Springfield

The MGM Springfield Tapas Lounge is a perfectly acceptable place to drink wine if you're already at the casino — just don't expect the list to excite you or the markups to be kind. Order by the glass, keep it simple, and save your serious wine curiosity for somewhere else.

We wouldn't send a friend here for wine — we'd tell them to order a beer or a cocktail and enjoy the pasta. The Bertani Amarone is a genuine curiosity, but one interesting bottle surrounded by corporate-approved crowd-pleasers at steep markups doesn't make a wine program; it makes a footnote.

Chili's Springfield Riverfront is not a wine destination — it's a place where wine exists so the menu isn't technically dry. Order a margarita, enjoy your ribs, and leave the wine list alone.

Max's Tavern is a reliable steakhouse wine program that punches slightly above its tourist-anchor location — the sommelier presence and European inclusions keep it from being generic, even if the pricing reflects the zip code. Send a friend here for dinner and tell them to skip the Cakebread.

The Fort Cellar Bar is doing more than most in Springfield, but steep markups and a list built for comfort over curiosity keep it from being anything more than a reliable neighborhood stop. Order the Pieropan, skip the top-shelf Napa, and enjoy the fact that this place exists at all.

UNO Springfield isn't a wine destination and makes no pretense of being one — come for the deep dish, order a beer, or grab the Wairau River if you need something in a glass. Sending a friend here specifically for wine would be a strange thing to do to a friend.

Nadim's wine list is far from perfect — the markups are stiff and the California heavyweights are filler — but those three Lebanese bottles make this a genuine Wild Card worth knowing about. Come for the food, order the Musar, and feel smarter than everyone else in the room.

The Student Prince isn't a wine destination, but it's a better wine stop than it has any right to be — fair prices, full-list glass pours, and a few genuinely smart picks hiding behind the beer hall curtain. If you're in Springfield, you could do a lot worse.

Max's Tavern won't win any awards for its wine program, but it's fairly priced, honestly assembled, and better than it needs to be given the location. If you're eating a steak next to the Basketball Hall of Fame, you'll drink fine — just order the Rosso di Montalcino and skip the A to Z.