HOLIDAY DINING : Restaurants Won’t Be Afraid to Serve Fright Foods This Halloween

From “creepy calamari” and bags of treats to “witches’ brew” and pumpkin ale, Halloween will be on the menu at many Orange County dining spots next week. Several offer costume contests as well.

Among the restaurants offering Halloween-themed, mostly grown-up alternatives to trick or treating:

OCT. 31:

* The Cannery in Newport Beach presents Scareoke Night. Costume competitions will award $100 as first prize in each category, with additional prizes of champagne brunches at the Cannery for other contestants. In the lounge’s seafood bar, the clam chowder is complimentary, and you can order shrimp, oysters, steamers, chicken strips and nachos. The festivities run from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at 3010 Lafayette Ave. (714) 675-5777.

* The Fullerton Hofbrau will serve a new beer called Witches’ Brew and award cash prizes for the scariest, sexiest and most original costumes. Customers are also invited to bring in their carved pumpkins for competition (prizes will include dinners at the restaurant). The Hofbrau will augment its regular menu with special Halloween desserts--pumpkin-flavored, of course. The restaurant is at 323 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. (714) 870-7400.

* Down south, the Heritage Brewing Co. will pour a special pumpkin ale and offer prizes for the best male, best female and “nastiest” costumes (“all within reason,” management adds). The reggae band En Route will play from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The address: 24921 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point. (714) 240-2060.

* Most El Torito restaurants in Orange County plan Halloween parties with prizes for the best guest costume. The Laguna Hills location, where Halloween has been a big night for more than a decade, will offer a $500 first prize, plus deejay dancing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. 24301 Avenida de la Carlota. (714) 951-9137.

* At Las Brisas in Laguna Beach, the annual party begins at 9 p.m., with a margarita bar, complete Halloween decor, all the staff in costume and carved pumpkins. The first prize for best guest costume is $250; second, $125; third, $75.

* A free Haunted Happy Hour from 4:30 to 7 p.m. will open Halloween festivities at Champions American sports bar at the Irvine Marriott. From 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. closing, there will be games and contests, with prizes for best costumes, and deejay dancing. A Witch’s Brew drink special will be served from a steaming caldron and “beer of the living dead brewski” (a.k.a. Miller Lite) will be $2 per bottle. The hotel is at 18000 Von Karman Ave. Information: (714) 724-3616.

* Bistango will celebrate the holiday with a tasting of Veuve Cliquot champagne from 8 p.m. to midnight. For $4 per glass you can sip bubbly and hear jazz and blues performed by singer/drummer George Griffin, singer Dede McNeill, keyboardist Jimmy Selber and Joe Perez on sax. And yes, there will be prizes for the best costumes. 19100 Von Karman Ave. (714) 752-5222.

* Thursday is always a big night at Studio Cafe in Corona del Mar, and it will add Halloween decorations and prizes for best costumes next week. Smooch, a jazz and vocal group, will perform from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Studio is at 3201 E. Coast Highway. (714) 675-7575.

* Halloween is geared to the kids--and parents who prefer that their kids not go out to trick or treat--at Manana in Fountain Valley. Here those under age 12 will dine free all day long and receive a bag of treats. The restaurant serves lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., dinner from 3 to 10 p.m. Manana is at 17171 Brookhurst St. (714) 963-8673.

* What better night than Halloween for . . . MURDER! At Scott’s Seafood in Costa Mesa, Keith & Margo’s Murder Mystery will combine a costume party with a whodunit. Wine and cheese will be served from 8 to 9 p.m., and during that hour the first “murder” will take place. During the three-course dinner (with an entree of chicken picatta), the plot will thicken. Finally, guests get a crack at solving the mystery, and at 11 p.m. prizes will be awarded to the best detectives. The cost is $68, including tax and tip. Reservations: (818) 785-7700. Scott’s is across from South Coast Plaza at 3300 Bristol St.

* Mystery Cafe will present a retrospective of its first production, Murder at the Cafe Noir, at 8 p.m. at the Mezzanine restaurant in the Brinderson Towers, Newport Beach. Guests will be asked to dress in black, to fit the 1940s noir theme. Three scenes will unfold between the three dinner courses, which include baby mixed greens with raspberry vinaigrette, grilled breast of chicken with wild rice and grilled vegetables, and Black Forest cake with strawberry sauce. The cost for the entire evening is $48. Part of the mystery for some may be finding the Mezzanine, which is at 19800 MacArthur Blvd., near the intersection of Jamboree Road and MacArthur (enter via Fairchild Road) Reservations: (714) 955-CLUE.

NOV. 2:

* The Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center will celebrate Halloween two days late with a Masquerade Ball, at which guests will be welcomed with a ruby-red Sparkling Mist Brew (containing Robert Mondavi’s yet-to-be released sparkling wine) and Eye of Newt appetizers (mozzarella and black olives). Guests will be entertained by a “phantom” pianist throughout dinner and can later dance to music from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s performed by Vocal Works. The menu includes creepy calamari with macabre marinara; bat wing ravioli with three cheeses, draped in sinister saffron sauce; full moon veal chop with Black Forest mushrooms, and butternut squash puree with orange and ginger in shrunken pumpkins. Dessert? Tombstone ice cream with ginger ghost cookies. Dress is black tie and masks, and guests will “unveil” before dinner. Prizes of wine will be awarded for the scariest, funniest and most imaginative masks. $125 per person includes dinner, dinner wines, dancing, additional wines and a cheese and fruit display at midnight, tax and gratuity. The Center is at 1570 Scenic Ave., Costa Mesa. Reservations: (714) 979-4510.