A Menu of Airy Options

The outdoor dining experience comes in a variety of flavors.

1. Great Food, Great View:

* Grand Award--Splashes, in the Surf and Sand Hotel, 1555 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (714) 497-4477.

* Honorable Mention--The Stuft Noodle, 31911 Dove Canyon Drive, Rancho Santa Margarita. (714) 589-8115.

2. Great View, Not-So-Great Food:

* Grand Award--Snack Concessions along the Huntington Beach bicycle path.

* Honorable Mention--Las Brisas, 361 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. (714) 497-5434.

3. Great Food, Not-So-Great View:

* Grand Award--Cafe Zinc, 350 Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach. (714) 494-6302.

* Honorable Mention--Piccola Cucina, 3333 Bristol St., 3001 (in South Coast Plaza), Costa Mesa. (714) 556-5844.

4. Great Patio:

* Grand Award--Never On Sunday, 6362 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim Hills. (714) 637-9561.

* Honorable Mention--Louise’s Trattoria, 300 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach. (714) 960-0996.

It’s also fun to eat out at the end of a pier.

In addition to the Balboa Ruby’s Diner, there is a Ruby’s at the end of the Seal Beach Pier, 900 Ocean Ave., (310) 431-7829. Your other choice in pier dining is the Fisherman’s restaurants, one at the base of the San Clemente Pier, 611 Avenida Victoria, San Clemente, (714) 498-6390, and another at the end of the Newport Pier, 1 Newport Pier, Newport Beach, (714) 6755-9771.

Ruby’s is a franchise, so the menu is the same at all locations. As for Fisherman’s, it is a modest seafood house specializing in mesquite broiled fish, with the added attraction (in San Clemente only) of an oyster bar.

We haven’t forgotten about the Huntington Beach Pier, incidentally, which reopened July 17 after being shut down for repairs. A Ruby’s (surprise) is planned for the end of the new pier, but for now you’ll have to be content with a refreshing blast of ocean air.