A LA CARTE : HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS.

Byline: Larry Lipson

Pumpkins and vampires seem to pervade the party scene in restaurants that celebrate Halloween.

So dress like a vampire and dig your elongated molars into a pumpkin dish at one of the following restaurants:

Border Grill

Address: 1445 Fourth St., Santa Monica.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Mexican.

Comments: The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Mexico's equivalent to All Hallows Eve, is celebrated annually here, this year from Monday through Nov. 1. The restaurant is appropriately decorated and includes the traditional skeleton on the altar.

Picks: Special dishes include duck and black bean tamales with tomato-chipotle salsa, huitlacoche quesadillas, cochinita pibil, pescado tikenchik, spiny lobster with achiote butter, flan de calabasas, Oaxacan mocha cake.

Cha Cha Cha Encino

Address: 17499 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Carib-Latino.

Comments: Reggae group Fire and Brimstone performs at 8:30 p.m. in a ``ghostly'' atmosphere where costumed servers flit around.

Picks: Look for spooky sherry lobster bisque, witches' coven crispy coconut shrimp, screamers' grilled wild mushroom salad, zombies' favorite Caribbean paella and fire and spice beef tenderloin a la Caribe.

Divine Pasta

Address: 12616 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. (Also in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.)

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Italian.

Comments: This is a popular pasta parlor where dry pastas are picked out from a large selection, cooked on the spot and served with desired sauces.

Picks: Pumpkin ravioli (black- and orange-toned) with basil cream sauce ($6.95) or with roasted garlic pesto ($6) is an on-premises choice. Or to take home, there's ``spooky'' radiatore pasta ($3 per pound) and/or the Halloween pumpkin ravioli (approximately 36 pieces/$6 per pound).

Fins

Address: 23504 Calabasas Road, Calabasas. (Also in Westlake Village and Malibu.)

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Seafood.

Comments: Staff will be costumed, and patrons are invited to do the same. A party atmosphere will prevail with live entertainment.

Picks: Potato-crusted halibut over calabasas (pumpkin) seed sauce ($18.95), pumpkin seed and shiitake mushroom-crusted swordfish ($21.95), pumpkin and black linguine with lobster ($16.95), pumpkin cheesecake ($4.95).

Lula

Address: 2720 Main St., Santa Monica.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Mexican.

Comments: Day of the Dead four-course Sauza tequila dinner is served Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. Price is $35 per person. Reservations necessary. Limited seating.

Picks: Black bean Oaxacan tamales with avocado leaves, hoja santa and chile pasilla salsa paired with Sauza's Tres Generations tequila and spicy sangrita with chile pequin. Zucchini flower, corn, pumpkin and shiitake mushroom soup enhanced with epazote, served in a fresh pumpkin and accompanied by a tequila sunrise with fresh pomegranate juice. Chicken in ancho-tomatillo sauce with capers, olives and oregano prepared with the special grinding stone used since pre-Hispanic times. A first-class margarita on the rocks made with Commemorativo tequila, Cointreau and fresh lime juice is served before a dessert of candied pumpkin sweetened with pumpkin seeds and crema Mexicana.

Stinking Rose

Address: 55 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Garlic-laden Italian.

Comments: The perfect Halloween dining spot may be Dracula's Grotto here. This and other areas of the restaurant receive the full decor treatment for Halloween. There will even be guest ``witches'' from the spirit world on hand.

Picks: Complimentary appetizers, probably prepared with plenty of garlic, and special drink prices should lure a six-deep bar crowd. And for dinner's main course, there's the signature 40-clove garlic chicken dish with garlic mashed potatoes, obviously designed to keep any vampire at bay, as well as friends and relatives.

Taix

Address: 1911 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Country French.

Comments: Appropriate decor and staffers in costume should make this a festive evening. Dinner served from 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations required.

Picks: The special menu features a filet mignon dinner for only $9.95. The meal includes a tureen of soup, a house green salad and pumpkin ice cream for dessert.