Shogun Hibachi & Sushi

Eleven bottles, all California, all names you've seen in the grocery store checkout line. The wine list here reads less like a curated program and more like someone grabbed whatever was on sale at Costco and called it a day. It's not offensive — it's just completely uninspired.

The entire list is a California greatest-hits package from the late 1990s: Kendall-Jackson, Robert Mondavi Coastal, Hess Select, J Lohr, Rodney Strong, and Beringer White Zin making a deeply unwelcome cameo. There's no regional diversity, no attempt at anything remotely interesting, and zero effort to match the wine program to the actual food being served — which, to be fair, is dramatic hibachi theater that deserves something more exciting than Black Stone Merlot. The list tops out at 11 labels with zero bottles above $44, which sounds budget-friendly until you check retail prices and realize the markups aren't doing you any favors.

All 11 bottles are available by the glass, which technically makes this an all-BTG list — but when the list itself is this shallow, that's not a win. Pours run $8 to $14.50, with Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio hitting the ceiling at $14.50 a glass, a price point that strains credibility for what amounts to a perfectly adequate but unremarkable Italian white.