Missoula

Applebee's Grill + Bar – Missoula

South Missoula · Missoula · American / Chain

The Lazy List

Applebee's Missoula isn't a destination for wine — it's a destination for Boneless Wings and a cold domestic beer, and there's zero shame in that. If wine is a priority, order a cocktail and save the bottle for somewhere that cares.

The Shack Café

Downtown · Missoula · Breakfast and Diner-Style American

The Lazy List

The Shack is worth visiting for the food and the Missoula nostalgia — but the wine list is two bottles deep and priced like it knows you have no other options. Order coffee, order juice, order whatever they're putting in the Vodka Fettuccine, and save the wine drinking for somewhere that's actually trying.

Red Bird Restaurant

Downtown · Missoula · New American / Global

The Reliable

Red Bird is the best wine option in Missoula by a comfortable margin, and the curation is genuinely impressive for its size and location. The markups are uneven enough to require some navigation, but if you stick to the Cristom and the Italian picks, you'll drink well without feeling robbed.

The Pearl Café

Unknown · Missoula · French / European

The Wild Card

The Pearl Café is doing something genuinely unusual — running a thoughtful, fairly priced wine program in a mountain city where most restaurants would coast on a generic list and nobody would complain. Send your wine-curious friends here without apology; just steer them away from the Ste. Michelle.

SakeTome Sushi Missoula

Downtown · Missoula · Sushi, Japanese

The Wild Card

SakeTome is a Wild Card: a lively downtown sushi spot with a mostly safe wine list that hides genuine Oregon ambition behind a wall of crowd-pleasers. Come for the rolls, order the Meiomi by the glass or splurge on Walter Scott if it's available — just skip the Priorat.

Ciao Mambo

South Higgins · Missoula · Italian

The Reliable

Ciao Mambo isn't a destination wine list, but it's honest, fairly priced, and doesn't embarrass itself — which puts it ahead of most Italian spots its size. Send a friend here for dinner and point them toward the Planeta or the Torrontés; they'll thank you.

Top Hat Lounge VIP Mezzanine Bar

Downtown · Missoula · Bar

The Wild Card

The Top Hat is a live-music venue first, and the wine list reflects that honestly — approachable, fairly priced, and wide enough to keep most people happy. You're not going for the wine, but you're not going to regret the Rioja either.

Brasserie Porte Rouge Wine Flights Program

Downtown · Missoula · French / Wine Bar

The Wild Card

Brasserie Porte Rouge is doing something genuinely surprising in Missoula: a tight, well-chosen wine list where everything is available by the glass at fair prices. It's not a deep cellar, but it's a smart one, and in this town that counts for a lot.

Guild Arcade Bar (inside GILD)

Downtown / Hip Strip · Missoula · Arcade Bar

The Wild Card

Guild Arcade Bar shouldn't have a wine list this interesting, and that's exactly the point. If you're in Missoula and want something genuinely unexpected with your nostalgia trip, this is the Wild Card move.

The Top Hat Sidecar Bar

Downtown · Missoula · Bar

The Reliable

The Top Hat isn't trying to be a wine destination, and the wine list isn't pretending otherwise — but the prices are fair, a few solid picks hide in plain sight, and the Lan Rioja alone earns this place a pass. Come for the music, order better than the house Cab, and you'll be fine.

The Stables at Brasserie Porte Rouge

Downtown · Missoula · Wine Bar

The Wild Card

The Stables is a genuine surprise — a tightly edited wine list in downtown Missoula that actually has a point of view. If you're anywhere near Montana and you care about drinking well, this is worth the stop.

Top Hat Restaurant & Bar

Downtown · Missoula · New American

The Reliable

Top Hat isn't a wine destination, but it's not trying to be — and for a live music bar in Missoula, the list is fairer and more considered than it needs to be. Grab the Rioja, catch the show, and don't overthink it.

Ten Spoon Vineyard & Winery Tasting Room

Rattlesnake · Missoula · Winery Tasting Room / Light Bites

The Wild Card

Ten Spoon is not where you go to geek out over a deep cellar — it's where you go to drink honest, organic, estate-made wine in one of America's most unlikely wine regions and feel genuinely good about it. If you're passing through Missoula, this is a detour worth taking.

Top Hat Lounge

Downtown · Missoula · Music Venue / American

The Lazy List

Come to the Top Hat for the music — genuinely, it's one of the better small venues in the Northwest. But the wine list is on autopilot, and nobody on staff is going to help you navigate it. Grab the Rioja, enjoy the show, and save your wine curiosity for somewhere else.

The Patio at Rattlesnake Market

Rattlesnake · Missoula · Cafe / Neighborhood Eatery

The Wild Card

This is a taco-stand-with-great-wine situation, Montana edition — a neighborhood market with no pretensions and a wine list that quietly outperforms its setting. Send your friends here, order the burger, and don't sleep on the Albariño.

GILD Brewing

Downtown / Hip Strip · Missoula · Mexican-inspired brewpub fare and craft beer

The Wild Card

GILD is a brewpub that accidentally built a genuinely interesting wine list, and we respect the audacity. The markups on the mainstream bottles are hard to defend, but the natural wine picks — especially the pet nats and the Jolie-Laide — make this worth a detour for wine drinkers who thought Missoula's craft scene was beer-only.

Zoo Thai

Southgate · Missoula · Thai

The Wild Card

Zoo Thai has no business having a wine list this interesting, and that's meant as a compliment. If you're eating Thai in Missoula and you care at all about what's in your glass, this is the move.

Brasserie Porte Rouge

Downtown · Missoula · French-inspired brasserie

The Reliable

Brasserie Porte Rouge is genuinely the best wine program in Missoula, which is worth something — but steep markups across the board mean you're paying for the atmosphere as much as the wine. Come for the oysters, order the Domaine Serene, and try not to do the retail math.

The Old Post

Downtown · Missoula · American Pub

The Lazy List

The Old Post is a genuinely fun neighborhood bar to catch a game, shoot pool, and drink a cold beer — wine is just not why you're here. If your group insists on a glass, the house Cab will survive the evening; beyond that, let someone else handle the wine duties tonight.

James Bar

Downtown · Missoula · American gastropub / bar fare

The Reliable

James Bar is a solid Tuesday night move — show up for half-price bottles, order the elk sliders, and don't expect to find anything that'll change your relationship with wine. It does exactly what a good neighborhood bar should do, and that's enough.

The Stables

Downtown · Missoula · Wine Bar / Bistro

The Wild Card

The Stables is doing something genuinely ambitious for Missoula — a deep, serious list with a real sommelier and the cellar to back it up. Markups run steep across the board, so come with a clear budget, but the range and quality of what's here make it the most interesting wine stop in a 200-mile radius.

Boxcar Bistro

Missoula · Missoula · American, French

The Wild Card

Boxcar Bistro is the kind of place Missoula residents should be quietly proud of — a legit wine program in a town where the bar is easy to clear and they've chosen to go higher. We'd send a friend here, especially one who thinks they already know what they like.

Pangea Bar & Restaurant

Missoula · Missoula · American, Seasonal

The Wild Card

For Montana, this list is genuinely impressive — fair prices, real producers, and enough depth to reward the curious diner who looks past the first page. If you're passing through Missoula and care about what's in your glass, Pangea is the move.