Prime Steaks, Ocean Views, Serious Cabernet
Ilikai Hotel, Ala Moana · Honolulu · Steak House · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 7, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Empire Steak House’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Empire Steak House lands like the view from the Ilikai Hotel — bigger than you expected, with real ambition behind it. California and France are the clear headliners, and Wine Spectator agrees enough to hand them a Best of Award of Excellence. For a steakhouse perched above Honolulu's coastline, this is not a list that's coasting on scenery.
The California heavy-hitters are all present and accounted for — Caymus, Silver Oak, Jordan, Chateau Montelena, Stag's Leap, and Duckhorn Merlot for the crowd that still thinks Sideways was wrong. France shows up with genuine credibility: Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lynch-Bages anchor a Bordeaux section that earns its column inches, and Italy gets a seat at the table with Gaja in the Barolo corner. The list runs 200-400 bottles deep, which is real range for a Hawaii resort-adjacent steakhouse. The gap is anything adventurous — no natural wine moment, no unexpected Rhône detour, nothing that surprises — but for the format, it delivers.
Fifteen to twenty-five options by the glass is a solid pour program for a steakhouse, and the price range of $14-$22 is reasonable given the address and the altitude of the list. Don't expect the pours to rotate much — this feels like a set-it-and-forget-it glass program rather than something a manager is actively curating week to week.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon — $60–$80 range
Jordan consistently punches above its price point — it's approachable, food-friendly, and won't make you wince when the bill arrives. In a list full of three-digit Napa names, it's the move for a table that wants quality without the occasion feeling like a mortgage payment.
Chateau Lynch-Bages
Lynch-Bages is one of Bordeaux's best-kept open secrets — technically a fifth-growth, drinking like a second on a good vintage. Most tables here will reach for the California names out of habit. The table that orders Lynch-Bages with the dry-aged ribeye is the smartest one in the room.
Opus One
Opus One is a prestige pour and priced accordingly — but in a restaurant setting with a Hawaii market markup layered on top, you're paying a significant premium for a label that's already expensive at retail. It's a flex, not a value play, and there are better bottles on this list for serious drinking.
Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon + USDA Prime Dry-Aged Ribeye
Montelena is structured and earthy with enough backbone to stand up to the fat and intensity of a dry-aged ribeye — it doesn't try to overpower the beef, it works with it. This is the pairing that earns the view.
The Bottom Line
Empire Steak House is a Wild Card in the best sense — a legitimate wine list in a setting where you'd forgive them for phoning it in. The markups sting a little and no sommelier means you're navigating on your own, but the bones are good and the California-Bordeaux depth is real.
Kahala · Honolulu · Italian
Arancino at The Kahala is doing something genuinely unusual for a hotel-adjacent Italian restaurant in Hawaii — it's built a list around obscure Northern Italian producers that most diners won't recognize, and that's exactly the point. Markups are on the steeper side and we can't vouch for glassware or staff knowledge from the available data, but the wine selection itself earns respect. If you know your Nebbiolo from your Barbera, this list rewards attention.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Seafood
Mina's Fish House isn't building a wine program — it's building a dessert wine moment, and that is a genuinely uncommon thing to find at a restaurant of this profile. If you're eating dinner here, you'll need to source your table wine elsewhere on the menu or order cocktails; this list doesn't cover that ground. But if you want to close out a Four Seasons meal in Honolulu with a glass of 2013 Tokaji Aszú or something out of the Madeira cellar, this is a quietly excellent place to do it.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian
Quiora isn't trying to be a wine destination, and it doesn't need to be — it's a 22-label Italian restaurant list on a rooftop in Waikiki with an ocean view doing the heavy lifting. But the list is genuinely considered, the glass-pour selection is deep for the size, and pricing is fair by hotel standards. If you're eating here, drink the Tintero rosato or the Selbach Riesling and enjoy the sunset.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian / Californian Coastal
Botanico is doing something genuinely unusual for Waikiki — building an Italian-forward wine list with real regional depth and mostly fair pricing in a place where restaurants routinely treat wine as an afterthought. The by-the-glass program alone is worth a seat at the bar. If you care at all about what's in your glass, this belongs on your radar.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Hawaii Regional
Moku Nui is a casual Hawaii Regional spot that has no business running a wine list this thoughtful — and we mean that as high praise. Fair glass prices, a sommelier clearly making intentional choices, and enough variety to reward the curious drinker. If you're eating here, skip the default beer order and let someone at the table order the Vouvray.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Seafood
Azure is a genuinely lovely place to drink wine — the setting does a lot of heavy lifting and the France-Italy-Hawaii focus is a sensible match for the island seafood menu. Just go in knowing resort markup is real, and if the tasting menu with wine pairing is available, that's likely your best shot at getting something memorable poured without having to guess blind from the list.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Washington · Washington · Steak House
A 20-wine by-the-glass list with every pour between $14 and $30, split across four sparkling, six white, two rosé and eight red. With a steak, start with the $26 Clos Duval Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or the $22 Monte Antico Supremus; for the cheapest glass, take the $14 Dr. Loosen Riesling. Pour sizes aren't posted and the page is undated, so confirm today's wines. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Chicago Loop · Chicago · Steak House
A Napa-leaning Cabernet list with a Library & Reserve section that reaches 3,098 and glass pours from $13.99 to $49.99. Start with the $15.99 Broadbent Cabernet by the glass, or the $41.99 Stag's Leap Artemis if the ribeye is on the table, and confirm current availability since the list does not guarantee vintages. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Union Square · San Francisco · Steak House
A glass list that does the steakhouse job: 36 pours, a tidy Napa Cabernet set and prices from $13. Order the $15 Beringer Cabernet with your steak, or the $14 Guado Al Tasso Vermentino if you are starting with seafood, and confirm availability since the page is undated and Morton's says pricing may vary. This unrated guide covers the posted glass list, not service, storage or markups.
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