Château Rayas in Arkansas? We're in.
Downtown Fayetteville · Fayetteville · Mexican · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 13, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Tula’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You walk into a Mexican small-plates spot in downtown Fayetteville and the wine list drops Château Rayas and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti on you. That's not a mistake — that's a statement. Tula is not here to play it safe, and the 120-label list makes that clear before you've touched the chips.
The list leans hard into Rhône Valley, Napa, and Burgundy — a trio that feels ambitious for any restaurant, let alone one serving cochinita pibil in Arkansas. Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Screaming Eagle sitting on the same list as Duckhorn and La Crema tells you this program is trying to serve multiple masters: the serious collector and the table ordering margaritas. The depth is real and the curation shows a sommelier's hand, but the everyday bottles — your Meiomis and Josh Cellars — drag the overall list quality down a notch. The high end is genuinely exciting; the mid-tier is where the list loses its nerve.
Eighteen options by the glass is a serious pour program for any restaurant, and the $10–$22 range covers enough ground to let you explore without committing to a bottle. We'd love to see more of the Rhône and Burgundy depth translated into the glass program — right now it skews toward familiar crowd-pleasers. That said, Wednesday's half-price bottle deal makes the full list suddenly very accessible, and that changes the math entirely.
Duckhorn Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 — $95
At 90% over retail, this is actually the fairest markup on the list — which tells you something about Tula's pricing overall. Duckhorn at $95 is still a splurge, but you're getting a legitimate Napa Cab that holds its own, and on Wednesday nights that becomes $47.50, which is close to a steal.
Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Most tables here are ordering Malbec and Meiomi without scrolling far enough to find one of the most legendary producers in the Rhône Valley. Rayas is notoriously allocated and hard to find on any list outside of serious wine destinations — the fact that it's sitting on a Mexican restaurant menu in Fayetteville is wild, and you should take advantage of it.
Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
At $38 for a bottle that retails at $14, you're paying a 171% markup on a wine that's fine — just fine. This is grocery store Cab dressed up in a restaurant price tag. With Duckhorn and Screaming Eagle on the same list, there is genuinely no reason to order this.
Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape + Lamb Neck Confit
Rayas is famously Grenache-forward — silky, earthy, with just enough iron and dried fruit to handle slow-cooked lamb without bullying it. The confit's richness needs a wine with complexity but not aggression, and Rayas threads that needle better than anything else on this list.
Wednesday — Half-price bottles of wine all night
The Bottom Line
Tula is what happens when a serious wine mind ends up inside a Mexican small-plates restaurant in a college town — it's unexpected, occasionally overpriced on the everyday stuff, but genuinely worth the trip for the top-shelf selections. Come on a Wednesday, order the Lamb Neck, and find the Rayas. You'll be talking about it for a while.
Uptown / Steele Crossing · Fayetteville · Upscale casual seafood and American grill
Bonefish Grill in Fayetteville is a perfectly competent chain wine experience — you won't be offended, but you won't be excited either. If you're here for the seafood and just want something cold and reasonable in your glass, it gets the job done; just don't expect the wine list to be the reason you come back.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North College Avenue · Fayetteville · Steakhouse / American
Texas Roadhouse is a perfectly fine place to eat a steak and drink a beer or a frozen margarita — that is what it was built for. The wine list is an afterthought bolted onto a concept that does not need it, and you should treat it accordingly.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North College Avenue · Fayetteville · Italian / Pizzeria
Bocca isn't trying to be a wine destination, and the list makes no pretense otherwise — but it's priced fairly, it's Italian through and through, and it does exactly what a neighborhood pizzeria wine list should do. Send your friends here for dinner, not for a wine education.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown / Dickson Street · Fayetteville · Lounge / Wine & Cocktail Bar
Theo's is the rare Fayetteville spot where you can order wine without second-guessing yourself — the list is small, honest, and fairly priced for what it is. Send your friends here for a date night; just don't expect them to come back with a wine education.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North College Avenue · Fayetteville · Modern Ozark / Contemporary American
Mockingbird Kitchen is a reliable neighborhood dinner spot where the wine list does its job without embarrassing anyone. Come for the food, drink what's in front of you, and don't expect a revelation in the glass.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East of Fayetteville · Fayetteville · Winery / Event Venue
Sassafras Springs is not a destination for serious wine hunters, but it's absolutely a destination — a genuinely pleasant Arkansas vineyard making real wines at real prices in a setting that earns its reputation. Send your friends out on a Wednesday and tell them to order the Syrah.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Vail Village · Vail · Mexican
Los Amigos is a Vail institution built on margaritas, mountain vibes, and nachos — and it delivers all three with confidence. The wine list is clearly not the point, and if you order off it expecting more than a simple, overpriced pour to wash down your tacos, that's on you.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
13th Street area · Hood River · Mexican
Hood River Taqueria is here for the tacos and the margaritas, and that's completely fine — but the wine list is an afterthought and everyone involved knows it. Order the cocktails, leave the wine to restaurants that care.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Uptown Sedona · Sedona · Mexican
Oaxaca isn't a wine destination, and it doesn't pretend to be — come for the rooftop patio, the margaritas, and the chile verde. But the list is priced fairly, the Torres and Ste. Michelle picks are dependable, and you won't regret a glass of Rioja with your enchiladas.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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