MELROSE EATS

You could spend days shopping and eating your way up Melrose Avenue. We’ll spend three weeks at it.

Grandia Palace (5657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 462-8628). This “palace” is packed with Dorian columns, bas-reliefs and classic Grecian statuary, including actual giant-size replicas of Venus and Hermes. You’ll find the food decidedly Greek too. Greek appetizers such as kaftadakia (meat balls) and tiropeta (crisp, flaky pastry filled with cheese or spinach) are authentic and not greasy. The Greek specialties, which change daily, include super-light moussaka (layered eggplant, meat and bechamel) or pastitsio (macaroni layered with meat and cheese). The dinner salad is so crisp and fresh it crackles. It’s also laden with feta cheese, shrimp, crunchy vegetables and comes with a very nice Greek vinaigrette. Desserts here are healthful and include a fresh fruit salad with yogurt and nuts, a fresh fruit plate, and a delightful flan of apples, raspberries and figs. Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner nightly. Diner’s Club, MasterCard, Visa. Full bar. Street parking. Dinner for two, food only, $20-$40.

Zumaya’s (5722 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 464-0624). The food here is basically traditional California-Mexican. Except for a few frills--charming pottery used for plates and the salmon-colored satin bow ties worn by waiters (to match the decor)--there’s nothing nouvelle to it at all. Pollo caliente is a good choice; it contains an excellent red-hot chile sauce topped with nopales (cactus). The accompanying squash (calabacitas ) is also superb. The carne asada taco (tender meat marinated in fresh lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic and oregano; charbroiled over mesquite; and double-wrapped with tortillas) comes served with tiny pottery bowls filled with onion, sour cream and salsa. Enchiladas rojas, with its mild chile sauce and melted cheese topping, is presented attractively and served with some very good Spanish rice and beans. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Fri., dinner Mon.-Sat. Diner’s Club, MasterCard, Visa. Beer and wine. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $20-$35.

Citrus (6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 857-0034). This Melrose restaurant is hot as a firecracker, even though it’s on what some foolishly think of as the “wrong side” of La Brea. The chef/owner is Michel Richard, L.A.’s most famous French pastry chef. But he doesn’t cook like a pastry chef here; his dishes are bold, original and not remotely fussy. The only hint of his pastry past is the amount of attention paid to the look of each dish. This is remarkably pretty food. Crab coleslaw arrives wrapped in a bright green leaf sitting on a bright pink sauce. Scattered across the top is a confetti of bits of yellow squash and red peppers. Richard also has an interesting way with lamb; it’s served on a bed of saffron ravioli filled with goat cheese and laid out on a leaf of Savoy cabbage, with green fava beans sprinkled across the top. Even more exotic and every bit as delicious is a “lasagna” made of escargots and fried parsley. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $50-$70.

Linda’s (6715 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 934-6199). Linda’s is like a New York neighborhood cafe where you can claim a seat, sit for hours, sip Champagne indefinitely, eat and talk, talk, talk--no one hovers. This is a handsome, eclectic restaurant with garden settees, Queen Ann chairs, Oriental carpets, and Art Deco lamps. Some of the lightweight dishes are great fun--cheese and salsa omelet, scrambled eggs with chili (and a very good chili it is), home fries and steamed red potatoes with caviar, and quesadillas , served hot and fresh. For dessert try the peach cobbler. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner nightly. American Express, MasterCard, Visa. Beer and wine. Valet parking evenings. Dinner for two, food only, $20-$40.

Hot Wings Cafe (7011 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 930-1233). Except for little, chic, arty touches like window boxes and some nice art on the walls, the inside of Hot Wings looks as plain as most snack places. Sit yourself down and order up an egg cream or a glass of wine. The food is simple--mainly sandwiches, salads and Buffalo-style chicken wings, which are fried, coated with hot sauce and served with celery sticks and a blue cheese dip. The turkey sandwich offers no surprises but it does contain good fresh meat. The potato chips, here called Buffalo chips, are cut and fried on the premises and they truly are delicious. Philadelphia-style steak sandwiches are another specialty of Hot Wings. Not everything is perfect but if you stick to wings as an appetizer, then go on to a sandwich, chips and the coleslaw, you won’t be disappointed. Lunch and dinner daily. Cash only. Beer and wine. Street parking. Dinner for two, food only, $10-$15.