Spencer's for Steaks and Chops

Walking into Spencer's — tucked inside the Hilton Salt Lake City Center — you get the full steakhouse treatment: dark wood, white tablecloths, and a wine list thick enough to use as a doorstop. At 300-500 selections, this is one of the more serious wine programs in Salt Lake City, and it knows it. The American-heavy focus makes sense for the room, even if it limits the adventure.

The list leans hard into Napa and Sonoma, which is exactly what the prime ribeye crowd wants, and Spencer's delivers that reliably. You'll find names like Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Far Niente Chardonnay anchoring the California side, with some welcome detours into German Riesling via producers like Forge Cellars and Bex. France and New Zealand make appearances, but don't expect a deep Old World rabbit hole — this list is built for people who know what they like, not for people hunting obscure producers. The gaps are real: no meaningful Italian presence, thin on Rhône, and the Southern Hemisphere beyond New Zealand is largely absent.

The by-the-glass program runs 20-35 options, which is genuinely generous for a steakhouse of this size and gives casual diners real flexibility without committing to a bottle. Quality skews toward the recognizable rather than the interesting — you're more likely to find a crowd-pleasing California Chardonnay than anything that'll make you stop mid-sip. Rotation appears limited, so don't expect seasonal surprises.