Justine’s Wine Bar

Compared to the standard wine bar, this Frogtown spot looks and feels like it exists on another planet. The lighting fixtures are made of porous rock, there’s a hypnotic, glowing orb behind the bar, and cool people sink into velvet booths as the Cocteau Twins mumble in the background. That's another way of saying it's fun and kooky in here, and that you won't be relegated to nursing sad bowls of olives or listening to a somm talk to you like you're a baby eating their first grape. In addition to good natural wine, their menu has vegan, Italian-leaning food. Think small pizzas, a Sunday-only lasagna, and fried oyster mushroom calamari with marinara for dipping. The owner also runs Just What I Kneaded, so you can be sure the team knows what they're doing with an oven. Pizza crusts come out crackly around the edges and spongy at the bottom–our favorite is the sausage and ricotta pie with a little tang from the plant-based cheese.