee the restaurant charges is for bottles of wine that patrons wish to purchase from the restaurant to take home with them — not to bring into the restaurant.

We were told that the latter option is verboten in the state of Virginia.

This appears to be yet another example that Virginia's state laws and regs are not keeping up with the times. Earlier this year, I wrote this post about Virginia's ridiculous ban on sangria.