Pensacola’s Wine Bar owner Ian Kaple has unlocked the code for a winning restaurant—solid core menu, exciting weekly specials and a killer frosé that customers crave on hot summer days.
It worked for Palafox Street’s downtown location that he launched about 16 years ago, and again when he opened its sister, East Hill Wine Bar, over a year ago.
Now, Kaple is trying something different. He doesn’t want another Wine Bar. He wants just a bar, “Bar, Justa” to be exact.
“You can only have so many Wine Bars. The Wine Bars are great, but this is kind of just a bar. That’s all it needs to be,” Kaple said.
In his new sports bar-esque venue connected to his Baylen Street Bottle Shop retail store, he wants it to be as unpretentious as they come, filled with a hodgepodge of license plates, vintage PBR signs, and mementos on the walls that locals can fill up with their friends. The building even came with a Coca-Cola billboard dating back to the 1930s that Kaple proudly displays, fitting right in with the comfortable, lived-in feel he created with the new bar.
“I’ve got some PBR wooden signs from the ’50s that my father had, a couple of those. …We got a lot of memorabilia that my friends have donated and loaned,” Kaple said.
The refreshing thing for Kaple is that he doesn’t have grandiose plans for growth; he just wants it to be a well-loved little community staple.
“I started off at a bar like this, just a good bar that’s small. If there’s 20 people in here, it seems busy, and if there’s 50, it seems like a concert,” Kaple said.
The bar keeps it simple with its cocktails. Bar, Justa, keeps it simple and intentionally unpretentious. You won’t find a specialty list or an overpriced downtown drink in sight, but you should feel more like you’re hanging out at a friend’s with a few frills, where you can throw some darts, watch a game on the big screen, or try out the waterproof ping pong table.
“We don’t have a cocktail list, you know, we’re not trying to be a craft bar of any sorts. We just want to be just a little bar,“ Kaple said.
Prior to being converted into a neighborhood bar, Kaple used the space for storage and for his Wine Bar office headquarters.
While Kaple quietly opened the doors at April’s end, he’ll be welcoming customers in for the bar’s first official event, a crawfish boil on May 9, that may end up doubling as a grand opening of sorts. The boil is $25 per person for 3 pounds of crawfish with all the fixings, and the first batch is planned to be ready at noon.
While Bar, Justa doesn’t have a kitchen of its own (because it’s just a bar), it does have a food truck outside that serves customers a variety of delicious street foods.
“Very simple, small menu, cost-effective. We just tried a few things, and it kind of morphed into what we have now,” Kaple said. “Nothing on the menu is more than 15 bucks. And really, there’s only one thing $15 and the rest is $12 and under.”
While the menu is disguised as simple pub fare, the Wine Bar DNA still comes through when you take a closer look at the ingredients of the dishes. Instead of a ballpark hot dog with a mystery blend of processed meats, you’re getting a brisket dog on a brioche bun. Chicken wings? Tossed in sauces like preserved lemon pepper, honey harissa and sweet and spicy goujuchang. Just want a ham and cheese sandwich? Try the Jambon-Buerre, a Parisian street sandwich starring French bread, unsmoked French ham and beurre d’isigny for the salted French butter.
Even with the quality each dish is made with, he wants to keep it affordable so that regulars can enjoy it often without it feeling like a splurge.
“You could come in and get a shot of Jack Daniels and a Budweiser and that hot dog for 12 bucks,” Kaple said. “That’s the difference in a $40,000 food truck and a $200,000 kitchen.”
The food truck is simply named “So Yummy!” coined after his daughter’s childhood catchphrase.
“That’s what she used to say when she was a kid, when she was trying new things,” Kaple said.
While the food truck now has a permanent place outside, weekly Friday wine tastings at The Bottle Shop will still be held there.
While Kaple wouldn’t call himself a “chef,” despite his frequent cooking at home and industry knowledge, he has the right team in place to help execute the menu, led by his executive chef, Greg Rodriguez.
Ultimately, Kaple hopes Bar, Justa will be a staple local hangout in an easy-going atmosphere where people can come and connect.
“Downtown doesn’t mean everything needs to be extravagantly expensive,” Kaple said. “Not to say it’s anything like ‘Cheers,’ but just a little neighborhood bar.”
Bar, Justa and So Yummy! will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (possibly later if busy) on Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. on Sunday.
For real-time updates and information, follow Bar, Justa on social media. Bar, Justa is located next door to The Bottle Shop at 120 S. Baylen St.
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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola’s new ‘Bar, Justa’ is an unpretentious bar with quality eats
Reporting by Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
