For those returning to campus, DeKalb may seem like essentially the same place you left back in May: a small but vibrant island of college life rising out of a sea of cornfields.

However, one subtle difference you may have missed is the fact that the BYOB license has finally passed.

“It was a big challenge,” said Omar Musfi, owner of Mediterraneo, 122 E. Lincoln Highway. “Because other businesses opposed the BYOB license. They already had their liquor licenses and thought it would hurt their businesses.”

The “Bring Your Own Bottle” license, which allows diners to provide their own alcoholic beverages from home, passed in late June, in large part to the concerted efforts of Fourth Ward Alderman Brendon Gallagher. Although it may seem inconsequential, the passing of the BYOB license brings several benefits to the community, as well as local business owners.

For places like Mediterraneo, a restaurant specializing in authentic Mediterranean cuisine and the first establishment in DeKalb to implement the license, the ability to offer customers the option of bringing their own bottle of wine or beer to dinner is a great way to attract new patrons and stay afloat.

“We are trying [to attract more student customers] by getting the BYOB license and offering coupons to NIU students,” Musfi said, “But since advertising is so expensive, we are mostly relying on word of mouth.”

As far as I know, Mediterraneo is the only restaurant to fully take advantage of this new opportunity so far. Although the concerns of local eateries that already possess a liquor license are valid, the passing of the BYOB license benefits the customers in three very important ways.

The first, and most obvious, advantage is cheaper drinks. Although there is a small corkage fee ($5 per bottle of wine or six-pack of beer), patrons have the opportunity to bring their favorite drink to dinner without suffering the typically outrageous overpricing.

Also, if the restaurants that already have liquor licenses are worried about dwindling business, they have the option to add the BYOB to their existing license for $200 or lower their prices.

Second, it gives students the chance to drink sociably without having to endure the loud, overcrowded atmospheres that usually accompany cheap drink specials.

Before you think you can show up with a bottle of Everclear, order an appetizer and drink until you pass out into your plate of yogurty Mediterranean deliciousness, let me clarify that the BYOB license is not going to revolutionize DeKalb nightlife.

“It is beer and wine only, and you can’t bring more than two bottles of wine or a six-pack per table, but accommodations can be made for private parties,” Musfi said.

Third, it makes the small world of DeKalb dining more competitive and opens the door to a more diverse eating experience. Although words like “shawarma” and “toshka” may sound like potential gastro-intestinal assaults, they are actually just different takes on familiar dishes.

If students need an incentive to expand their culinary lexicon past “super-sized” and “with extra cheese,” the option to drink cheaply should provide such motivation.