Wednesday Saves It, Nothing Else Does
SanTan Village · Gilbert · American / Brewhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 25, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse - Gilbert’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 BJ's Gilbert exists the same way a side salad exists at a steakhouse — technically present, entirely optional, and not the reason anyone came. You're at a brewpub, and the list makes no effort to pretend otherwise. What you see is exactly what you'd expect from a corporate chain that designed its menu around cold pints and Pizookies.
The list runs 20-30 bottles deep and reads like the wine section at your local Kroger — Dark Horse, Apothic, Ménage à Trois, Ecco Domani. These are fine bottles at the grocery store for $10; here they're dressed up on a laminated menu card and handed to you between a beer flight and a deep dish. California dominates, with a nod to Italy via the Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio, but there's no sense that anyone curated this list so much as approved a vendor quote. No independent producers, no regional character, no surprises.
The by-the-glass program runs 10-15 options at $8-$13 a pour, which is about as predictable as the pours themselves. You're not getting anything here that you haven't seen at every chain restaurant from coast to coast. The one legitimately good reason to order wine by the glass: Wednesday, when the half-price deal makes that $10 Dark Horse pour a $5 decision you can live with.
Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon — $8/glass
On any other night it's a shrug, but on Wednesday at half price you're drinking a solid everyday California Cab for $4. That's hard to argue with when you're splitting a deep dish.
Hess Select Chardonnay
If it's available at the Gilbert location, Hess Select punches above the Dark Horse tier — it's a real winery with actual terroir intention behind it, not just a brand built for mass-market shelf space. Worth asking about.
Ménage à Trois Red Blend
A $10 grocery store bottle dressed up as a menu item. There's nothing wrong with it on its own terms, but ordering it at a restaurant markup when you could have a beer brewed on-site is the wrong call at a brewpub.
Dark Horse Chardonnay + Avocado Egg Rolls
The lightly oaked, fruit-forward profile of Dark Horse Chardonnay doesn't fight the creamy avocado filling, and enough acidity is there to cut through the fried wrapper. It's a casual pairing for a casual spot — and it works on exactly that level.
Wednesday — BJ's chain-wide Daily Brewhouse Specials program includes half-off wine on Wednesdays. Applies primarily to bottles, though glass pours are often included — verify with your server at the Gilbert location, as exact inclusions can vary slightly.
The Bottom Line
BJ's Gilbert is a beer destination that happens to sell wine, and the list reflects exactly that level of effort. Come for the craft brews and the Pizookie — but if Wednesday rolls around and you want a glass of Cab with your deep dish, the half-price deal makes it a perfectly acceptable call.
· Gilbert · Seafood
High Tide has leaned so hard into Chardonnay that the wine list feels less like a program and more like a thesis statement nobody asked for. The pricing skews steep relative to what these bottles fetch at retail, and the total absence of any other varietal — no rosé, no Sauvignon Blanc, nothing sparkling — is a real miss for a seafood concept. Grab the Diatom if you're staying, or order a cocktail and save your wine budget for somewhere that tried harder.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Gilbert · Tasting Menu
Cafe Monarch is a very specific proposition: a tasting menu destination in suburban Arizona that has decided its wine identity is prestige Champagne and cult Napa Cab, full stop. If that's your move — and you've budgeted accordingly — the by-the-glass access to serious bottles like Cristal and Krug Grande Cuvée is genuinely rare. But this is not a list built for the curious drinker looking for discovery or value, and the markups throughout reflect a room that knows its clientele is already sold.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
· Gilbert · Mediterranean
Virtù has a focused, regionally interesting wine list that rewards anyone willing to look past the familiar names — but the markup on prestige labels like Cloudy Bay is hard to ignore, and the absence of a transparent by-the-glass program limits flexibility. If you're in Gilbert and you want something more adventurous than the usual steakhouse roster, this list earns a visit; just go in with a bottle strategy and a budget.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Gilbert · Tasting Menu
Sel earns a Wild Card badge because the setting, the food ambition, and the regional wine diversity — including Arizona producers — point to a program with real intention behind it, even if the data doesn't let us get granular. For a tasting menu destination at $140 a head, the wine side of things should be sharper and more transparent. Go for the food, ask thoughtful questions about the wine, and don't assume the list depth matches the kitchen's ambition.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Gilbert · Southwestern fine dining
Lon's at The Hermosa offers a competent, crowd-friendly wine program that plays it safe with recognizable labels and a markup structure that reflects the fine dining setting. The bubbles selection is the genuine highlight — Roederer Estate at $18/glass alone justifies opening the wine list. If you're looking for discovery or value hunting, you'll find limited opportunities here, but if you want a reliable glass of something respectable on a Southwestern patio, Lon's will not embarrass you.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Gilbert · Burgers and Wine Bar
Zinburger isn't trying to be a wine bar, and that honesty is what makes the wine program work. Fair prices, full glass availability on every bottle, and a Malbec that overdelivers at $9 a pour — that's a better wine experience than plenty of sit-down restaurants twice the price. If you're eating a burger in Gilbert and want something decent in your glass without a markup headache, this does the job.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Craig Ranch / SH 121 · McKinney · American / Brewhouse
BJ's McKinney is a beer destination with a wine list that exists mostly as a formality — the Wednesday half-price deal is the only reason to engage with it seriously. Come for the craft beer and the Pazookie; the wine is just along for the ride.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Chandler Fashion Center area · Chandler · American / Brewhouse
BJ's Chandler is a brewhouse first and a wine destination never — the list exists to check a box, not to excite anyone. Order a craft beer, or if you must have wine, grab the Ste. Michelle Riesling and move on with your life.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Sherwood Mall / North Stockton · Stockton · American / Brewhouse
BJ's is a great brewhouse that happens to have wine on the menu as an afterthought, and that's fine — just order the beer. If wine is non-negotiable, show up on a Tuesday and keep your expectations calibrated to the surroundings.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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