Consistency Links Restaurant Chains : At 5 representative stores, menus offer few disappointments if few surprises; you get what you pay for

People often ask me why I don’t review more chain restaurants, and I must admit there is no single reason. Basically, I assume most people already know about them, since every major intersection seems to have a couple. Then, because I like to give the little guy a break, I’m constantly busy just trying to get to all of the mom-and-pop restaurants. Besides, I figure the big companies are so successful they couldn’t care less.

But the simple fact is that these restaurants have a great deal to do with the way we dine, and no number of celebrity chefs or small ethnic haunts is about to change that. Big chains are big business, and big business still has the edge. The restaurant industry is no exception.

Just look at menus, the result of sophisticated market research. They know in advance what we are going to like. Or how about cost? High volume makes for low prices, an even bigger draw for families. And then there is the consistency factor, which most restaurateurs will admit is the real key to success. “I don’t mind giving up a little quality for a little security,” said a young professional dining at one of the flashier places I visited. Judging by the throngs that greeted me on this assignment, neither do a great many other people.

But there are disadvantages. Service tends to be mechanical, as if big brother is watching. And then there’s the food, which varies all the way from daring and original to assembly-line cooking better suited to a hospital cafeteria. In that respect restaurants are no different from any other consumer product. You get what you pay for.

I recently dropped in on five of Orange County’s more popular chain restaurants and found some good dishes, some bad ones and, frankly, few surprises. Here’s the scoop. (Only addresses of restaurants visited are listed. Consult phone listings for location nearest you.)

EL TORITO

It seems you can’t drive a mile in these parts without bumping into a Red Onion, El Paso Cantina or some other chain Mexican restaurant. The well-known El Torito chain, which was acquired by industry giant W.R. Grace, is the largest and best known in this category.

El Torito bills itself as “the fiesta restaurant,” and upon entering one, you have to admit that it does look the part. The Tustin restaurant is typical: a spacious adobe hacienda filled with plants, poster art and various crafts from artisans all around Mexico. The largely Mexican staff is as uninhibited as you’ll find in a chain restaurant, and gaudy mariachi music adds friendly spirit. Families dining here are happy and animated.

Along with the festivities, however, comes cooking that while mostly competent, is Americanized and highly institutional. You might begin with a Rosarita margarita, tall and pink from lots of ice and cranberry juice. They use so much tequila you won’t care how the food tastes.

The fiesta platter is an intelligent way to sample the appetizers. It’s a huge plate of nachos, mini-quesadillas, taquitos, flautas, buffalo wings, cheese sauce, guacamole, salsa and light sour cream. It’s largely generic with little exception (though the cheese sauce has surprising zest, and the taquitos--blue-corn wrappers with an unctuous filling of finely minced chicken--are delightful).

The one big surprise here is fajitas, their Mexican stir-fry that works in spite of a tepid iron skillet that never quite shows any sizzle. The meats are marinated in achiote (annato seed), a ruddy Yucatan condiment that imparts an exotic, distinctive flavor. Try the steak and chicken combo, avoiding the heavily larded beans on the side plate in favor of the moist little corn pudding right next to it. It’s probably the best you can do here.

The menu is huge and has lots of new items. Many, like arroz con pollo , attempt authenticity without success. But there’s surely something for everyone here, from fish tacos to Kahlua mousse, and the tortilla chips are hot and fresh. So if you’re looking for a Sunday outing and you want Mexican food at a low, low price, El Torito could just be the place for you.

El Torito, 17420 E. 17th St., Tustin; (714) 838-6630. Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Cantina closes 1:30 a.m. Dinner for two (food only): $10 to $25. Major credit cards accepted.

CLAIM JUMPER

Claim Jumper is not a national chain at all but a true local success story, specializing in hearty, all-American fare. And for what they do I would rate them about the best of the lot.

Carl Nickoloff, a Long Beach cafe owner, opened the first one in 1977, and today there are six stores (five in Orange County), with two more slated to open soon. The basic motif is that of a mining company in frontier California, and though I’m not certain what any of this has to do with their food, it does add a certain character.

All the restaurants have turn-of-the-century carved wooden furniture, for example, and Tiffany lamps hanging over plush booths. Then there is what they call their produce bar--a salad bar gaudily bedecked with fresh fruits and vegetables still in wooden crates. The Santa Ana restaurant I visited, incidentally, has the only one in the form of a wagon.

But my favorite feature of Claim Jumper is the rotisserie; that’s where they prepare some of the best roast chicken in the area. This is chicken that is both plump and juicy, with crisped skin crusted with fragrant spices. It is certainly the best dish the restaurant serves. Another specialty here is barbecued beef ribs, slow smoked in hickory. The quality of the beef is first rate, and the ribs are permeated with the taste of hickory. If you love Claim Jumper’s barbecue sauce (too bland for me) take a bottle home. The server will be glad to add it to your check.

Such main dishes as prime rib, beef stew, chicken pot pie and lasagna (from frontier Italy, I suppose) are all good and come with steamed vegetable kebabs, enormous baked potatoes, and volleyball-sized muffins hot from the oven. You’ll find the full range of sandwiches, salads, burgers and desserts on the large menu. Don’t miss Jumper’s mud pie, an obscenely large and chocolatey wedge of ice cream with an Oreo cookie crust and Helen Grace hot fudge on top. Even after four days in a mine shaft without food you couldn’t finish one.

Claim Jumper, 2250 E. 17th St., Santa Ana. (714) 836-6658. Open Mondays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Dinner for two: $30. Major credit cards accepted.

BENIHANA OF TOKYO

Imagine you met some fellow Americans in an exotic foreign location. Would you talk to them? Of course.

It is this idea, I believe, that has propelled Benihana of Tokyo to success. Benihana specializes in teppan-yaki (Japanese grilled foods), and almost everything you eat is made in front of you at a square metal grill around which you and your party are seated. Unless you come with a very large group, you will dine communal style with a bunch of high-spirited strangers. I’ll bet more friendships are made here than at any other restaurant in America.

The Newport restaurant is one of the classiest-looking buildings in town: a traditional Japanese house with a blue tile roof and lots of Japanese artifacts. You can smell everything grilling as soon as you walk in, and it’s bound to make you hungry.

The menu is simple, things like teppan shrimp, hibachi chicken, filet mignon or lobster, cooked up with mounds of grilled zucchini, onions and bean sprouts. The teppan chef, who may speak nothing but Japanese, gets the order from your kimono-clad waitress, and then starts the show, chopping, slicing, dousing and dicing, until everything is ready to be spatula-ed onto your plate. Everybody seems to be into sharing, so plan on tasting almost everything on the menu. For an extra $2, you can have a good side dish called hibachi rice, made with egg, Japanese vegetables and seasonings.

Benihana of Tokyo, 4250 Birch St., Newport Beach. (714) 955-0822. Open Mondays through Thursdays for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., for dinner Mondays through Thursdays from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., Fridays from 5:30 to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 5 to 11 p.m., and Sundays from 5 to 10 p.m. Dinner for two: $50. Major credit cards accepted. SOUPLANTATION

Souplantation is enjoying a record harvest, yielding 26 branches in just over 12 years in existence. There are five in Orange County, and the Garden Grove restaurant may be the most attractive, with a wood-beamed, ski-chalet decor and a decorative planter running around the perimeter of the room, near the ceiling.

Everyone likes a good salad bar, and this chain gives you that and much, much more. A veritable Niagara of food awaits you: soups, salads, fresh muffins, fruit, yogurt and anything else not tied down, served buffet style for one low price. The food they serve is consistently of high quality here, and it is easy to overdo it. So if a little salad is all you want, better put the gears in reverse.

Sensible intentions fade quickly at the salad bar. There you will find several good lettuces, hand-mixed Caesar, raw vegetables, seeds, croutons of various shape and size, even dried bananas. Then there are prepared salads; tuna tarragon, cheese tortellini, wild rice, to name just a few. Toss them all up with dressings such as hot bacon, raspberry walnut or avocado. Now you are ready for the soup section.

All soups are made fresh daily, and they taste it. House specialties including chicken noodle, clam chowder and chili are available every day, and there are always at least four others. Eat all you want.

The muffin stand is next: corn bread, pizza bread, bran, blueberry, apple walnut and other muffins, plus whipped honey butter to smear on them. As if that wasn’t enough, there is a fruit stand with several puddings, tropical fruit salad and two flavors of yogurt. Aren’t you glad you decided to eat a healthy lunch?

Souplantation, 5939 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove. (714) 895-1314. Open daily from 11 a.m., Sundays through Thursdays 9 p.m, Fridays and Saturdays to 10 p.m. Soup and salad: $7.10. Kids under 12, $2.99; under 5 free. Visa, MasterCard accepted.

MONTEREY BAY CANNERS

This chain is not the best in which to eat seafood in Orange County (Irvine’s Seattle-based McCormick and Schmick, reviewed last year, is easily the class of the field), but you should find it a satisfying place to dine. I did.

The Irvine restaurant is nautical and musky, lots of wood, stained glass, and twirling overhead fans. You dine in a multileveled area, in rooms divided by mini-bookshelves containing titles like “God’s Little Acre” by Erskine Caldwell. Don’t bother trying to browse. They are all nailed down like that bad practical joke, the floor nickel. Either service is a bit slapdash here, or the kitchen is just plain slow, but it takes a while to get your appetizers. After that, things pick up steam.

Pass on the oysters (mine were dry) and chowder (too starchy) and instead head right into a kettle of steamed cockles from New Zealand, cooked in garlic butter and sweet vermouth. They are tiny little gems, in green-tinted, finely rippled shells, and they positively burst with the taste of the ocean. Another appetizer to consider is smoked ono , a kind of tuna from Hawaii with a firm flesh served in thick, silver-dollar-size rounds.

The daily catch is printed on computer paper and inserted into the menu. I’d stick to it. Good catches such as albacore, black bass, corvina and monkfish are just a few of the fish available. You may have them mesquite-broiled, blackened, deep-fried, or sauteed. They do a credible job. A friend’s sauteed rainbow trout turned out well--sweet, crisp and buttery. At $7.95, I’d rate it quite a bargain. Dinner comes with a choice of two side dishes. I tried them all, and the best two are steamed vegetables and parsley boiled potatoes.

Monterey Bay Canners, 15483 Culver Drive, Irvine. (714) 552-3474. Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Dinner for two $30. Major credit cards accepted.