The following are summaries of recent Times...

The following are summaries of recent Times restaurant reviews.

Pinnacle Peak, 9100 Trask Ave., Garden Grove. (714) 892-7311. Open Mondays through Fridays 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., weekends till 10 p.m.

Crazy Horse Steak House, 1580 Brookhollow Dr., Santa Ana. (714) 549-1512. Open Mondays through Fridays 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturdays and Sundays 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

While everyone else is busy disavowing addiction to good steak, sneak off to one of these places. Leave the tie at home when you visit Pinnacle Peak; someone will sneak up on you and cut it off. Honest. The restaurant’s trail boss steak, cooked over an open flame, is a char-broiled monster, a great value at $9.95. The Crazy Horse is a bit longer on atmosphere but, apart from the high-grade beef, it’s run-of-the-mill. Many of the side dishes have been frozen, and the whole place has a packaged feel about it.

Garduno’s Ristorante Italiano, 298 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa. (714) 645-5505. Open Mondays through Thursdays 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays till 10 p.m., Saturdays noon to 10 p.m.

Garduno’s may be the quintessential Italian sidewalk cafe-except the sidewalk is missing. Mark and Julie Garduno, an engaging young couple, run the place as if it was a small family room, serving fresh, home-cooked fare that often delights. Standout dishes include a killer carbonara loaded with fresh peas, pancetta and sauteed mushrooms; and a fabulous fusilli, twirly pasta spirals in a chunky tomato sauce with big pieces of homemade sausage. The regular menu has all the favorites, the cappuccino is frothy, and there are wonderful creamy cheesecakes to boot.

California Wok, 4466 Cerritos Ave., Los Alamitos. (714) 527-0226. Open Mondays through Thursdays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays till 10 p.m.

Eat health conscious, pan-Asian food in this spotless little gem, owned and operated by a Thai microbiologist who is a gem herself (her name, Baiyok, means jade leaf.) Chinese dishes here are excellent, prepared with pure soy oil. Especially good are vegetarian egg rolls, and stir fried chicken in an edible basket of straw potato. Thai dishes are equally fine. Nam sod is fiery ground pork with chili. Pad Thai are fried flat noodles. And tod mun plar, rubbery fish cakes with mint and cilantro, are wonderful.

The Cellar at Villa Del Sol, 305 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton. (714) 525-5682. Open Tuesday s through Saturdays 6 to 10 p.m.

The Cellar is one of those “occasion restaurants” in the grand manner; whatever the kitchen lacks in imagination is made up for handsomely by quality and consistency. Pass on the ready-made items like smoked salmon, caviar and the various salads. They miss the point. The chef here can cook. See that he does. Best are lamb, pheasant, veal Florentine and the ethereal desserts. The souffles, naturally, are perfect.

Far Pavilions, 1520 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach. (714) 548-7167. Open seven days, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 5 to 10:30 p.m.

Elegant, beachfront Indian dining. Far Pavilions has a surfeit of specialties hard to find in other local restaurants: minced chicken balls in a spicy tomato puree; bhindi masala , a.k.a. curried okra; Bihari kabab , a saucy chicken dish from north central India. Some flavors run together here, but you can avoid that problem by sandwiching dishes in the fine tandoori breads from the restaurant’s clay oven. Meats from the same oven are so good they should be eaten bareheaded, kneeling.

Caliente, 1910 Main St., Irvine. (714) 975-1220. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., to 11 on weekends .

Caliente is Spanish for hot, and that is exactly what this stylish new restaurant is. It’s the latest jewel in the El Torito crown, and its modest adobe exterior conceals a stunning design--a faint red, ‘80s-chic motif complete with dramatic lighting, an open kitchen, and a comal, the high-tech version of a stone tortilla cooker. The restaurant smokes its own meats, and you can wash them down with premium margaritas made from vintage tequila. Desserts, such as burnt cream and apple crisp, are wonderful.

Rutabegorz, 211 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton (714) 738-9339 and 158 W. Main St., Tustin (714) 731-9807. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

The Greenery Natural Kitchen, 119 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton (714) 870-0981 and 323 S. Magnolia Ave., Anaheim (714) 761-8103. Open Monday through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. , Saturdays 10 to 5.

Rutabegorz in Fullerton looks as if it belongs on a college campus; the food they serve does too. Best avoid the frozen poultry casseroles in favor of the meatless dishes like stuffed squash or veggie lasagna. Desserts like carrot cake and apple pie are reminiscent of a church bake sale.

The Greenery is a modest, unadorned storefront restaurant with homey, health-conscious fare. Best dishes are the lentil burrito, with guacamole, and the unburger, made from ground nuts and brown rice.

Both restaurants are inexpensive, with few dishes over $5.

Five Feet, 328 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach. (714) 497-4955. Open Mondays through Thursdays 5 to 10 p.m., to 11 Fridays through Sundays.

Owner Michael Kang has some of the most compelling art around decorating this restaurant’s somber, postmodern walls, and he serves plates of food very nearly as artful. Dishes of pot stickers or steamed dumpling are no better than you would get in any Chinese restaurant, but the eclectic lamb, scallop, and catfish entrees demonstrate Kang’s flair. The catfish is particularly fine.

Crocodile Cafe in the Brea Marketplace, 975 E . Birch St., Brea . (714) 529-CAFE. Open seven days 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., to 12 on weekends.

Greg Smith is doing more than just promoting the new American cuisine; he’s making it into a populist movement at this small, laughably inexpensive cafe. Enjoy wonderful hamburgers grilled over smoking embers of oak, wood-fired pizzas with designer toppings, and trendy homemade pastas like fettucine with roasted Pasilla chili and ancho-cream. Sit under the 30-foot vinyl crocodile sipping boutique wines. You can bet your Beamer that this restaurant is a good value.

Almagreb, 23700 El Toro Road, in the Saddleback Valley Plaza, El Toro. (714) 859-9393. Open Tuesdays through Sundays 6 to 10 p.m.

Almagreb, a Moroccan restaurant in El Toro, has one of the most dramatic dining areas anywhere: clustered tent canopies among a maze of mirrors with an almost mystical dimension. Meals are taken in the traditional style, with no utensils, and are finger-licking good. Among the better offerings: b’stilla (a sugar-dusted chicken pie), couscous (cracked semolina wheat in a savory vegetable stew), and Tanya, belly dancer extraordinaire. The Arabic music accompanying her is deafening.

Thien Thanh, 5423 W. 1st St., Santa Ana. (714) 554-7260. Open weekdays 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., weekends until 3 a.m.

Thien Thanh is more than just one of the area’s best restaurants: It is a crossroad of Vietnamese and American culture: The crowd is as diverse as the menu. Cua rang muoi (cooked salted crab) and bo dam (garlic-centered beef) are two dishes not to miss, but lighter appetites can indulge in more than 50 noodle dishes. While away the day listening to Asian pop music, gawking at the New Wavers and sipping filter coffee and tropical freezes made from durian and jackfruit.