WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST : Whether It’s Dim Sum or Hash Browns That Get you Out of Bed, Here’s a Short Stack of Options Just for Starters

“American breakfast,” intones one of my apparently less than perceptive European friends, “is boring. Bacon and eggs six times a week, and French toast on Sundays.” I value a second opinion, but this assessment is totally, er, out to lunch.

Breakfast in America has always meant an artful balance of regional products, ethnic passions and plain old good sense, but today the choices seem almost endless. Orange County restaurants offer a wild variety of multicultural breakfasts, from menudo to bagels to protein drinks blended with fancy amino acids our mothers never even heard of. Just name it, and you can be pretty sure it’s out there somewhere.

For my part, I’m a sucker for the Belgian waffle, slathered with butter, at Ron Voll’s Original Pancake House in Yorba Linda or Anaheim. But there’s lots more to work up an appetite for. So, in no particular order, here’s a list of some of the more impressive ways to start your morning.

Bacon and eggs? Don’t worry, there’re still more than enough to go around.

* CAFE ZINC: If I lived in Laguna Beach, I would probably breakfast at this chic little cafe five times a week. It’s not just the casual ambience, which attracts writers, artists, health faddists and bicycle racers. And it’s not just the food--wonderful poached eggs; tart, eggy muffins and densely foamed cafe latte, easily the best coffee drink for 50 miles. No, there’s a definite mystique about Cafe Zinc, the heartbeat of Bohemian life in these parts, which I find impossibly alluring.

I always start with a bowl of the house-made granola--a buttery, almond-rich version best combined with fresh sliced strawberries--and usually lose control shortly thereafter. The great cinnamon twists and cranberry, millet and raspberry muffins are nearly irresistible. And the breads, a few of which come from Nancy Silverton’s superb La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, are without rival. The patio has recently expanded, making it easier to procure a table here on weekdays. Weekends, forget it. The lines snake around the block, a fact of life in this beach town not due to change anytime soon.

Cafe Zinc, 350 Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach. (714) 494-6302. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday till 4 p.m. Closed Monday. Cash only.

* EL CHARRO: Come hungry for breakfast at a Mexican restaurant. El Charro isn’t pretty, but this Anaheim storefront cafe serves what just may be the best breakfast anywhere for under $3.

Here, $2.75 gets you a huge plate of eggs and potatoes scrambled with chorizo, a crumbly, meaty Mexican sausage ruddy with achiote (annato seed), chilaquiles (soft cooked shredded tortillas in a green chili sauce topped with milky cotija cheese) and a heady portion of refried beans. They throw in the coffee for free.

El Charro bakes all its own pan dulce, those wonderful Mexican sweet breads, as well as a specialty called three-milk cake, an ultra-rich moist cake made with evaporated, condensed and whole milks. Great, pulpy juices such as orange and carrot are squeezed to order and served in large plastic containers. Weekends, you can drink the cinnamon- and almond-infused Mexican Ibarra chocolate with your churros, those squiggly, sugar-crusted crullers children clamor for.

El Charro, 924 S. Euclid Ave., Anaheim. (714) 758-8864. Breakfast from 8 a.m. daily. Visa and MasterCard accepted.

* BANH MI SO: Nothing tests a foodie’s mettle like breakfast at a Vietnamese bakery. Apart from the good filtered coffee (a vestige of French colonialism) that is the hallmark of any self-respecting Vietnamese cafe, the Vietnamese take on breakfast is terra incognita to most non-Asians, a myriad of odd colors and shapes, multicolored rice flour confections and spongy cakes wrapped in plastic packages. And the surprise is, they all taste good.

Banh Mi So is what you might call an all-purpose Vietnamese food stop. One side houses the bakery and barbecue, home to delicacies such as banh mi thit heo, a mini loaf of authentic French bread stuffed with charbroiled pork; the other is a full-service restaurant specializing in pho , that meal-in-a-bowl consisting of wispy rice noodles, delicious broth and sumptuous toppings of sliced beef and fresh vegetables.

The intensely flavored coffee, poured from austere-looking stainless steel pots and served in delicate little porcelain cups, is always worth a detour.

Banh Mi So, 9812 Bolsa Ave., Westminster. (714) 775-8834. Breakfast from 7 a.m. daily. Cash only.

* SPLASHES: On a beautiful morning, watching the waves lap up to the shoreline does more for the spirit than a prize-winning muffin could possibly do for the body. That’s why Splashes at the Surf and Sand in Laguna Beach gets my vote.

The food is only slightly above average, and the prices are on the high side. Who cares? Get a load of this view.

The fresh juices I’ve had here have not impressed, and the milky, less than fragrant cappuccino could use improvement. Best buy is probably the $5 muffin basket (two muffins and a good, flaky croissant). Worst? How about a tired plate of duck hash for $12, served with poached eggs, asparagus and something called tomato cranberry catsup. Don’t ask.

The waitress is apt to be snooty when she tells you that the rather skimpy portion of McCann’s Irish oatmeal already has the brown sugar and raisins mixed in. Ask for extra. I do like the turkey sausage, a low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative to traditional breakfast meats. You can hit the beach without embarrassment after a portion, and these sausages taste good too.

Splashes, in the Surf and Sand hotel, 1555 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (714) 497-4477. Breakfast daily, 7 to 11 a.m. All major cards accepted.

* DYNASTY: This Asian Village mall food emporium serves what are arguably the best dim sum in Orange County. Dim sum are those bite-size tea pastries that the Chinese use as an excuse for social gatherings. They also happen to be incredibly varied--baked, fried, boiled or steamed wonders in all shapes and colors.

Forget the coffee. If you are not Chinese, you’ll get a pot of humdrum jasmine tea. Instead, impress your friends (and the restaurant employees) by ordering bo lei, an intense red tea, or gok fa, a pale yellow chrysanthemum tea with a faintly medicinal flavor. These add another dimension to a Chinese breakfast.

Among the dozens of standout dishes here are ha gow, tender fresh shrimp dumplings steamed in diaphanous noodle wrappers; siu mai, toothsome steamed dumplings made with minced pork and water chestnuts, and fun gor, little noodle triangles with meat and vegetable fillings. A brigade of waitresses wheel them all by tableside, and you get to look before you leap. Just remember that according to Chinese etiquette, once a dish is on the table, it’s yours.

Dynasty, 9200 Bolsa Ave., No. 215, Westminster. (714) 898-3189 or (714) 892-8109. Dim sum served Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visa and MasterCard accepted. * RUSSELL’S: If it is an old-fashioned American breakfast that you crave, the food at this jaunty brick and wood Seal Beach coffee shop might just be the ticket.

Russell’s is primarily known for its good burgers and crusty pies, but breakfast is definitely well taken care of. All the good muffins and yeasty cinnamon rolls are baked in the restaurant’s own commissary in downtown Long Beach, and the soft buns and breads come in fresh daily from a bakery named 4-S.

The restaurant grates and steams potatoes fresh for the good house hash browns, which you eat with things like fresh California eggs and thick slab bacon, which Russell’s buys from a company called Iowa Packers. I should also put in a word for the steel cut oats, served with brown sugar, raisins and cream, and the good fresh-squeezed O.J., the rival of any I’ve had locally. The only inconsistency with all this freshness and purity comes in the form of the tasty but doughy stack of pancakes, which are made from a mix instead of from scratch.

Russell’s, 1198 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach (others are in the Naples and Bixby Knolls areas of Long Beach). (310) 596-9556. Breakfast Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to noon; Saturday and Sunday till 1 p.m. Visa and MasterCard accepted.

* BURRELL’S: Writer Calvin Trillin has rhapsodized about the Southern breakfast, that grand affair featuring grits, country ham and something called red-eye gravy, whose secret ingredient is coffee grounds. Thanks to Fred Burrell, indisputable king of the barbecue pit in these parts, there is a place to experience one locally.

Burrell’s third restaurant (his two Santa Ana locations don’t serve breakfast) looks a bit like an airport lounge, but the food is strictly down-home. This translates into grand Southern-style breakfasts in a variety of permutations. Stuffed biscuits come smothered in that bittersweet red-eye gravy, piled high with your choice of slab bacon, country ham or sausage. Three-egg breakfasts are even more outrageous, served with things such as smoked pork chops, hot link sausage, even fried catfish. And you’ll want to leave room for the sides--home fries, grits, stewed apples and one of the baked treats--which stick to the ribs the way grandma intended. Fluffy baking-powder biscuits are the bread of choice here, but the sweet, crumbly corn bread, drooling melted butter, runs a close second.

Burrell’s Bar-B-Que, 14962 Sand Canyon Road, Irvine. (714) 786-0451. Breakfast Monday through Friday, 5:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.; Saturday and Sunday till 1 p.m. Visa and MasterCard accepted.

* JAN’S HEALTH BAR: The sports-minded may blanch at the thought of a Southern breakfast, but they needn’t for long. There are plenty of healthful alternatives out there.

I’ve long been a fan of Jan’s Health Bar, essentially a counter place tucked into a corner of a store called Huntington Surf and Sport. Owner Jan Gaffney specializes in fruit smoothies, thick “energy” drinks made from seasonal fruit. After a long jaunt down the Huntington Beach bike path, nothing will give you more energy than one of these smoothies.

Gaffney’s smoothies are made from a fresh fruit base augmented with banana, honey, juice and Altadena yogurt. They come in flavors such as pear, pineapple, raspberry, peach, blackberry or strawberry--whatever is in season. Other ingredients such as egg, protein powder and date crystals make the permutations practically unlimited. The bar also has great fruit salads, excellent granola from Mother’s Market (these are served with raw milk,) and all the vitamins you can swallow, sold in individual plastic packets.

Jan’s Health Bar, 300 Pacific Coast Highway, No. 104, Huntington Beach. (714) 536-4856. Open daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cash only.

* IL FORNAIO: Here we are, back to square one, in an upscale cafe. Il Fornaio made its reputation as a bakery ( fornaio is Italian for baker), and this stunning new complex in Irvine delivers the goods. It’s known primarily as a restaurant, but the attached bakery is one of the most pleasant, satisfying places around to relax, sip coffee, and nibble on good breads and pastries.

All coffee beans are ground to order, and these come in several appealing forms. Cappuccino has a thick foam topping and is served in a white porcelain cup. Latte, half milk and half coffee, comes in a shapely glass mug.

Breads are spectacular. Ciabatta (slipper) is a long, crisp white; all’uva, fragrant raisin; and filone, a crusty white flour loaf--to name a few. Each is terrific toasted.

Avena, a cereal, is made from rolled oats, dates, raisins and sunflower seeds. There are fresh apple and grapefruit juices, along with the obligatory orange.

If you have been especially good, treat yourself to a biscotto, an Italian cookie. Or opt for the more healthful Crusca, a slightly sweet discus made from bran flour.

Il Fornaio Gastronomia Italiana, 18051 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. (714) 261-1444. Un Poco di Tutti, the attached cafe, is open daily, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All major cards accepted.

* MORE RESTAURANTS, Page 26