Chain-link fencing around your wine choices
· Lakeland · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed September 2, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Carrabba's Italian Grill – Lakeland’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 Carrabba's Lakeland reads like someone opened a restaurant supply catalog and checked every mainstream box. It's tidy, it's familiar, and it's about as adventurous as a chicken piccata from a chain kitchen. Nothing here will surprise you — that's by design.
Forty-two labels sounds like a real list until you start reading: Copper Ridge, Clos du Bois, Kendall-Jackson, Kim Crawford. These are grocery store regulars dressed up in a sit-down-restaurant price tag. The region focus is almost entirely California and Italy's most commercial exports, with no meaningful depth in Burgundy, Rhône, Iberian Peninsula, or anywhere remotely interesting. There's a token Riesling (Saint M, a German value brand) and a Prosecco from Bocelli — yes, that Bocelli — but nothing that suggests any real curation beyond 'what will people recognize.' The list skews heavily white, which makes sense for Italian food, but even there the creativity stops at four Pinot Grigios stacked from cheap to less-cheap.
Forty by-the-glass options sounds generous until you realize it's essentially the entire bottle list poured out one glass at a time. Prices run $6.79 to $11.59, which keeps the floor accessible, but you're drinking Mark West Pinot Noir and Clos du Bois Chardonnay — brands you can find at Publix for less than some of these glass pours. There's no rotating selection, no seasonal surprises, no sense that anyone has thought hard about what's actually exciting to drink.
TerraMare Bianco — $27
At the floor of the bottle list, this house white is at least priced honestly. It's not going to blow your mind, but at $27 it's the least punishing entry point on a list where everything above it gets marked up fast.
Lyric by Etude Pinot Noir
Etude is a serious Carneros producer, and Lyric is their more accessible label — but it's still grounded in better winemaking than most of its neighbors on this list. At $46, it's not cheap, but it's the one bottle here that actually reflects some craft behind the brand.
Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio
Forty-six dollars for Santa Margherita is a hard no. This bottle retails for $22-$25 everywhere, making it one of the steepest markups on the list. It's also a fine but deeply unremarkable wine — the kind of name people order because they recognize it, which is exactly why restaurants charge this much for it.
Joel Gott Unoaked Chardonnay + Pollo Rosa Maria
The stuffed chicken with fontina and prosciutto needs something crisp and clean that won't fight the richness. An unoaked Chardonnay skips the butter-and-toast routine and lets the lemon-herb brightness of the dish actually land.
The Bottom Line
Carrabba's Lakeland is a place you drink wine at, not a place you go to drink wine. If you're here, order the cheapest bottle that sounds like Italy and focus on the food.
· Lakeland · Seafood / Grill
Bonefish Grill Lakeland is a seafood restaurant with a three-wine list — two of which are ubiquitous grocery store brands marked up accordingly. If you're coming here for wine, adjust expectations significantly. Order the cocktail instead, or call ahead to check the corkage policy.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lakeland · Italian
The Macaroni Grill Lakeland wine list is functional the way a vending machine is functional — it dispenses what you ask for without fuss or personality. The by-the-glass breadth gives casual drinkers options, but the markups on several bottles and the complete absence of anything interesting or Italian-forward make this a list you tolerate rather than enjoy. Order the Lambrusco or the Trapiche Malbec and call it a night.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lakeland · Steakhouse
Texas Cattle Company isn't trying to be a wine destination, and the list doesn't pretend otherwise — but fair pricing across 17 glass pours and a genuine quality tier anchored by Halter Ranch Cab make this a reliable place to drink reasonably well with your steak. If you're with a group that just wants something cold and red without a lecture, this list does its job.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Lakeland · Bistro / European
Bay Street Bistro earns its reputation as Lakeland's go-to for a romantic, upscale dinner — the food clearly punches above the city's weight class. The wine program, however, doesn't match that ambition: pricing skews steep relative to what's on offer, and there's no evidence of the curation or deals you'd want alongside a $40 entrée. Go for the Beef Wellington, but do your homework on the wine list before you commit to a bottle.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lakeland · Seafood / New Orleans-inspired
Harry's Lakeland is a dependable pit stop — fair prices, an absurdly generous by-the-glass program, and a list that won't intimidate anyone. It's not a destination for wine, but it's also not going to ruin your dinner.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lakeland · Food Hall (Multi-Concept)
The Joinery is a Wild Card in the best sense: a food hall that actually thought about its wine program, priced it fairly, and threw in a Greek white and some non-alcoholic options for good measure. Don't come here expecting a deep list, but do come expecting to drink something decent without getting gouged.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Eugene · Italian
Excelsior Inn Ristorante has the bones of a solid wine destination — Italian-focused list, upscale setting, food that deserves a proper bottle — but we can't fully vouch for it until the wine program is better documented. If you're heading there for a special occasion, ask your server what's drinking well from the Italian side and what they're pouring locally from Oregon; a restaurant this thoughtful about atmosphere usually has at least one or two right answers.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Diego · Italian
An 'enoteca' with five wines is a bit like a steakhouse with one cut. The Italian-focused selection is at least on-theme, and the Aglianico shows someone made at least one interesting call — but five bottles, no whites, and no visible by-the-glass program is hard to defend under any concept, let alone this one. If wine matters to your night out, look elsewhere in San Diego.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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