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. McFadden 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.

China Palms, Fullerton Metro Center, 104 W. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton. (714) 526-2196. Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays to 10 p.m. $$

Joe Ling put a palm tree in the middle of his restaurant, an airy, ultra-modern dining room in Fullerton’s spanking-new Metro Center. But there is nothing tropical about the solid pan-Chinese food he serves, made in one of the most accomplished Chinese kitchens around. Cold dishes, dumplings and first-rate soups make perfect beginnings. Honey-glazed bananas, plunged steaming into an ice-filled bowl tableside, make perfect endings. The goodies you can have in between are too numerous to mention.

Five Feet, 328 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach. (714) 497-4955. Open Sundays through Thursdays, 5 to 10 p.m. ; Fridays and Saturdays, 5 to 11 p.m.; lunch served Fridays only, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. $$$

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.

Stix, 28251 Crown Valley Parkway at the Center at Ranch Miguel, Laguna Niguel. (714) 831-7849. Open Mondays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. $

Stix is a bright, airy, mirror-lined, new Chinese restaurant where the cooking offers few surprises but is straightforward and safe: no MSG, high-quality oils like peanut and sesame--you get it. The various kung paos, pan-fried dumplings and twice-cooked pork, may lack the hotness and brio they have in Chinatown or Monterey Park, but added color and crunch make up for it.

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.