Kennewick

Outback's wine list exists to check a box, not to elevate your dinner. If you're in Kennewick and want to actually drink well with your steak, you're a short drive from some of Washington's best wine country — don't let this list be your introduction to it.

Red Lobster's wine list exists to give you something to drink while you wait for the Cheddar Bay Biscuits — and that's about as far as its ambition goes. Order the Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, enjoy the biscuits, and don't look at the list too hard.

The Crown Pub is a genuine wild card — a Columbia Basin pub that somehow assembled a credible New Zealand sparkling and Central Otago program worth talking about. The markups aren't a gift, but the list has a real identity, and that counts for a lot in a market where most wine lists are an afterthought.

Olive Garden Kennewick is not a wine destination — it's a place you drink whatever keeps the breadsticks company. If someone in your group is serious about wine, order the Orvieto and manage your expectations; everyone else should probably just get the Sangria.

Cedars is a solid neighborhood anchor that leans on its Columbia Valley backyard without really exploring it — the wine list is dependable but leaves you wishing they'd push even 10% harder into the region's real depth. Send a friend here for a good steak and a glass of local Cab, not for a wine-first experience.

Boiada is doing something genuinely interesting for a Brazilian steakhouse in Eastern Washington — leaning hard into local wines, running a real winemaker dinner program, and pricing fairly enough that you don't feel like the wine list is the second hustle. If you're in the Tri-Cities and eating rodízio, you could do a lot worse than a bottle of Col Solare on a Wednesday at half price.

This isn't a wine destination — it's a neighborhood deli that happens to stock some genuinely solid Washington bottles at prices that would make a restaurant wine director weep. If you're in Kennewick and need a bottle tonight, you could do a lot worse than walking out of here with a Tamarack or a Kiona.

Budd's Broiler won't make a wine lover cancel their dinner reservation somewhere else, but it will make them feel respected — every pour is local, every price is honest, and the hits are real. For a Columbia River steakhouse, that's a more than decent showing.

Twigs is a martini bar that happens to have two wines on the menu — send your wine-loving friends here only if they're on a cocktail kick or showing up on a Wednesday with low expectations. The Columbia Valley deserves better representation in its own backyard.