Nine Bottles and a Lot of Nerve
· San Diego · Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 17, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Morton's The Steakhouse San Diego’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
Nine wines. That's the list. At one of the most recognizable steakhouse chains in America, in a city with a thriving wine culture, Morton's San Diego hands you nine bottles and calls it a wine program. The list reads like someone picked their favorites from a BevMo endcap and never looked back.
The nine bottles skew heavily Californian and heavily Cabernet — three Cabs on a nine-bottle list is a choice, though not a particularly interesting one. Rombauer shows up twice (Chardonnay and Cab), which feels more like a volume deal than curation. There's a token Sauvignon Blanc in La Belle Citadelle, a Merry Edwards Pinot for the one person at the table who won't eat red meat, and Northstar Merlot holding down the mid-tier. No international bottles, no aged options, no half-bottles — just a narrow lane of crowd-friendly California labels that are reliable precisely because they never surprise anyone.
We couldn't confirm any by-the-glass program from available data, which is not a great sign for a steakhouse charging steakhouse prices. If you're rolling in solo or just want a glass with your wedge salad, the silence on this front is telling. Call ahead if that matters to you.
The Bottom Line
Morton's San Diego is spending more energy on the wedge salad than the wine list, and it shows. Come for the steak, order carefully, and don't expect much beyond the obvious.
· San Diego · Steakhouse
Greystone is a reliable, if predictable, steakhouse wine list — the kind where you can always find something decent but you'll rarely be surprised. Skip the Opus splurge, order the Paradigm, and you'll walk out satisfied.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Diego · Coastal Italian / Seafood
Garibaldi is the kind of place that restores your faith in restaurant wine lists — a coastal Italian concept that completely rejects the expected and builds something genuinely curious around the Mediterranean's underdog regions. Send your adventurous friends here and tell them to skip the Chardonnay.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Diego · Coastal New American / Rooftop
Birdseye is a rooftop bar that happens to have wine, not a wine destination that happens to have a rooftop. Drink the view, order a cocktail, and if you must order wine, go Cava or Miraval and call it a day.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
San Diego · San Diego · Steakhouse
Fleming's San Diego is a reliable if unambitious wine destination — the sheer volume of by-the-glass options earns it real points, but the markups and chain-wide uniformity keep it firmly out of must-visit territory. Go for the steak, order smarter than the table expects, and keep your eyes on the lower half of the price list.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Diego · New American
Paradisaea's wine list punches well above what you'd expect from a San Diego New American — eclectic without being pretentious, fairly priced without being cheap. We'd send a wine-curious friend here and tell them to skip the obvious bottles and dig into the Italian section.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Diego · Italian
Allegro's wine list isn't trying to impress anyone, and that's not a knock — it's a focused, fairly priced selection that does exactly what a brunch Italian spot needs it to do. Send a friend here for bubbles and a mid-afternoon white; just don't expect to geek out over the reds.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Anaheim · Steakhouse
Fleming's Anaheim is a chain doing the wine bar thing earnestly — 42 by-the-glass options and a few genuinely interesting bottles buried in a mostly crowd-pleasing list. Markups run steep, but if you know where to look, you can drink well here without overpaying.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
San Francisco · San Francisco · Steakhouse
Izzy's is doing something quietly ambitious with a 20-bottle all-by-the-glass format that skews curious instead of predictable. If you're the person at the table who's bored by the standard steakhouse pour, this list has your back.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Boston · Steakhouse
STK Boston has the square footage, the lighting, and the noise level of a place that should have a serious wine program — instead it has 142 labels of stuff you've already tried. Order a cocktail, or pick the most interesting bottle you can find and move on.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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