This significantly cuts down on the cost of dining out, since restaurants frequently charge twice the retail price for wine. Often, even more (In Manhattan, you can count on it being at least three times the retail price)! It also vastly increases the selection of wines you can enjoy with dinner, since many restaurants with wine lists have a very mediocre as well as over-priced selection. Of course, we hope you will purchase your wine from us at Beekman's. When bringing wine to a BYO restaurant, it is a good idea to bring a backup bottle just in case. 

The "reviews" are not traditional, extensive restaurant reviews, but are simply a listing and brief description of restaurants that we have tried and found to be worthy. Any restaurant mentioned here should provide an enjoyable meal. Some are clearly superior and those are noted with either 1 or 2 pots of gold (). Expect them to be more expensive. All restaurants in New Jersey are now non-smoking (). Hooray!

Dinner prices are indicated by dollar signs. The amounts are for a modest, but sufficient dinner for two, including a shared appetizer, two average priced entrees, a shared dessert, and two coffees. They do not include tax (7%) or gratuity* (20% is appreciated). "Specials" are often priced higher.

• $ - inexpensive; below average for northern N.J. $45 or less
• $$ - moderate; about average for northern N.J. $46 - $65
• $$$ - somewhat above average for northern N.J. $66 - $85
• $$$$ - expensive. Above $85

The date of the review will appear in [brackets]. The pricing structure was accurate at the time the restaurant was reviewed, but it may have changed since. We will try to delete or revise reviews of restaurants that may have closed or changed owners, but it would be prudent to call restaurants reviewed more than a year ago before going.

The majority of restaurants in the area are Italian. While we love Italian food and have reviewed many Italian eateries, we make a special effort to seek out different ethnic restaurants. 

You may note some obvious omissions, restaurants which we have not reviewed. In some cases this is because we simply haven't gotten a chance to try that restaurant yet. In other cases, we had an unsatisfactory experience there. These restaurants are not mentioned because my mother always taught me: "if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all!"

BYO ETIQUETTE AND SUGGESTIONS

• *When you bring your own bottle, the wait staff works almost as hard as if you had purchased the wine from the restaurant. TIP GENEROUSLY (as if the bottle had been included on the check)!
• Don't bring a cheap bottle. Spend a little more on a better wine. After all, you're already saving a lot of money by bringing your own bottle.
• Always bring a backup bottle in case a bottle is bad. The backup needn't be anything special, just something to have in an emergency. And if you see a patron who didn't bring wine because he/she did not realize the restaurant was a BYO, give them the backup bottle. You'll have done your good deed for the day and maybe made a new friend.
• If you go to a restaurant that has a liquor license but allows you to bring your own bottle with no or minimal corkage fee, don't bring a cheap bottle and try not to bring a wine that is on their wine list. Again, TIP GENEROUSLY!

LINKS TO OTHER  SITES for restaurant and food information in New Jersey:

• Restaurants that allow BYO (many even if they have a wine list) in 10 metropolitan areas can be found at www.GoBYO.com. This is a very useful source!
• the magazine New Jersey Monthly at http://www.njmonthly.com. (Click on dining reviews and view other writings by Rosie Saferstein)
• Rosie also oversees a nice forum at http://www.egullet.com.
• Lots more information and reviews are at http://www.nj.com/dining/.These restaurants are not necessarily BYOs, and they are all over New Jersey.
• Many restaurants near you can be found at http://www.atFood.com. These are not necessarily BYOs, and only restaurants that advertise with this service are listed.
• Chef Ike Koutrakos cooks special dinners in your home! (cookinginyour
  kitchen24@yahoo.com)
• A food blog with lots of vegetarian and other recipes can be found at www.CookEatDelicious.com.