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 →
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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.
Hotel Maverick / Horizon Area · Grand Junction · Bar / Lounge / Bottle Service
Devil's Kitchen is a genuine Wild Card — a hotel bar with a wine list that actually tried, anchored by local Colorado producers you won't find anywhere else and backed up by some smart Old World picks. Pricing data wasn't available to confirm fair value, but if the markups are reasonable, this is the best wine story in Grand Junction.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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
The wine list at Olive Garden Grand Junction is a corporate afterthought dressed up in Italian branding — fair prices save it from being a total disaster, but there's no ambition, no discovery, and no reason to think hard about what you order. Stick with the Chianti, enjoy the breadsticks, and save your wine curiosity for somewhere that earned it.
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
Downtown / Spalding Hall · Bardstown · Steakhouse / American
The Rickhouse is a perfectly competent steakhouse wine list doing exactly what a steakhouse wine list in bourbon country is supposed to do — familiar names, heavy pours, and enough bottles to keep the table happy. Just go in knowing you're paying for the atmosphere and the ambiance of that historic cellar as much as what's in the glass.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Durango · Steakhouse / American
Ore House delivers a competent, Napa-centric wine list that matches the room and the menu without much ambition beyond that — the markups sting on the trophy bottles, but there are a few smart finds if you know where to look. Send a friend here for steak and the Eroica Riesling; tell them to skip the Silver Oak.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
North Atherton · State College · Steakhouse / American
Texas Roadhouse is not a wine destination and makes no pretense of being one — the food is the point, and the wine list is a legal obligation. Order a beer, enjoy the rolls, and save your wine curiosity for somewhere that earned it.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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