GASOLINE CUISINE

Like many gas stations these days, the Unocal at Pico Boulevard and Barrington Avenue is self-serve and no bargain--until you enter the convenience store. Arrive at lunchtime and you’ll find execs, secretaries and truckers dining on steaming bowls of linguine with zucchini, sauteed shrimp and buttery bread crumbs; salade Nicoise with seared tuna loin, Blue Lake green beans and balsamic vinaigrette; or grilled chicken sandwiches on buns by Buona Forchetta Handmade Breads.

Welcome to Auto Grille, brainchild of manager Colin Trauberman, formerly of Hymies Fish Market and I Cugini on the Westside, and owners Art Lasky and Jorge Recinos, who had a Mercedes repair shop on this site for 27 years before opening Auto Grille last October. “We want people to come for good value and be amazed,” Trauberman says.

Forget prefab nachos. Auto Grille offers freshly cooked food on white china (or packed to go) and Graffeo coffee. Menu prices top out at $6.75, even for the grilled salmon sandwich. In auto parlance, they detail; the kitchen crew (moonlighting from I Cugini) even oven-dries the tomatoes. Auto Grille’s mainstay is catering (office lunches, usually, but they have had a request to do a wedding). “Someday we hope to pick up your car from your office, fuel it and stock it with lunch or dinner items you checked off,” says Lasky. For now, they’ll wash your windshield and check under the hood upon request, no extra charge.

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CENTURY ‘76’ & AUTO GRILLE; 11675 W. PICO BLVD., WEST LOS ANGELES; (310) 479-9496. AUTO GRILLE, 8:30 A.M. TO 3:30 P.M. WEEKDAYS.