Prime Rib Deserves Better Than This
North Avenue Corridor · Grand Junction · Steakhouse / American
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 17, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Wendy's GJ Chop House & Grill’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
You open the menu expecting something that matches the chop house ambition and instead find a wine list that looks like the bottom shelf of a gas station cooler. Barefoot and Yellow Tail headline the show — not as a budget option alongside better bottles, but as the entire program. It's the kind of list that makes you seriously consider just ordering a beer.
The full list runs somewhere between 10 and 20 bottles, which sounds modest but still somehow feels padded given that it's essentially two brands doing all the heavy lifting. Barefoot covers the white end (Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay) while Yellow Tail handles the reds (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz). There are no regional distinctions worth discussing, no vintage variation, no producers with any story to tell. For a steakhouse serving ribeyes and prime rib, the absence of anything resembling a proper Cabernet or even a mid-tier Malbec is a real miss.
Six to ten pours by the glass, which is a reasonable count — the problem is they're all drawn from the same shallow pool. At $7–$11 a glass for wines that retail under $7 a bottle, the math does not flatter the house. There's no rotation happening here; what you see today is what you'll see next month.
Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon NV — $26
If you're drinking wine here, this is your least-bad call with a steak. It's still a 271% markup on a $7 bottle, but at least the Cab has enough body to stand up to a ribeye without getting completely embarrassed.
Yellow Tail Shiraz NV
Nobody comes to a Colorado chop house expecting Australian Shiraz, but the fruit-forward, slightly smoky profile actually holds its own against chicken fried steak in a way that the Merlot simply doesn't. Low bar, but it clears it.
Barefoot Moscato NV
A $24 bottle of Barefoot Moscato at a steakhouse is a crime against both wine and beef. You're paying 300% over retail for something sweet, fizzy-adjacent, and completely out of place at a table with prime rib. Hard pass.
Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon NV + Ribeye Steak
It's not a great pairing — it's the only pairing. The Cab's dark fruit and modest tannins at least gesture in the direction of what a ribeye needs from a red wine. Everything else on this list is worse for the job.
❌ The Bottom Line
Wendy's GJ Chop House cooks a solid steak, but the wine list is an afterthought dressed up with a 300% markup. Order your bourbon neat and save the wine budget for somewhere that cares.
North Avenue · Grand Junction · American
We're not here to pile on a chain restaurant — Applebee's knows exactly what it is. But if wine matters to you even a little, order a cocktail and save your wine night for somewhere that's actually trying.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Mesa Mall / Rimrock Avenue · Grand Junction · Italian Chain
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Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Avenue / Highway 6 & 50 Junction · Grand Junction · Steakhouse
Outback Grand Junction isn't a wine destination — it was never trying to be — but the list is priced fairly, built around dependable producers, and broad enough that you won't be stuck ordering blind. Send a friend here for dinner? Yes. Send them specifically for the wine list? No, but they won't suffer.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Mesa Mall / Rimrock Avenue · Grand Junction · Steakhouse
The wine program at Texas Roadhouse Grand Junction exists to check a box, not to enhance your dinner. Order the steak, eat the bread, and if you need wine, grab the Cab — but don't come here expecting anyone to care about what's in your glass.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Patterson Road / Medical Center Area · Grand Junction · Gastropub / American
Come for the beer — seriously, come for the beer. The wine list is eight grocery-store bottles propped up by a Wednesday half-price deal that's the only real argument for ordering wine here at all.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
North Avenue Corridor · Grand Junction · Mexican
Tequila's is a solid neighborhood Mexican spot that simply doesn't care about wine, and that's fine — the margaritas are probably doing heavy lifting anyway. Come for the tacos, skip the wine list, and don't let the four Sutter Home options talk you out of a good time.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Livermore / I-580 Corridor · Livermore · Steakhouse / American
Cattlemens Livermore is exactly what it advertises — a solid steakhouse wine list that won't wow you but won't let you down either. Grab the Rodney Strong, order the ribeye, and leave the bottle hunting for somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Peach Street Corridor · Erie · Steakhouse / American
Texas Roadhouse is not a wine destination and makes no pretense of being one — the food is the draw and the wine list is an afterthought wearing a flannel shirt. Order a beer, a margarita, or just lean into the Woodbridge Cab and enjoy your steak.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Medford · Medford · Steakhouse / American
Texas Roadhouse is a fine place to eat a steak and watch a table of twelve celebrate a birthday — it is not a place to drink wine. Order a beer, enjoy the rolls, and save your wine budget for literally anywhere else in the Rogue Valley.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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