RESTAURANTS : Javier’s Is Just the Place for Mild Nights--and Meals

Laguna is buzzing this summer. I’ve never seen its beaches more crowded or the streets busier. This bodes well for Javier’s Cantina and Grill, a breezy Mexican restaurant newly installed in a prime PCH space that was last occupied by an odd duck named 480 Cafe.

Even on a quiet day, this has to be one of downtown Laguna’s most favored locations. The long, narrow main dining room, already wonderfully sunny because of a nifty skylight, has been further animated with flowers, palm fronds and banquettes upholstered in floral prints. On summer evenings, many people choose to sit in the terrific outside patio, a partially enclosed, courtyard-like space located slightly above and just behind the front dining room. Just beyond the patio is an intimate, glass-enclosed dining room, ideal for large groups and private functions.

The Javier of the restaurant’s name is Tijuana-born Javier Sosa, a 25-year veteran of our local restaurant wars. (He spent almost 20 of them at the sturdy Tortilla Flat.) I called him to ask a question or two, and he told me that, like many people in his hometown, he didn’t grow up eating highly spiced dishes, red-hot chilies or the more exotic Mexican vegetables. He insisted that it was Americans who first put cumin in the Baja-style albondigas soup, and his recipes, which some food mavens would consider a blanding-down of classic Mexican dishes, are completely authentic.

His food is what you could call “fresh-Mex,” that increasingly popular culinary style where everything is made from scratch. A meal begins with a basket of hot fresh chips and a fine, chunky, tomato-based salsa. Sweet green-corn tamales and tostados de ceviche y camarones , light preludes to the hearty main courses, are two appealing ways to start your research here.

The tamales, made fresh in the kitchen every morning and served steaming in cornhusks, are light oblongs of masa flecked with bits of sweet corn. The ceviche is chunks of lime-marinated snapper and baby shrimp on a crisp tostada shell, not quite as intensely flavored as you find in restaurants along the Mexican Riviera but easy and refreshing.

In summer, a Laguna restaurant as attractive as this can get away with almost anything. Even acknowledging Sosa’s claims about Baja cuisine, I think this may explain why Javier’s menu comes up short in the daring department; everybody knows a cookie-cutter Cal-Mex dinner house isn’t far from Laguna’s heart. David Wilhelm tried bizarre salsas and fairly challenging Mexican food at his Cancun Cafe in Laguna, and it folded. Fish tacos are still king in this town, with places like Taco Loco and Wahoo’s leading the way.

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Still, Javier’s kitchen does put out more than just variations on burritos, enchiladas and tacos, even if there are no major creative departures. For instance, some evenings there will be fresh fish, though the swordfish we had was dreadfully overcooked. One of the menu’s few unfamiliar dishes is the artfully named pajaros borrachos, literally “drunken birds.” It turns out to be glazed Cornish game hen drenched in a thin, astringent, mildly alcoholic sauce.

Main courses come with salad or sopa de albondigas , the hearty Mexican meatball soup. Javier’s rendition reminds me of a minestrone where someone forgot to slice or dice. Even a small cup of the stuff will be full of oversized chunks of carrot and celery, with one large meat orb occasionally bobbing to the surface.

The menu’s most consistently pleasing choices are found in a section entitled Especialidades de la Casa . Sara’s chile verde might just be the restaurant’s best dish; it’s a chunky, green-tinged pork stew redolent of tomatillos, onions and mild chilies. Carnitas , the classic Mexican roast pork, comes as nicely browned chunks and shreds. Javier’s version of mole poblano is slightly bitter, ultra-dark and mud-thick with cocoa, chilies and ground nuts. The mysteriously complex sauce turns ordinary hunks of steamed chicken into an exotic oeuvre.

Look to the menu’s Especiales del Mar section for seafood. The enchilada de camarones is strictly a north-of-the-border version. It’s a mountain of pancakes, garlicky shrimp, gooey cheese, mild green chilies, house tomatillo sauce, sliced avocado and too much sour cream. Better is camarones al mojo de ajo , where plump shrimp come in a buttery sauce positively overloaded with minced garlic.

There may be a few serious letdowns, too. Queso fundido , a melted cheese dip, is likely to have a unappetizing film of oil on it. One evening, the Mexican rice tasted stale, and a side dish of black beans was on the sour side. (The waiter assured me this was due to an overuse of the Mexican herb epazote .) Carne Tampique~na --a specialty of Tampico--is a grilled steak topped with chili and onions, alongside a crunchy taquito and a mole -topped cheese enchilada. The meat was good quality, but everything on the plate had been sadly overcooked, especially the accompaniments.

And desserts, other than a nice flan and an oddly winning thing called fried ice cream, may not be nearly as fresh as you’d like. Both pastel de queso , your basic cheesecake, and the gummy Kahlua mousse pie tasted as if they had done an extra tour in the fridge. Fried ice cream is in effect a cornflake-coated bombe , with a vanilla ice cream center. The whole thing is placed in a tasty, bun~uelo -like fritter, then dusted with cinnamon and sugar. It is strictly kid food.

That’s fair enough, because Javier’s has some growing up to do. Given the formula and the location, there should be time enough for that.

Javier’s Cantina and Grill is moderately priced. Appetizers are $3.95 to $6.95. Main courses are $8.95 to $12.95. Mexican combinations are $6.95 to $8.95.

* JAVIER’S CANTINA AND GRILL

* 480 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.

* (714) 494-1239.

* Dining room open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

* American Express, MasterCard and Visa.