American Heritage is a new Encino gastropub that opened to start December. A grey facade and planters usher guests into a space featuring brick and wood, including a bar and communal tables with attached seats that swing out from the legs. Pinball games, including Revenge From Mars and Pirates of the Caribbean, are playable by the entrance. Further back you’ll find a big American flag, a trio of decorative guitars and multiple flat-screen TVs. Jeweler Sharon Sapir and Joe Even, who previously ran Bocca Steakhouse on-site and still runs Ditmas in Beverlywood, are business partners.

Chef Jonathan Villalba steers the gastropub’s kitchen, making all sauces and pickles in-house and grinding grass-fed beef in back. Shareable starters include breaded shrimp with cocktail sauce and lemon, indulgent lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, and the cheeky “just another poke.” Playful names spill over in the Greens section, where a “Titanic” salad stars an iceberg wedge, bacon, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing with Gorgonzola.

Burgers star 8-ounce patties and come in iterations like K-Town, French Onion Soupish and Bacon Avocado. Turf & Surf pairs a half-lobster with 4-ounce patty.

Sandwiches get a lot of love, whether it’s pulled pork topped with an onion ring, fried chicken with cheddar and pickles, or “everything crust” tuna that combines seared sushi-grade ahi, everything aioli, pickled cabbage, mint and cilantro on a whole-wheat bun.

Dessert brings milkshakes and cookie ice cream sandwiches with chocolate chip and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies that are baked to order and filled with vanilla ice cream.

Craft beer is a focus, with six rotating tap handles, bottles and cans. Seasonal cocktails are crafted with juices squeezed in-house. Seth and Sean jointly oversee the bar program.

16610 Ventura Blvd., Encino, 818-905-0555