Lakeland's Italian Wine Anchor Does Not Disappoint
Lakeland · Lakeland · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 27, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Palace Southside’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
Walk into Palace Southside and the wine list feels like it was built by someone who actually loves Italian wine — not just someone who called a distributor and said 'give me the usual.' The Ospitalità Italiana certification hanging in the background tells you this place takes the Italian thing seriously, and the list backs that up. For Lakeland, Florida, this is a genuinely pleasant surprise.
The list runs 150-plus bottles and stays almost entirely Italian, which is exactly the right call for a place like this. You've got the heavy hitters covered — Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone della Valpolicella — alongside more approachable entry points like Gavi di Gavi, Pinot Grigio delle Venezie, and Chianti Classico Riserva. Super Tuscans make an appearance too, which rounds out the premium tier nicely. What's missing is a broader reach into lesser-known Italian regions — a Nerello Mascalese from Etna or a Sagrantino from Umbria would push this from solid to exceptional.
Somewhere between 12 and 20 options by the glass is a respectable number, and in an Italian-focused program that likely means you can work your way through multiple regions without committing to a bottle. The glass program appears consistent rather than rotating, so don't expect seasonal surprises — but reliable is not nothing.
Chianti Classico Riserva — $45
Chianti Classico Riserva at the lower end of their bottle pricing is where you want to be. It's a wine that regularly commands $50-70 at comparable restaurants, and it plays well with everything on a handcrafted pizza menu.
Gavi di Gavi
Most tables at an Italian restaurant default to Pinot Grigio and never look up. Gavi di Gavi is the smarter white — more texture, more regional character, and it cuts through rich, cheesy pizza in a way that generic Grigio just doesn't.
Amarone della Valpolicella
Amarone is spectacular wine, but at a pizza-forward Italian spot, it's a mismatch waiting to happen. It's also the most likely bottle on this list to carry a steep markup given its prestige — you'll spend top dollar on a wine that's begging for a braise, not a Margherita.
Barolo + Handcrafted pizza with cured meats
Barolo's firm tannins and dried cherry core actually hold up beautifully against the salt and fat of cured meats on pizza — it's an unconventional move that works, and ordering Barolo at a neighborhood Italian spot is exactly the kind of thing this list was built for.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Palace Southside has earned its Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, and in the context of Lakeland, it's the best Italian wine list in the area without much competition. Send your friends here — just steer them away from the Amarone and toward the Barolo.
South Lakeland · Lakeland · Italian Chef's Table
Scarpa's is doing more with wine than most of Lakeland, and the Italian selections show genuine care. Markups on the prestige bottles get steep fast, but lean toward the house Brunello and the overlooked Italian producers and you'll eat and drink well.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
South Lakeland · Lakeland · Italian Bar
Scarpa's is doing something genuinely unusual for its market — a curated, Italy-forward list with real producers that you'd be happy to find in a major city wine bar. The markups on the top shelf are steep, but the depth of the by-the-glass program and the presence of names like Produttori and Ridge mean there's value hiding in this list if you know where to look.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Lakeland · Lakeland · Seafood
Red Lobster's wine list does its job in the narrowest possible sense — it gives people something to drink. But there's no value play here, no curiosity, no effort. Order the cocktail or a beer and spend your wine money somewhere that earned it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
South Lakeland · Lakeland · Italian
Carrabba's isn't where you go to discover wine, but it's where you go to drink something decent without getting ripped off. Send a friend here if they want a familiar Italian night with a glass that makes sense — just steer them toward the Italian side of the list.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Lakeland · Lakeland · Steakhouse
Come for the steak, order whatever beer they have on draft, and save the wine conversation for somewhere else. LongHorn isn't pretending to be a wine destination, and at least the prices reflect that — but the list has the ambition of a footnote.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Lakeland · Lakeland · Italian-American
Olive Garden is not a wine destination and never claimed to be — the wine list exists to generate margin, not to inspire. Order the Chianti, enjoy the breadsticks, and save the serious bottle for another night.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West Sedona · Sedona · Italian
Bella Vita isn't a destination wine list, but it's a respectable one — fairly priced, Italian-forward, with enough smart choices to reward the curious diner. If you're in Sedona and want honest Italian food with a glass of Chianti Classico that won't cost you a red rock tour, this is your spot.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Kenwood · Sonoma · Italian
Stella is doing more with 31 bottles than most restaurants do with 100 — the picks are local, specific, and occasionally genuinely exciting. The markups are real and the list has blind spots, but if you're eating in Kenwood wine country and want something worth thinking about in your glass, this earns a seat at the table.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Midtown / Highway 50 · South Lake Tahoe · Italian
Izabella is a dependable wine play for a mountain-town Italian dinner — the glass selection is genuinely broad and the marquee bottles are there if you want them, but the markups are Tahoe-elevated and the list doesn't take many risks. Send your friends here for a solid Cab and a good meal, not a wine discovery.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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