Champagne Dreams, Bare-Bones Reality
· Eau Claire · Italian & Mediterranean · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 10, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Mona Lisa's’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Mona Lisa's is short — 19 bottles total — and it wants badly to be a celebration destination. Half the list is Champagne, and not the modest kind: Dom Pérignon, Cristal, and Ace of Spades are all here, priced accordingly. The rest of the list feels like an afterthought.
Strip away the prestige bubbles and you've got about a dozen table wines that could have been assembled from a regional distributor's starter catalog. The reds lean on reliable-but-uninspiring names: Tempus Two Silver Cab at $160, Wolf Blass Maker's Project Pinot Noir at $280, and a Castello di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva that's the most interesting thing on the list. Whites are similarly safe — Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay, two Sauvignon Blancs, a Pinot Gris — with the lone bright spot being a Sébastien Dampt Chablis at $360 that at least shows someone was paying partial attention. There's no real Italian depth to speak of for a restaurant billing itself as Italian and Mediterranean, which is a glaring miss.
Two. Two by-the-glass options at $25 each, and we don't know what they are on any given night. For a restaurant with 19 bottles and a fine-dining price point, that's not a wine program — that's a wine afterthought. If you're not ordering a bottle, your options are effectively: take it or leave it.
Castello di Albola Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG — $340
It's the only bottle on the list with a genuine sense of place. Albola is a solid Chianti producer, and a Riserva DOCG at least earns its price tag better than the Wolf Blass at $280 does. In a list this thin, it's the clearest choice if you want to drink something that actually fits the restaurant's Italian identity.
Sébastien Dampt Chablis
Most people scanning this list will zoom straight to the Champagne section or default to something familiar. The Dampt Chablis is the one bottle that signals someone, somewhere, made a real choice. Dampt is a respected name in Chablis — mineral, precise, honest — and it sticks out like a sane person at a bottle-service party.
Torreslla Prosecco
Three hundred and twenty dollars for a Prosecco is a hard no. Prosecco is a casual, approachable sparkling wine that retails for under $20. The markup here is borderline absurd. If you're going to spend that kind of money on bubbles, at least step up to something that justifies the tab.
Sébastien Dampt Chablis + Seafood pasta or grilled fish
Given the Mediterranean menu positioning, there are almost certainly some seafood-forward dishes in the kitchen. Chablis — especially from a house like Dampt — is built for exactly that: clean acidity, saline minerality, no oak to fight the food. It's the most food-friendly bottle on the list by a wide margin.
The Bottom Line
Mona Lisa's wine list is a Champagne wall bolted onto a very thin foundation — great if you're popping Cristal for a birthday, but there's almost nothing to recommend for a normal dinner out. Order the Chablis or the Chianti and don't look too hard at anything else.
Water Street · Eau Claire · Pizzeria / Chain
This is not a wine program — it's a liability hedge so they can say they serve wine. Come for the pizza, order the beer.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Northside / Hwy 53 riverfront · Eau Claire · Supper club / American steakhouse
The Edge isn't going to win any awards for wine ambition, but it's honest, fairly priced, and perfectly calibrated for what it is — a classic supper club where the wine list supports the meal without getting in the way. Send a friend here for the prime rib, and tell them to order the Borgonero.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Northside / Oakwood Mall area · Eau Claire · Pizza / Italian
Johnny's Pizza Shop is a solid neighborhood pizza spot that treats wine as a beverage category, not a program. Come for the pizza, order a beer or a $10 glass of Mark West if you need wine, and save the serious bottle for the steakhouse next time.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Golf Road · Eau Claire · American casual, bar & grill, wood-fired steaks and burgers
Grizzly's wine list won't win any awards, but it's functional enough for a neighborhood grill where the real star is whatever's coming off the wood fire. Stick to the Trapiche or the Ruffino, take the $1 off at the bar during happy hour, and save your wine ambitions for somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Owen Ayres Court · Eau Claire · Italian Steakhouse
Johnny's is doing the most with a crowd-pleasing formula — 160 bottles, a Wine Spectator nod, and a list that won't offend anyone. Markups on the trophy bottles are hard to defend, but if you know where to look, there's a solid night of wine here for a reasonable bill.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Eau Claire · Eau Claire · Italian, Steakhouse
Johnny's isn't trying to reinvent the wine list — it's trying to make sure you drink well with your steak, and it succeeds. Send a friend here if they want reliable California pours at fair prices without having to think too hard about it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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