Small-Town Wisconsin Hiding Serious Italian Firepower
Elkhart Lake · Elkhart Lake · American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 9, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Lake Street Café’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You're in a lakeside Wisconsin town best known for vintage racing, and the wine list opens with Gaja Barbaresco and Antinori Tignanello — that's not something you see coming. For a room with a 'fun and friendly' vibe, the list punches well above its weight class. Wine Spectator has been handing this place a Best of Award of Excellence since 2016, and it starts to make sense fast.
The 200-350 bottle list leans hard into California and Italy, and does both with conviction. On the California side, you've got the expected crowd-pleasers — Caymus, Jordan, Silver Oak Alexander Valley — but also Stag's Leap and Duckhorn for people who want to go a level deeper. Italy is where it gets genuinely interesting: Tignanello, Gaja Barbaresco, Marchesi di Barolo, and Banfi Brunello di Montalcino represent serious producers that most restaurants in Wisconsin aren't even attempting to carry. The gaps are real — don't come hunting for Burgundy, Rhône, or anything resembling natural wine — but what's here is focused and executed well.
Somewhere between 12 and 20 options by the glass, priced $10–$18, which is reasonable without being exciting. The range likely mirrors the bottle list's California-Italy axis, giving you solid options without much adventure. No evidence of a rotation program, so what you see is probably what you always get — consistent, if a little static.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon — $40–$60 range
Jordan is a benchmark Alexander Valley Cab that consistently overdelivers for its price tier — elegant, not overwrought, and a natural match for the Prime Beef Tenderloin. If the markup stays in their fair range, this is the bottle we'd order without hesitation.
Marchesi di Barolo Barolo
Most tables at a lakeside American café are reaching for the Caymus. Walk right past it and order this. Barolo needs time and the right food — and the Prime Beef Tenderloin or Roasted Duck here is exactly that food. It's the most interesting wine on the list that the fewest people will order.
Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon
Caymus is everywhere, marked up aggressively everywhere, and designed for people who want to spend money without taking any risks. With Stag's Leap and Silver Oak on the same list, there's no reason to default to the most recognizable label in the room.
Antinori Tignanello + Prime Beef Tenderloin
Tignanello is a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend with the structure to stand up to beef and the acidity to cut through it. It's one of central Italy's most iconic bottles, and paired against a properly cooked tenderloin, it's the kind of combination that makes a lakeside Wisconsin dinner feel like a special occasion.
The Bottom Line
Lake Street Café is a genuine surprise in the best way — a casual-feeling room in a small Wisconsin town that's quietly stocking Gaja and Tignanello and earning its Wine Spectator hardware year after year. If you're passing through Elkhart Lake, eat here, drink the Italian side of the list, and recalibrate your expectations for small-town wine programs.
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Solid Range
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