HAIL CAESAR

Caesar Cardini invented the salad that he named for himself in Tijuana on July 4, 1924. The International Society of Epicures in Paris later voted it “the greatest recipe to originate from the Americas in 50 years.” Cardini’s original recipe, which did not include anchovies, specified that the eggs be coddled for two minutes and then broken over the lettuce. These days, the salad is more popular than ever, and although most of the following restaurants take certain liberties with the recipe, each serves a Caesar worth saluting.

ANGEL CITY GRILL (7505 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (213) 655-0955). Decor: black, gray and pink. Accommodations: a tad cramped. Menu: eclectic. Up for grabs: designer pizzas, hamburgers, seafood pancakes, lots of freshly grilled fish and fine desserts. The large, crisp salads are radiant. The mighty Caesar is $6.95, and there’s a zaftig half portion for $3.95. Open for dinner nightly, for lunch on weekends. All major credit cards. Valet parking. Dinner for two: $15-$55.

DOVER’S (in the Doubletree Hotel, 100 The City Drive, Orange, (714) 634-4500). Cathedral-like is the word for Dover’s. Everywhere you look you see tall screens, vertical lines on a wall or immensely long drapes on the windows. It serves what one critic labels Hotel Nouvelle, a grand and nobly profiled cuisine, the Continental cuisine of a hipper age: experimental touches on solid, rich food presented in operatic plate arrangements. After an appetizer like Florida stone crab claws, you have an amazing choice: sensible lettuce salad with Caesar dressing or suicidally rich conch chowder. Or you can tackle a Caesar on its own for $3.95. Open for lunch and dinner daily. Major credit cards. Dinner for two: $27-$57.

THE GRILL (9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills, (213) 276-0615). This is a place that hearkens to an olden, golden time: the woods are dark, the ceiling high and coffered. The menu is similar to Musso’s but with fewer items. This is familiar stuff: shrimp cocktail, Eastern oysters on the half shell, shrimp Louie, good steaks. There is a fine Caesar salad ($5.75 and $8.75) made with all the right stuff. It is tossed in the kitchen, and while there are anchovies in the dressing, it is true to the idea of a Caesar. Open Mon.-Sat. for lunch and dinner. Valet parking. Reservations essential. Dinner for two: $40-$75.

IVY AT THE SHORE (1541 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (213) 393-3113). This restaurant is pretty in a way few restaurants are really pretty. It doesn’t look decorated so much as it looks like somebody’s screened-in porch from the ‘50s. The menu is made up of unfrightening food like meat loaf, pizza, steak, wonderful crab cakes and delicious Maui onion rings. The drinks here can be memorable. The Caesar salad ($4.75 and $5.75) is good and big and made to order. Open for lunch and dinner daily, late breakfast Sat.-Sun. Full bar. Valet parking. MC, AE, V. Dinner for two: about $65.

REX OF NEWPORT (2100 W. Ocean Front at Newport Pier, Newport Beach, (714) 675-2566). The Rex, done up in gaslight-era style, features basically high-quality seafood (shellfish, bouillabaisse, fried squid, shrimp cocktail) in a fairly continental manner at fairly extravagant prices. Proprietor Rex Chandler says his Caesar ($5.50) is “not for the faint-hearted” due to its abundance of traditional ingredients: anchovies, olive oil and lemon. And, be warned, Chandler has no mercy: You cannot order your salad anchovie-less. Open for lunch Mon.-Fri., for dinner nightly. Major credit cards. Dinner for two: $50-$60.

72 MARKET STREET (Venice, (213) 392-8720). The decor here is comfortable and inventive with a casual but chic air. The food has gotten increasingly better since the restaurant opened; these days it is some of the most delicious food in town. In addition to dishes like warm duck salad and grilled veal chops with blue cheese there is a fine homey meat loaf and a prime steak tartare. When it comes to Caesar ($7), you have an option: You can order your salad with or without garlic. Open for lunch Mon.-Fri, for brunch Sun., dinner nightly. MC, AE, V. Dinner for two: about $60.

YANKS (262 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills (213) 85-YANKS). A comfortable, attractive neighborhood kind of place smack dab in the middle of Beverly Hills. The food is straightforward, hearty, eminently American; it is, above all, reasonable. A bowl of real macaroni and cheese, preceded by a huge green salad costs $6.50. There is meat loaf, crab cakes, grilled fish and the like. The Caesar salad ($6) comes in a great big white bowl; it is topped with garlicky sourdough croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Open for lunch Mon.-Fri., for dinner nightly. Full bar. MC, AE, V. Dinner for two: $28-$60.