Oktoberfest at Lucques and Cooks County, and “Planet Taco”

Cooks County’s Oktoberfest: Each Monday in October, Cooks County offers traditional German dishes paired with a featured beer or wine. On Oct. 8, Schnitzel Time!: rye pretzels with mustard, wiener schnitzel, potato salad, Stiegl Gold beer. On Oct. 15, Oktoberfest, Bavarian Style!: big Bavarian pretzel, house-made weisswurst and apfelspaetzle, Allagash Curieux beer. On Oct. 22, Pot Roast, the Germany Way!: buttery pretzels, sauerbraten with roasted root vegetables, Chouffe beer. And on Oct. 29, Sausage Palooza!: spretzels with mustard, sausage platter with dumplings, Riesling “Spatlese” Weller-Lehnert ’98. $24 per person (including beer or wine selection). Call for reservations: 8009 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 653-8009, www.cookscountyrestaurant.com.

Lucques’ Oktoberfest: Lucques celebrates Oktoberfest on Sunday, Oct. 14, with grilled and pan-roasted house-made sausages and fall dishes featuring winter squash, roasted apples and wild mushrooms. Sommelier Caroline Styne is offering a beer list of “Styne’s Steins” to complement the menu, which includes warm potato salad, sausages with roasted apples and sauerkraut, smoked ham hocks braised in beer, herbed spaetzle, and dark rye bread and pretzels. $55 per person (beverages additional). Oktoberfest attire is encouraged. Call for reservations. 8474 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 655.6277, www.lucques.com.

Taco talk: Food and history scholar Jeffrey Pilcher will discuss his new book, “Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food” at USC on Tuesday. The discussion is part of a course titled “The Culture of Food in Hispanic Los Angeles” but is open to the general public. Pilcher’s book explores the gap between the grilled-to-order taco eaten under the open skies of Mexico and the mass-produced taco served in a Taco Bell in Los Angeles, tracing the evolution of Mexican cuisine and its incarnation as American fast food. 3 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. A taco reception follows, catered by Chichen Itza. USC Doheny Memorial Library, room 240. Email Sarah Portnoy at portnoy@usc.edu for more information.