Lincoln Heights’ the Airliner Reopens With Asian Bar Menu and Cocktails | Eater LA
"Reborn thanks to a plucky team who first met in Shanghai, this nearly century-old Lincoln Heights bar—now run by chef Vinh Nguyen and Gary Wang—has been given a careful, sympathetic refresh rather than a full remodel. I found the dim, dive-bar styling largely intact, with new circular mirrors that make the space feel like the inside of a plane, an 80-year-old curved wooden bar that's been cleaned and shined (with new leather padding under the stools), and tasteful pale-blue patterned wallpaper that covers tacky paint while leaving weathered edges intact. The kitchen leans into snack-worthy Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese influences at very attainable prices: a $10 chicken liver pâté worth scraping the bowl for with crunchy seasonal pickles; a fresh citrus salad with herbs and nuoc cham; Hunan barbecue pork with a juicy interior and lightly fried exterior coated in chile oil; a Japanese potato salad of al dente cubes seasoned with konbu broth, wakame, mustard, pickled garlic stems, and a mound of feathery bonito flakes; Shanghai triple onion noodles inspired by a late-night Shanghai vendor; and Chongqing chicken wings that outlevel typical wings. Handhelds include a lemongrass chicken bánh mì and a beef rendang kept in split hot-dog rolls (beefy, tender, shredded stewed meat cut by thin cabbage and pickled red onions), while desserts like hojicha tres leches cake and black-sesame brown-butter rice-crispy treats feel refined. On drinks, Avery Millard has put together a cocktail list beyond dive-bar expectations—shiso highball, the vegetal, Tiki-esque Missed Connections, the Fly Mamacita (a less-sweet Paloma with Thai chile–rambutan shrub), and In the Same Breath (Old Fashioned–like with yerba mate–infused vermouth and dill oil)—and Randy Mariani offers easy-drinking, party-style natural wines. The Airliner reopened after closing in February 2023, plans to open an upstairs Japanese-style hi‑fi listening bar with space for DJs and bands around mid-2024, and is currently open daily from 5 p.m. to midnight." - Matthew Kang
