Justine's Wine Bar

"The fun, campy decor and interesting wine list are reasons we like hanging out at Justine’s, but the great vegan, Italian-leaning menu is why you should spend a full night here. This Frogtown wine bar does delicious plant-based spins on red sauce classics, like a basil-heavy Sunday lasagna, a spaghetti with juicy vegan meatballs, and oyster mushroom “calamari” that’s better than most restaurant squid in town. The owner also runs Just What I Kneaded (a vegan bakery we love), so leave room for whatever dessert is in rotation." - sylvio martins, garrett snyder

"It was a great day to be vegan in Los Angeles when Justine Hernandez opened Justine’s Wine Bar right next to her popular vegan bakery, Just What I Kneaded. The menu offers drinking fare including Moroccan cigars and pizza to pair with the wine, beer, and wine cocktails. Even better: The interior’s bubble-gum pink chairs, floral murals on the wall, and Art Deco-style checkered flooring make it more than worth the visit for design die-hards, too." - Mona Holmes, Rebecca Roland

"Many wine bars think they’re cool because they book DJs and attract micro-influencers who drink pet-nat like juice. Justine’s in Frogtown is cool because it’s unlike anything else we’ve come across. This kooky, psychedelic wine bar does a good job of shutting out the outside world. Walls are decorated with murals of blue goddesses, soothing dream pop echoes from the speakers, and this oddly hypnotizing orb of light glows from behind the bar. We should also mention that the natural wine selection is great, as is the vegan Italian-leaning menu. Show up, lean into the plush velvet booths, and snack on mushroom calamari as you enjoy a bottle of chilled red. " - nikko duren, brant cox, arden shore, sylvio martins

"Justine’s is a campy wine bar, listening party, and (vegan) Italian restaurant rolled into one. On busy nights, this Frogtown spot is packed with fashionable people holding tiny designer bags in one hand and a glass of Austrian orange in the other. Still, it’s more of a hangout spot than a “chug pet-nat and be seen” kind of place. Dates and friends sink into velvet booths, dream pop trickles from the vintage sound system, and everyone blurs away in this colorful, dimly lit room. Great ambiance aside, the plant-based red sauce Italian menu is why we'd gladly spend a night here eating crispy mushroom calamari and the saucy Sunday-only lasagna. " - brant cox, sylvio martins

"A night at Justine’s tells your date that you have interesting taste. This kooky, psychedelic wine bar in Frogtown is unlike anything else in town, with murals of blue goddesses, soothing dream pop echoing from the speakers, and an oddly hypnotizing orb of light behind the bar. It’s somewhere you can sink into a velvet booth and feel so relaxed you won’t worry about running out of talking points.  And it also won’t hurt if you order a bottle of chilled red and delicious vegan snacks, like mushroom calamari that’s a spot-on clone of the real thing." - nikko duren, sylvio martins