Outback Steakhouse – Sioux Falls

The wine list at Outback Sioux Falls is exactly what you'd expect from a chain that built its identity around a blooming onion and a fake Australian accent — safe, predictable, and designed to move volume rather than inspire. Flip past the cocktail pages and you're greeted by a lineup of mainstream California labels and a couple of international ringers that do the job without ever doing anything interesting. There's no local angle, no seasonal rotation, no sign that anyone thought hard about this.

The list leans heavily on workhorse California producers — house Chardonnay, house Merlot, and Clos du Bois Sauvignon Blanc covering the easy-drinking crowd — with a nod to Argentina via Alamos Malbec and a house-labeled Australian Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon blended by Mollydooker, which is genuinely the most interesting thing happening here. Mollydooker is a legitimate South Australian producer, so the Kangaroo Court blend has real bones behind it, even if it's been softened and branded for a casual chain audience. Beyond that, there are no esoteric regions, no small producers, no old-world depth to speak of. What you see is what you get, and what you get is a list that was assembled by a corporate committee, not a wine person.

There are somewhere between 10 and 15 pours available by the glass, which sounds generous until you realize most of them are the same mainstream suspects you can grab at a grocery store. Rotation is essentially nonexistent — this is a set-and-forget program that hasn't been rethought in years. If you're going glass pours, the Alamos Malbec is probably your best move; everything else trends toward filler.