ORANGE COUNTY DINING

In these capsules of recent reviews, dollar signs indicate the average price of a meal for one, without beverages.

$: less than $10.

$$: up to $20.

$$$: up to $30.

$$$$: more than $30.

FIVE CROWNS: A theme restaurant that has been doing the Olde English inn thing so long it’s acquired a paradoxical authenticity. The food’s more than acceptable too. Salads and appetizers are always good, and you can’t go wrong ordering the roast duck or the prime rib.

* Five Crowns, 3801 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 760-0331. Dinner daily. $$$

FLORENCE ITALIAN CUISINE: Elegant but casual, Florence Italian Cuisine offers a wide array of Italian favorites with an emphasis on seafood. Try the lobster-filled ravioli de l’aragosta, the filet mignon, the lasagna and the linguine vongole. For dessert, the tiramisu and the spumoni.

* Florence Italian Cuisine 14210 Culver Drive (Heritage Plaza), Irvine. (949) 857-8265. Lunch and dinner daily; brunch Sunday. $$

GIORGIO’S OF CHICAGO: It re-creates classic Chicago dishes--a hot dog on a poppy seed bun with bright green relish, a messy beef sandwich with spicy Italian pickles, barbecued ribs--in the ambience of a Windy City pizza joint. And the best things here are the pizzas, made with Midwestern meats and cheeses.

* Giorgio’s of Chicago, 27000 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Niguel. (949) 448-9899. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

JAVIER’S CANTINA: This restaurant bridges the gap between taqueria authenticity and the happy-hour chips-and-salsa scene. Familiar Mexican specialties are here, but it’s the seafood specials like brocheta del mar and the sweet, powerfully corn-flavored green corn tamale that make dealing with Laguna Beach parking worth it.

* Javier’s Cantina & Grill, 480 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (949) 494-1239. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

McCORMICK & SCHMICK’S: There are 40 or more kinds of fresh seafood on this menu, served in nearly 90 treatments. The inventive appetizer menu is highlighted by excellent crab-and-shrimp cakes, and the oyster selection is still one of the best around. The adjacent Pilsner Room brew pub serves an impressive list of microbrews.

* McCormick & Schmick’s, 2000 Main St., Irvine. (949) 756-0505. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner daily. $$

MITSUYOSHI: There’s a sushi bar here, but the appetizers are better, especially the baked pike and the potato porridge (yamakake) with chunks of tuna sashimi. Thin-cut pork cutlets (shoga-yaki) come in a tangy ginger sauce, and there’s a massive sukiyaki and a festive nabemono soup filled with meats, vegetables and noodles.

* Mitsuyoshi, 12033 Beach Blvd., Stanton. (714) 898-2156. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday. $$

MULBERRY STREET RISTORANTE: A cozy, welcoming setting for robust, old-school Italian food. It’s notable for dishes that achieve simple harmony through a deft balance of flavors. For appetizers, try the fried mozzarella and the steamed mussels. Exceptional entrees include the steak Mulberry and the fettuccine Caruso.

* Mulberry Street Ristorante, 114 W. Wilshire Ave., Fullerton. (714) 525-1056. Lunch Monday-Saturday dinner served daily. Late night menu served Friday and Saturday until 12:45 a.m. $$

OAK OVEN BARBECUE: The attraction at Lou’s Oak Oven Barbecue is Santa Maria-style barbecued tri-tip. But you can also get chicken, pork loin and Portuguese sausage. The food comes on metal camping plates and drinks, including wine, are served in Mason jars, but it’s 200 miles closer than Santa Maria.

* Lou’s Oak Oven Barbecue, 21501 Brookhurst St., Huntington Beach. (714) 965-5200. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday. $

OYSTERS: “Asian-Influenced California cuisine”--well, you can blame Oysters for wanting to distance itself from all the bad fusion cuisine around. But this spot, with its Chicago speak-easy ambience, could give fusion a good name with dishes like artichoke with tarragon sambal-aioli and Near East paella. Good oysters too, of course.

* Oysters, 2515 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 675-7411. Open for dinner daily. $$

THE PERUVIAN GRILL: It specializes not so much in grilled food as in in Peruvian seafood dishes, such as ceviche appetizers large enough for a small meal and pescado ajo macho, a grilled fish topped with scallops, shrimp, calamari and a spicy cilantro sauce. Empanadas, not listed on the menu, are also worth a try.

* The Peruvian Grill, 9606 Hamilton St., Huntington Beach. (714) 593-3883. Dinner Monday-Saturday. $$

P.F. CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO: It serves Asian-inspired dishes in a high-voltage setting--and the dishes can be high-voltage with pepper themselves. Good appetizers are seared ahi and Chang’s spare ribs. The best entree is Paul’s catfish: tender chunks of fried catfish tossed with a garlicky black bean sauce. Desserts are outstanding.

* P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Irvine Spectrum Center, 61 Fortune Drive. (949) 453-1211; Fashion Island, 1145 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 759-9007. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

PICAYO: Hidden away in residential north Laguna, a little bungalow houses Picayo, a French restaurant with Spanish and Moroccan influences and a taste for duck, both as appetizer and entree. Try Chilean sea bass on eggplant with olive vinaigrette, or the napoleon of scallops, prawns and salmon with black truffle sauce.

* Picayo, 1155 N. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (949) 497-5051. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$$

POLISH RESTAURANT MR. SMOKE B.B.Q.: First it was a plain barbecue restaurant, but patrons liked the Polish dishes that sneaked on the menu so now it’s Polish Restaurant Mr. Smoke B.B.Q. So enjoy the potato pancakes, the sweet-sour sauerkraut, the veal cordon bleu-like cutlet Sobieski--and once in a while, have some of that barbecue too.

* Polish Restaurant Mr. Smoke B.B.Q., 2610 W. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. (714) 827-6251. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

ROMA D’ITALIA: Tustin’s busy Roma D’Italia is an old-fashioned checked-tablecloth pizzeria/restaurant specializing in dishes with big, rich flavors, such as chicken d’Italia, which includes eggplant, ham, tomatoes, provolone and mushroom sauce. For something lighter, try the mixed seafood platter in a flavorful garlic white wine sauce.

* Roma D’Italia, 611 El Camino Real, Tustin. (714) 544-0273. Lunch and dinner daily. $$