Lingo

Lingo fits right in with its neighbors: a row of buzzy restaurants next to Transmitter Park that serve great cocktails, and food that’s a lot more interesting than wagyu sliders. At this particular spot, Japanese ingredients liven up classic cocktails and otherwise predictable New American fare.

Lingo's breezy, spa-like bar and dining room with shimmery light fixtures are a muted backdrop for inventive small plates like milk bread with smoked sake butter, and bite-size tamago sandos. Bigger dishes, like savory pie stuffed with Hokkaido-style curry beef, and clam brodo made with bacon dashi, are similarly creative but make less of an impression. The house cocktails—a sazerac with sakura bitters and a martini with umeshu, for example—are more memorable. Bring someone you like drinking with, and try all six of them.

photo credit: Andrew Bui