Steak Is The Star, Wine Is An Afterthought
North Topeka · Topeka · Steakhouse
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 2, 2026
RagingWine reviewed LongHorn Steakhouse – North Topeka’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list here reads like a greatest hits album you've heard a thousand times — Decoy, Meiomi, Kendall-Jackson, La Marca. It's not offensive, but it's not trying either. This is a list built for people who want something familiar to wash down a ribeye, not for anyone chasing something interesting.
Thirty to fifty bottles sounds like a range, but when the producers skew almost entirely toward high-volume California and Washington labels, the number stops mattering. Decoy Cab and Meiomi Pinot are grocery store staples — reliable, mass-produced, and priced here well above what you'd pay at Total Wine. There's a nod to Italy with La Marca Prosecco, but that's more of a toast option than a serious wine play. No old-world depth, no regional surprises, nothing that suggests anyone with real wine knowledge assembled this list.
Ten to sixteen pours sounds generous until you realize they're mostly the same names rotating between glass and bottle. At $8–$15 a glass, you're paying mid-tier restaurant prices for supermarket wine, which is a deal that only works in LongHorn's favor. Rotation appears nonexistent — what's on the list today is almost certainly what's been on the list for a while.
Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon — $12
If you're going to drink from this list, the Decoy Cab is at least a wine with some structure behind it — it holds up against a fatty ribeye better than anything else on offer here.
La Marca Prosecco
Nobody comes to a Western steakhouse for bubbles, but ordering a glass of La Marca before your steak lands is actually a decent move — it's light, it cuts through early app grease, and it's a lower-stakes spend than committing to a full bottle of red.
Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay
KJ Chardonnay retails for around $14 a bottle. Whatever they're charging per glass here makes the math ugly fast, and it's a buttery, oak-forward pour that doesn't do much for a steakhouse menu.
Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon + Outlaw Ribeye
Decoy Cab is a soft, fruit-forward California red — not a complex wine, but the dark fruit and mild tannins work against the fat and char on a ribeye without fighting it.
The Bottom Line
LongHorn's wine program exists to check a box, not to enhance your dinner. Order the steak, skip the wine list, and if someone insists, point them to the Decoy Cab and move on.
· Topeka · French
Chez Yasu clearly puts its energy into the kitchen, not the cellar — but two grocery-store wines at a notable markup is not a wine program, it's an oversight. Order water, order a cocktail, or call ahead and ask about corkage.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Topeka · American Bar & Grill
Blue Moose isn't here for wine, and wine isn't here for Blue Moose. Order a local draft and call it a day — but if you absolutely need a glass, reach for the La Vieille Ferme Rosé and manage your expectations accordingly.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West Topeka / Wanamaker Corridor · Topeka · Tex-Mex
Jose Pepper's is a great spot for a frozen margarita and a chimichanga — the wine list just isn't why you're here, and it knows it. Order the cocktails and don't look back.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Topeka · Topeka · Italian
The wine list at Olive Garden East Topeka is a corporate document, not a wine program — marked up steeply on bottles that deserve no such confidence. Order a cocktail, split a bottle of the house Chianti if you must, and save your wine curiosity for literally anywhere else in Topeka.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West/Central Topeka · Topeka · Italian
The wine list exists because every Italian restaurant has to have one — not because anyone here is passionate about it. Drink the Cavit, enjoy the unlimited breadsticks, and save the serious wine drinking for somewhere else.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
South Topeka · Topeka · Seafood
Red Lobster's wine list is exactly what you'd expect from a national chain that treats wine as an afterthought — familiar names, steep markups, zero curation. Order the Riesling, enjoy the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and don't come here looking for a wine moment.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Jose · Steakhouse
The Capital Grille San Jose is a reliable but unambitious wine program — it stocks the bottles a Napa-loving business dinner crowd expects and prices them accordingly. If you're looking for discovery or value, you won't find much here; if you need a solid Cab to go with a dry-aged steak and you're on someone else's tab, it does the job.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sandy Springs · Steakhouse
Kevin Rathbun Steak's by-the-glass program is a legitimate effort in a category — steakhouses — where most restaurants phone it in. The pricing skews steep at the top end and there's no evidence of active wine events or rotation keeping things fresh, but the range is real and a few picks like the Long-Depaquit Chablis and Lachini Pinot Noir punch above their weight. Come for the steak, but don't just default to the house Cab — there's more here if you look.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Jose · Steakhouse
Mastro's San Jose is showing us a very specific slice of its wine program — a Judgment of Paris throwback dinner built around two of Napa's most iconic names. It's a fun concept and the selections are legitimate, but we don't have enough visibility into the everyday list to give this a full endorsement as a wine destination. Come for the event if you can get a seat; for a regular Tuesday steak night, the wine picture is still fuzzy.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
List Variety
Markup
Glassware
Staff
Specials & Deals
Storage & Temp
