O.C. Eats : O.C. on the Menu : A Side Order of History : Two county-only cafes offer an array of hearty dishes in familiar surroundings to steady customers and tourists. O.C. on the Menu

Here are two only-in-O.C. cafes that offer you history along with your food.

The Blue Beet Cafe has been on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach since the early ‘60s. Back when it was owned by Sid and Michiko Soffer, it was Sid’s Blue Beet. The sign over the kitchen archway says it all. “Sid ain’t here,” it reads. “Don’t even ask.”

Former owner Michiko Soffer was telling me stories about the place over lunch recently. How good the chicken cacciatore and beef stroganoff were when Sid was cooking, and how it took him nearly forever to do them. About when the Beach Boys and Jose Feliciano used to play on the cafe stage. Steve Martin even did his balloon act here once upon a time, long before his career took off.

The place does a steady business with tourists, local revelers and workers at nearby construction sites.

But these days it has windows that let in sunlight and somewhat dilute the cabaret look the place once had. And the antique cherrywood bar that was once the cafe’s calling card is gone, destroyed by a fire in the late ‘80s.

Chef Jorge Gutierrez is in charge of the kitchen now, and he puts out a reliable menu of sandwiches, steaks and salads. The bar, meanwhile, mixes some of the sharpest premium martinis around. One of the wilder ones is called the Prozac: gin, liqueurs and fruit juices blended to a medicinal milk white.

One unbroken tradition is the huge portions. The 12-ounce “baseball” sirloin steak, peppered nicely on a sizzling platter, looks even larger than advertised. The bar snacks--peel-and-eat shrimp, spicy chicken wings and the like--are big portions too. The hamburger, which comes with a pile of hot seasoned fries, is a half-pounder.

I like to eat lunch here, when the place is quiet and the bartender plays country singers such as Patsy Cline. That’s also the time to try a few of the bargains from the lunch menu--for instance, the chicken taco salad. It’s a hoot--lettuce, tomatoes, wonton crisps and ranch dressing thrown together with what must be a half-pound of grilled chicken. It’s not even remotely Mexican, but it’s so good you won’t care. The blackened swordfish burger is even better. Have it on a grilled bun slathered with mayo.

There are a couple of things to avoid. These days, the famous beef stroganoff is an unappetizing mush of overcooked beef, mushrooms and pasty brown gravy. And the house clam chowder is so thickened with flour I could only manage a single spoonful.

The one dessert is a New York-style cheesecake with a thick graham crust. The cafe buys it from nearby Alta Coffee.

Blue Beet Cafe may not be the hot spot it once was, but if you’re in the mood for nostalgia, or a good, inexpensive steak, it’s still the place.

Blue Beet Cafe is moderately priced. Appetizers are $2.95 to $9.95. Main dishes are $5.95 to $24.95.

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“Casse-croute” is French for a snack, but when you come to Cafe Casse-Croute in Anaheim, bring your appetite.

This charming cafe opened in the late ‘80s. Today it’s staffed by three Vietnamese women, but the specialty here is still French Canadian cuisine--crepes, omelets, the meat pie called tourtiere and Canadian-style maple sugar pie.

It’s a cute little place of blue and white latticed woodwork and tables set with pink linens. Regular customers arrive early in the morning for pancakes and fluffy omelets served with Lyonnaise potatoes. I like the lunch dishes, such as crab farcie, chicken crepes and tourtiere, a flaky pie solidly filled with ground meat and aromatic with sweet spices.

In Quebec, tourtiere is often made with pork, but Cafe Casse-Croute uses a leaner mixture of pork and beef, and the pie crust isn’t as heavy with shortening as you’d get on your tourtiere in Quebec. On the other hand, it isn’t as cold here as it is in Canada. This is what they mean by food that sticks to your ribs--and as if it weren’t rich enough already, it’s smothered in homemade gravy.

One of the lighter items on the menu is the stuffed crab (crab farcie). Despite the half-French name, this dish clearly comes from Indochina. It’s a mixture of crab, pork, mushrooms and transparent noodles--very much like the classic filling for a Vietnamese egg roll--baked in a crab shell.

The chicken crepes, streaked with homemade bechamel sauce, have a light filling of chicken and broccoli. Sometimes there will be pa^te de foie de volaille, a creamy chicken liver pate flavored with a good deal of thyme and chopped shallots.

The specials are dependable. Try the homemade beef barley soup and the grainy-textured meatloaf.

Like restaurants in Little Saigon, Cafe Casse-Croute squeezes orange juice to order and makes a terrific frosty lemon-limeade. Only here, both are brought out in large Mason jars.

At dessert time, there’s that sugar pie, which is something like a rich maple pecan pie without the nuts, topped with florettes of whipped cream. You can also get a pistachio cake or fresh strawberry crepes, both quite good.

French Canadian food in Anaheim, and in a Vietnamese-run establishment. You can’t say that our cafes lack variety--or history.

Cafe Casse-Croute is inexpensive. Omelets are $4.95 to $6.95. Crepes are $5.95 to $6.95. House specialties are $5.25-$19.95.

BE THERE

Blue Beet Cafe, 107 21st Place, Newport Beach. (949) 675-2338. Open daily, 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. daily. MasterCard and Visa.

Cafe Casse-Croute, 656 S. Brookhurst St., Anaheim. (714) 774-8013. Open 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday- Tuesday; closed Wednesday. Cash only.