Great Burgers, Wine List Needs a Timeout
Northside / Paseo del Pueblo Norte · Taos · Burger / American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 27, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed 5 Star Burgers Taos’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at 5 Star Burgers Taos is exactly what you'd expect from a burger joint that decided wine should be on the menu because every restaurant has wine on the menu. Twelve labels deep — all of them California, all of them names you've seen at a grocery store end cap. It gets the job done, barely.
The list reads like someone handed a distributor rep a $500 budget and said go wild: Joel Gott shows up three times (Sauv Blanc, Chard, Zinfandel), Josh pulls double duty with a Rosé and a Merlot, and Cupcake and Bogle fill out the rest. There's zero regional ambition here — no New Mexico wines, no nods to the Southwest, nothing adventurous. The Dry Creek Chenin Blanc is the only bottle that shows even a flicker of personality. Everything else is safe to the point of boring.
All twelve wines are available by the glass, which sounds generous until you realize the list is only twelve bottles. Prices run $6 for Summit house pours up to $10 a glass, which at 4x retail markup is charging restaurant prices for grocery store wine. There's no rotation, no seasonal additions — this list has clearly been set and forgotten.
Dry Creek Chenin Blanc — $8/glass
It's the one wine on this list that doesn't belong at a supermarket checkout. Dry Creek makes a genuinely food-friendly Chenin Blanc and at $8 a glass it's the most interesting pour here by a mile — order it before someone replaces it with another Josh label.
Joel Gott Zinfandel
Most people skip Zinfandel entirely, especially at a burger place, but a ripe, peppery Zin with a beef patty actually makes sense. It's not a discovery wine, but it's the right call if you want red with your burger and don't want to deal with a heavy Cab.
Josh Merlot
Josh Merlot at restaurant markup is paying full tuition for a community college education. It's inoffensive and ubiquitous, which in wine is rarely a compliment. Save the $9 and get a milkshake instead — that's actually what this place does well.
Joel Gott Zinfandel + signature beef burger
Zinfandel's dark fruit and pepper notes cut through a rich beef patty without competing with it. Joel Gott's version is fruit-forward enough to not overwhelm and structured enough to hold its own — it's the most logical match on an otherwise shrug-worthy list.
The Bottom Line
Come for the burgers — seriously, people love them — but manage your wine expectations hard. This list is a placeholder, not a program, and you're paying convenience store wine prices at restaurant markups.
· Taos · German
The Bavarian's wine program is an afterthought in a setting that deserves better. If you're here, drink the Glühwein, enjoy the view, and save the wine conversation for dinner back in town.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Taos · Contemporary American
NOSA is doing something genuinely rare: curating a short, smart, globally curious wine list in a place where no one would expect it. The pricing is fair, the picks are specific, and the list has a clear point of view. If you're driving through Taos and care about what's in your glass, this is the room to be in.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Taos · Contemporary American
medley. has no business running a wine list this considered in a small New Mexico mountain town, and yet here we are. Pricing is fair across the board, the selection leans curious over commercial, and the rosé section alone is worth the visit. If you're in Taos and care about what's in your glass, this is where you eat.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Taos Plaza Alley · Taos · Mexican bar & grill
We would never send anyone to The Alley Cantina specifically for the wine, but we'd absolutely send them for the vibe — and if you hit that 5–7pm happy hour, a $5 glass of Porto while a band tunes up is one of Taos's more charming small pleasures. The Wild Card badge isn't for the list quality; it's for the unexpected delight of finding Warre's Warrior in a cantina that also has a pool table.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Downtown · Taos · Steakhouse
Martyrs is punching above its weight class for a steakhouse in Taos — the Italian selections alone make it worth a look. The markups are real and the pricing on the classics is aggressive, but if you order smart, this list rewards you.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Northside / Historic Chapel · Taos · Northern New Mexican, organic, locally sourced
The Love Apple is a Wild Card in the best possible way — a tiny organic wine list in a centuries-old adobe chapel that somehow makes more sense than most dedicated wine bars. If you're a Pinot person with a soft spot for biodynamic producers, this is your kind of detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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