Justin Lane Pizzeria & Bar

Justin Lane Pizzeria and Bar is a must visit if in Burleigh after dark – a hip bustling joint that occupies shops, nooks and crannies within the Gold Coast’s best retro arcade.

Pizzas here are simple and top notch - made on traditional sour dough bases and with toppings like local tiger prawns, calamari, chilli, mozzarella and parsley; zucchini, cherry tomato, goats cheese and confit garlic or smoked pork belly, pear, provolone and chives.

There’s also a couple of pastas including slow-cooked beef cheek ragu with parpadelle and grana padano or a bunch of small plates and delectable bites to share with a glass of wine: amongst them Sardinian white anchovies, eggplant caponata with chilli and olive oil, flatbread with garlic and rosemary or pork and fennel meatballs.

Delicious as it is, the food isn’t the only drawcard here at Justin Lane, which was named after a couple of early settler brothers who planted the pines that dominate the Burleigh beach front.

The upstairs-downstairs tiled 1960s arcade with retro crimson balustrades on the upper gallery, bathroom with timber paling numbered doors, original lighting and tiny wood-framed shops is an attraction unto itself.

On weekends Justin Lane Pizzeria opens its upstairs dining room to supplement the downstairs dining room, street bar and thoroughfare of tables in the arcade.

Beyond the food, it’s also a great place to enjoy a drink: choose from a mix of Italian and Oz wines by the glass, carafe or bottle wine list, craft beers including Stone & Wood on tap and summery cocktails like watermelon punch, peach and lemongrass smash, laneway iced tea or the Justin’s Aperol Spriz for 4 – sloe gin, aperol and Prosecco.

Need to know: The other main occupants of the arcade, plush downstairs Cavalier Bar and its upstairs Italian diner, are also part of the Justin Lane family. Justin Lane Pizzeria doesn’t take bookings and on busy nights prospective diners get to line up behind a red rope – but it’s worth the wait.