The following are summaries of recent Times...

The following are summaries of recent Times restaurant reviews by Max Jacobson. Prices are based on average dinner costs for a party of two without wine.

Price scale:

$ = under $15

$$ = $15 to $39

$$$ = $40 to $75

$$$$ = over $75

Be-Bop Burgers, 18575 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach. (714) 842-1958. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; weekends to midnight. Carhop service Wednesdays through the weekend from 7 p.m. to closing. $ Pinky’s Hamburger Grill, 4115 Campus Drive, Irvine. (714) 854-4632. Open Sundays through Thursdays from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays to 11 p.m. $ Be-Bop Burgers and Pinky’s Hamburger Grill are part of a wave of “nostalgia” hamburger joints engulfing Orange County, and both are longer on atmosphere than food. The Be-Bop burger is a good value, a full quarter pound of lean beef on a seeded bun that just drips with condiments. Pinky’s beach burgers are charcoal-grilled and really taste good. Other sandwiches in both restaurants are less appealing. Luckily, both restaurants exude energy, plus the mindless fun of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Burrell’s Rib Cage, 305 N. Hesperian St., Santa Ana. (714) 835-9936. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Also at 1701 E. Mc Fadden Ave., J, Santa Ana. (714) 541-3073. Open Mondays through Thursdays 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays till 11 p.m., Sundays till 9 p.m. $

Wanna sample of what Magic Johnson and Richard Nixon say is the area’s best barbecue? Come on down to Burrell’s and see what the shouting is about. You’ll eat from plastic boxes in a dark, smoky room and you’ll probably get sauce on your shirt. The good news is you won’t care. Beef brisket is as soft and lean as a baby’s cheek, and chopped pork shoulder is a symphony of textures. Save room for the especially terrific homemade sausage, crumbly and charred crisp. It’s what a food critic lives for.

The Original Pancake House, 1418 E. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim. (714) 693-1390. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. $

The Original Pancake House is one of the very best restaurants in Orange County. Just ask anyone who has eaten there. All the batters are made with sourdough yeast and come straight from the grill--light, finely textured and complex. The Belgian waffles are eggy and crispy, and the apple pancake, a giant golden puff with a cinnamon-glaze topping, is one step away from nirvana.

Bayou St. John, 320 Main St., Seal Beach. (213) 431-2298. Open daily from 5 to 10 p.m. $$

Bayou St. John in quiet Seal Beach is Orange County’s only bona fide Cajun restaurant. The boom has faded, but not the delights of this cuisine. Indulge yourself with such specialties as homemade gumbo, full of hidden flavors; oysters Rousseau, a rich appetizer with cheese, bacon, cream sauce and spicy tomato; and stuffed trout, pan-fried in pure butter. Blackened items are a must. Seafoods are flown in from the Gulf.

Orange Blossom, 3804 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 633-1888. Open daily from 4:30 p.m. $$

Beijing, 2940 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 744-2491. Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. $$

Orange Blossom and Beijing are two radically different Chinese restaurants within scant blocks of one another on Chapman Avenue in Orange. Orange Blossom is a dinner house that faces West in spirit, while Beijing is primarily a lunch place with an Eastern bent. Orange Blossom has innovative dishes like butterfly eggplant with a cream-cheese filling and minced pigeon in lettuce cups. Beijing has terrific Mandarin chicken in a vinegary sauce and twice-cooked pork, a fiery Szechuan specialty that has been boiled, then pan-fried with vegetables. Both restaurants are winners.

The Golden Truffle, 1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 645-9858. Open Tuesdays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Tuesdays through Thursdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays to 10 p.m. $$$

The Golden Truffle is an eccentric restaurant with an eclectic menu that defies rhythm or logic. Chef Alan Greeley is whimsical; he cooks for the sheer pleasure of it, and it mostly tastes terrific. Bay shrimp cocktail Yucatan is like a combination gazpacho-ceviche , with tiny shrimp and chunky pieces of avocado immobilized in a thick, tangy puree of tomato and chili. Broiled marinated skirt steak with pinto beans and cactus is a triumph. Nothing else on the menu will prepare you for it. There is a wide selection of premium wines and bistro-like desserts. The ambience is relaxed and casual.

Sorrento Grill, 370 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach. (714) 494-8686. Open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 5:30 to 9.30 p.m.; Sundays from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. $$$

Sorrento Grill is one of the best new restaurants around, a virtual lock for local stardom. The restaurant is a high-concept operation, and it pushes all the right buttons: a stunningly designed open kitchen, postmodern vastness and a decibel level even Philip Glass would object to. The food is wonderful. Young, innovative chef Roseanne Ruiz uses the finest ingredients, Chino ranch vegetables, carefully selected poultry and fish, and she prepares them with the finest olive oil and utmost care. Desserts like an amazing creme brulee are brutally rich. Expect lines and unbridled enthusiasm.

Felix Continental Cafe, 36 Plaza Square, Orange. (714) 633-5842. Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. $$

You can smell the garlic for blocks around this European-looking, Cuban-style cafe in the old downtown of Orange. The menu abounds with exotica. Papa rellena (a potato and egg croquette rolled in bread crumbs) is the best appetizer. Roast chicken Cubano (a crispy half chicken with bitter orange peel added for extra dimension) is definitely the best entree. Save room for dessert--it is the best course here. Pineapple-raisin bread pudding, a soft, buttery suspension of rum, eggs, flour and fruit, is good enough to make Betty Crocker blush.

McCharles House, 335 S. C St., Tustin. (714) 731-4063. Open Mondays through Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for lunch; 2 to 5 p.m. for tea; Thursdays through Saturdays from 5:30 to 9 p.m. for dinner. $$

If you have never experienced a proper English tea, then now’s your chance at this converted Victorian house, built circa 1885 in Tustin’s Old Town. You’ll even get heart-shaped scones. Audrey Heredia and her daughter, Vivian, fuss over this dining room and tearoom, a spinster’s fantasy of wooden tables, tasseled lamps and enough doilies to make Gladys Cooper an overcoat.

Pascal, Plaza Newport, 1000 Bristol St., Newport Beach. (714) 752-0107. Open Mondays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Mondays through Thursdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m.; weekends to 10 p.m. Closed Sundays. No Saturday lunch. $$$

Pascal is the latest, brightest and most engaging of the small area restaurants serving unadulterated French cuisine. You don’t have to worry about being terrorized by the waiters or cream-sauced to death in this charming country cottage. The chef, Pascal Olhats, has solid experience and uses nothing artificial in his kitchen. Don’t miss a delightful Provencal fish soup appetizer or a lamb salad, redolent of sweet basil. An entree of sea bass, coated with thyme and served in a tomato coulis, is worth the trip. Desserts are light and guiltless.