BOTTOM LINE : Now if They’d Only Lower Their Prices . . .

For 17 years, the Palm restaurant in West Hollywood has been known for great steaks and surly waiters. But times change. Eating red meat is the eighth deadly sin, and in recessionary times, rude waiters are more annoying than atmospheric.

So lately, the Palm’s been trying to shed the belligerence rep, and it wants everyone to know there’s more than slabs of beef in the kitchen. To that end, general manager Gigi Delmaestro has broken with yet another tradition and printed menus. For a decade and a half, “Whaddya have?” “Whaddya got?” was the usual exchange between waiters and customers, and the result was fairly predictable.

“The waiters like to sell people lobster and steak,” says Delmaestro, who has been manager at the Palm since its opening. “Now regulars look at the menu and say, ‘How long have you had linguine with clam sauce?’ And we’ve had it for 17 years. It’s just that the waiters never told them.”

It’s taken almost a year for the New Palm Order to take hold; regulars have mixed feelings. “If Gigi feels it’s a good idea, it is,” says Alan Horn, a managing partner of Castle Rock Entertainment, who’s such a loyal customer that he’ll call the restaurant to explain his absence if he’s out of town.

But actor Brian Dennehy disagrees. “They turned into a limp-wristed, ‘90s-type of place,” says Dennehy, who won’t look at a menu. “They probably even have prices printed on them. Shows you how ridiculous things have gotten.” He remains a regular, however, patronizing other restaurants only “under duress.”

The Palm is considering yet another change--replacing Ronald Reagan’s caricature with Bill Clinton’s, a bold move, considering the only caricature ever removed was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s. “Maybe,” says Delmaestro, contemplating the switch. “Reagan was never a regular.”