Local Eateries Offer Holiday Goodies and Extra Helpings of Goodwill

Some Orange County restaurants are serving up charity with their meals this holiday season.

The four Daily Grill locations--in Newport Beach, Brentwood, Los Angeles and Encino--have pledged to donate $1 for every meal ordered from the children’s menu (for ages 11 and under only) in December. The money is intended for Para Los Ninos (For the Children), a Los Angeles-based service agency for poor families. In addition, the Grill will serve dinner at the Para Los Ninos’s center on Saturday. 957 Newport Center Drive, Fashion Island, Newport Beach. (714) 644-2223.

And Barbacoa is hosting a silent auction to benefit the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Tickets are $50 for the brunch and auction, which will be Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Auction items have been donated by local merchants. They include two round-trip airline tickets to anywhere in the United States and six seats for the L.A. Rams-Atlanta Falcons football game on Dec. 27. 3333 Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach. (714) 835-5381, Ext. 230 for reservations.

Other restaurants are honoring the holiday spirit with special celebrations.

Santa, for one, is going to be very busy. He is scheduled to hear whether children have been bad or good at Charley Brown’s in Newport Beach and Edie’s Diner in Corona del Mar on Saturday morning. For $7.95, the restaurants are offering brunch and a visit with Santa beginning at 9 a.m. Reservations are recommended. Charley Brown’s, 151 E. Coast Highway. (714) 675-5910. Edie’s Diner, 2305 E. Coast Highway. (714) 673-9050.

Santa is also part of a special dinner theater performance on Sunday and Wednesday at Tibbie’s Music Hall in Huntington Beach. Ten young singers and dancers--two of whom play Santa and Mrs. Claus--will perform carols, popular songs and hymns. The $30 price includes dinner, with an entree choice of prime rib, swordfish or lemon-herb chicken. Special rates are available for children and groups of 25 or more. 16360 Pacific Coast Highway at Peter’s Landing. (714) 840-5661 or (310) 592-4072.

The Bell Canto Ladies Choir from Azusa Pacific University will perform Christmas music this weekend at JW’s California Grill in the Irvine Marriott. The free, two-hour performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today, 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Irvine Marriott, 18000 Von Karman Ave. (714) 553-0100.

And at some eateries, ‘tis the time for seasonal menu items. El Torito Grills are again packaging holiday tamalitos for take-out during the Christmas season. The tamalitos are a miniature version of traditional Mexican Christmas tamales. The tamalitos are sold by the dozen ($12.95) or half-dozen ($7.95) and are festively packaged, along with cooking instructions, for the holidays.

This is the Grills’ third year offering the tamalitos. Choices this year include blue corn with duck and chipotle cream sauce, sweet corn with tomatillo sauce, and chicken with red chili sauce. Three kinds of sweet corn dessert tamalitos also will be offered: cinnamon and raisin with Kahlua sauce, banana with caramel sauce and chocolate with raspberry sauce.

All but the dessert tamalitos are available for eat-in, as well. The tamalitos are available at all four El Torito Grills (Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Torrance and Beverly Hills) and at Caliente in Irvine.

Information for the Newsbites column can be Faxed to (714) 966-5663, or addressed to: Newsbites/OC Live!, The Times Orange County, 1375 Sunflower Ave., CA 92626. Or call (714) 966-7898.