Cheap Dates

It doesn’t matter if you are planning a first date, a blind date or a bring-the-kids-along date, you don’t have to spend a fortune. Here’s the lowdown on some low-cost options:

Tonight

After work, take a drive along the coast. Stop at Gladstone’s, not for the overpriced, unremarkable food, but for a beer and free peanuts outside with a dramatic view of the ocean. 17300 Pacific Coast Highway, (310) 454-3474.

In Malibu, take a free tour of the 1929 Spanish Colonial Adamson Beach House at 7:30 p.m. The seaside house is lavishly decorated with Malibu Potteries tile. (310) 457-8142 for reservations.

Grab an outdoor table at the nearby Cross Creek shopping complex and share an order of nachos from La Salsa (3835 Cross Creek Road, [310] 317-4757), or an ice cream sundae from Ben & Jerry’s (3824 Cross Creek Road, [310] 456-5337).

Friday Evening

The plaza at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is a lovely place to get to know someone better--especially on Friday nights when there is free live jazz from 5:30-8 p.m. Pick up a rosemary chicken and potatoes picnic ahead of time from Rosti (7475 Beverly Blvd., [323] 938-8335). Then munch on dinner while you listen to this week’s performers, the Sandra Booker Quartet. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., (323) 857-6000.

At 7:30 p.m. in the Bing Theater, see a double feature of “An Affair to Remember” (1957) and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” (1955). The two romance classics are presented in all their wide-screen glory as part of the series “Twentieth Century Fox and the Golden Age of CinemaScope.” The series continues through mid-August with Friday and Saturday screenings. $6; museum members, $4. (323) 857-6010. Ticket purchase includes admission to the museum, open until 9 p.m. Fridays.

Saturday Evening

Between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturdays, Farmers Market (6333 W. 3rd St. at Fairfax, [323] 933-9211) hosts one of the most diverse, interesting crowds in the city for free karaoke. There are punks with blue beards, old couples, Sinatra wannabes, parents with their kids--you name it. Anyone can try the mike, and E.B.’s, (323) 549-2157, has wines by the glass and pitchers of draft beer to help ease stage fright.

If you are hungry, Farmers Market has a wealth of goodies. Grab an oyster loaf from the Gumbo Pot (one of the best Cajuns in the city, [323] 933-0588) and dig in. For dessert, Du-Par’s, (323) 933-8446, has pies in summer fruit flavors to die for.

Or, feel like making an outing to San Gabriel? The weekly Mission District Family Festival offers low-cost activities for everyone. The kids can enjoy face-painting, crafts and rides while grown-ups visit a farmers’ market and food booths--all in the shadow of the historic 1771 Mission of San Gabriel. 5-9 p.m. Mission Drive between Broadway and Junipero Serra. Free admission, (626) 576-2525.

Sunday Evening

The Hollywood Bowl is one of L.A.’s cultural treasures. Despite all the high-profile performances, it’s easy to forget that with tickets as low as $3, anyone can visit the Bowl. At $3 your seats will be in the nosebleed section, but the sound quality is just as good and usually there’s more room to spread out (or cuddle up) with a blanket. Sunday, two of opera’s brightest stars, tenor Neil Shicoff and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, join John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in a program of arias and duets from “Tosca,” “Falstaff,” “Carmen” and other operas, as well as songs from “The King and I,” “My Fair Lady” and more. 7:30 p.m. $3-$85. 2301 N. Highland Ave., (323) 850-2000.

Bring along an inexpensive bottle of wine and a couple of garlicky chicken shwarma sandwiches from Zankou Chicken (5065 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, [323] 665-7845) and settle in under the stars.