Yakima

Wilridge Vineyard, Winery & Distillery

Naches Heights · Yakima · Winery Tasting Room

The Wild Card

Wilridge is a genuine surprise in a region most wine drinkers ignore — a biodynamic estate tasting room with the range and conviction to back up the views. If you're anywhere near Yakima and you skip this, that's on you.

Kana Winery Tasting Room

Downtown Yakima · Yakima · Winery Tasting Room

The Wild Card

Kana is a Wild Card in the best possible way — a downtown Yakima tasting room doing focused, Rhone-leaning Washington wines in a room that actually has energy. If you're passing through Yakima and think you know what to expect from a winery tasting room, Kana will pleasantly mess with that assumption.

Freehand Cellars

Yakima Valley · Yakima · Wine bar / tasting room

The Wild Card

Freehand Cellars is what a focused, honest estate tasting room should look like — small list, fair prices, people who actually know what is in the glass. If you are passing through Yakima Valley and you skip this stop, you made a mistake.

Mickey's Pub at Orchard Inn

West Yakima · Yakima · Pub / American

The Reliable

Mickey's Pub isn't a wine bar and doesn't pretend to be, but the Wednesday half-price bottle deal makes it genuinely worth a stop if you're already in the neighborhood. Stick to the Pacific Rim, skip the Conundrum, and enjoy the fact that you're drinking Columbia Valley Riesling in Yakima for next to nothing.

Xochimilco Mexican Restaurant

West Yakima · Yakima · Mexican

The Wild Card

Xochimilco is not a wine destination, but it's doing more with its wine list than most restaurants twice its ambition level. If you're eating in Yakima wine country and want something local in your glass with your enchiladas, this is a legitimate option.

AntoLin Cellars Tasting Room

Downtown Yakima · Yakima · Winery Tasting Room

The Wild Card

AntoLin is a genuine local find: unpretentious, fairly priced, and pouring a tighter roster than most Yakima tasting rooms twice its size. If you're rolling through downtown Yakima and want to drink something real, this is your stop.

Cowiche Canyon Kitchen Patio Bar

Downtown Yakima · Yakima · Bar / New American

The Reliable

Cowiche Canyon isn't trying to be a wine destination, but it's doing right by its backyard — local producers, fair prices, and a patio that makes the whole thing go down easy. Send a friend here, order the Syrah, enjoy the sunshine.

Zesta Cucina

West Yakima · Yakima · Italian/Mediterranean-inspired American

The Reliable

Zesta Cucina isn't a wine destination, but it's doing more with 15 glasses than plenty of restaurants do with 50. If you're eating in West Yakima and want a solid, honest pour without getting gouged, this is your spot.

Rooted

Downtown Yakima · Yakima · Farm-to-Table

The Wild Card

Rooted is doing something genuinely worthwhile: a tight, local-first wine list that treats Washington producers with the same respect the kitchen gives its farmers. It's not a destination wine program, but for a quick dinner in Yakima, this is exactly the list you'd want in front of you.

Crafted

Downtown Yakima · Yakima · Farm-to-Table / New American

The Wild Card

Crafted is the kind of wine list that rewards curious drinkers who want to explore the region they're sitting in, not just order something familiar. It's small, it's local, and it's built with care — send a friend here and tell them to skip the Champagne.

Cowiche Canyon Kitchen & Icehouse Bar

Downtown Yakima · Yakima · American Tavern / Pacific Northwest American

The Reliable

Cowiche Canyon is doing the right things with Washington wine in a setting where it would be easy to just coast on grocery-store brands. The markups keep it from being a great wine destination, but as a neighborhood tavern with genuine regional character? We'd send a friend here without hesitation — just steer them toward the JB Neufeld and the Owen Roe.