Group wanted other’s leftovers at restaurant

DEAR AMY >> Here’s the situation: My friends and I are having a nice dinner at a casual restaurant when the table next to us vacates and leaves behind a bottle of wine that is half full. What to do?

Shall we grab it and celebrate, or leave it to the restaurant?

What a dilemma! — Dilemma in Denver

DEAR DENVER >> If swiping wine from a neighboring table after the diners have finished their meal is your idea of a true dilemma (implying a decision between two relatively equal choices), then I will guard my French fries with more than the usual ferocity the next time I dine near you.

These other diners have paid for this wine and — just as they paid for their steak or crab cake — it is not appropriate for you to decide what to do with their leftovers.

For a more professional assessment of your question, I’ve shared it with

Meaghan Frank, who is vice president at the family-owned winery started by her great-grandfather, the winemaking pioneer Dr. Konstantin Frank. Meaghan is also an instructor for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

Her response: “There are several issues here, hygiene being one. Just as you would not help yourself to water from another table’s half-finished pitcher, this bottle will have touched glasses which others have drunk from.

“Taking this wine is also not fair to the restaurant and staff. If your group decided to drink it at your table, you would be taking up the table for a longer period, preventing the restaurant from turning the table over, and likely affecting the amount of the server’s income for the night.”