Olive Garden

The wine list at Olive Garden Charleston arrives looking exactly like what it is: a laminated afterthought tucked behind the pasta menu. Seventeen labels, almost all of them brands you'd walk past at a grocery store. Nobody here is pretending this is something it isn't — and that's both the honesty and the problem.

The list skews heavily sweet and safe, with three Moscato options alone competing for the same sugar-seeking diner. There's a thin nod to Italy with the Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico, which is genuinely the most interesting bottle on the menu, and everything else is American mass-market or New World crowd-pleaser territory. No Barolo, no Brunello, no Vermentino — nothing that would make you feel like you're actually drinking Italian wine at an Italian restaurant. The geographic range is mostly an illusion: Italy shows up in name, but Sutter Home and Beringer are doing the heavy lifting.

Fourteen of seventeen labels are available by the glass, which sounds generous until you realize the list itself is only seventeen bottles. The pours skew toward entry-level comfort wines — Cavit Pinot Grigio, Meiomi Pinot Noir, Confetti Sweet Pink Moscato — nothing you'd seek out, but nothing offensive if you just need something wet in a glass. Rotation appears nonexistent; this list reads like it hasn't changed since the Never Ending Pasta Bowl launched.