Napa-heavy and Wednesday is your best friend
Bath / Ghent · Akron · Upscale American / Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 29, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Walk into Ken Stewart's Lodge and the wine list feels exactly like the room: wood-paneled, handsome, and built for someone who orders a ribeye without looking at the price. It's a proper list — 150-plus bottles with real depth — and it earns its place in what is otherwise a pretty thin dining landscape for wine in the Akron area. The California bias is immediate and unapologetic.
Napa and Sonoma do the heavy lifting here, with Bordeaux making a respectable cameo and Oregon showing up just enough to prove someone on staff knows Willamette exists. The anchor producers — Duckhorn, Stag's Leap, Cakebread — are crowd-pleasing and bankable, which is exactly what a steakhouse clientele wants. What the list lacks is any real sense of adventure: no natural pours, no off-the-radar regions, nothing that would make a wine nerd do a double-take. It's a greatest-hits list, executed competently.
Somewhere between 12 and 20 options by the glass, which is a solid spread for a place like this — enough to navigate a table with mixed preferences without forcing a bottle commitment. The pours skew predictable (Meiomi Pinot Noir is doing its usual work on every steakhouse list in America), but the range covers the bases. No evidence of a serious rotation program, so don't expect anything too surprising to show up mid-season.
Duckhorn Merlot, Napa Valley — Half price on Wednesdays
Duckhorn Merlot at full price is already a fair pour for what's in the glass — it's structured, serious Napa Merlot that earns its spot. On Wine Down Wednesday, where bottles under $100 go half price, this becomes genuinely hard to beat. Plan your visit accordingly.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Most people at a steakhouse grab whatever Cab they recognize first, but Stag's Leap has actual pedigree — this is the winery that put Napa on the map at the 1976 Paris Tasting. In a lineup of safe choices, it's the one with a real story behind it, and the wine drinks like it.
Meiomi Pinot Noir, California
Nothing wrong with Meiomi as a brand, but you're paying steakhouse markup on a wine you can grab at any grocery store for $15. There's no reason to order this here when the rest of the list has more interesting options at similar or better value.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley + Prime Ribeye
Classic for a reason. The Cab's dark fruit and firm structure cut right through the fat on a well-marbled ribeye, and Stag's Leap has enough polish to not feel like you're just reaching for the obvious move — even if you kind of are.
Wednesday — Wine Down Wednesday: bottles up to $99 are half price; bottles $100 and over are 30% off. Valid at both lunch and dinner.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Ken Stewart's Lodge isn't here to challenge you — it's here to make sure your Napa Cab and your dry-aged steak show up exactly when you want them. Come on a Wednesday, order something from the Stag's Leap end of the list, and you'll leave happy.
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
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Solid Range
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Basic Stemmed
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Crowd Pleasers
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Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Crowd Pleasers
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Willing but Green
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Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.