Beleaguered area restaurateurs wait for next onslaught of the business bellybusters.

Westside restaurant owners, already suffering the effects of the recession and reduced tourism caused by the recent riots, say one more burden -- be it a change in state tax deductions for business expenses or stricter no-smoking rules -- is likely to push a number of them out of business.

"Many restaurants are on the brink, in danger of closing," said Ron Wallace, general manager of Orleans Restaurant in West Los Angeles. "I think we will see more of the fine dining places closing. Jobs are definitely going to go if the economy doesn't improve."

The Westside restaurant industry appears to have been hardest hit because that part of town abounds with trendy, high-priced eateries that people can do without when they're trimming their budgets; they can eat at Marie Callender's, for example, instead of Eureka of West Los Angeles, which recently closed its doors.

"I heard Marie Callender's did great business on Mother's Day," commented Wallace. A fine dining establishment could once count on holidays and weekends for a packed house, Wallace said, but recession-weary consumers are turning more often to medium-priced chains. Orleans is responding by adding more variety to its menu, in the form of lower-priced pasta dishes.

"You do what you have to do," Wallace said. "Overall, the economy has been affecting us for a year and a half. We're still holding on."

The California Restaurant Association is spending much of its time fighting state Assembly Bill 2838, which would lower the state tax exemption for business entertainment expenses from 80 percent to 68 percent. Some restaurant owners feel such a change would have little effect on people's propensity to take business lunches. But Scott Read, media relations statistician for the restaurant association, said it could be just enough of a problem to push some restaurants over the edge.

"The general view is it's slow, people are watching their pennies," said Read. "There are some restaurants that are struggling, and they've made it so far, but things are bad, and this is one more thing. There's a lot of small restaurants struggling, and all they need is one more thing cutting into their business. That's the way they look at it."

Mark Segal, vice president of finance for California Beach Restaurants, said even the inclement weather this past year has been a problem for Gladstone's in Pacific Palisades, one of two restaurants owned by his company.

"Gladstone's is fighting not only the recession and the riots and the drop-off in tourism, but it's also very weather-dependent," said Segal. "It's just hard to say where business is going to go in the next three to six months."

Other restaurants are concerned about the continued efforts of Los Angeles city officials to shrink or eliminate their smoking sections.

"It makes it difficult for us," said Jimmy Murphy, owner of Jimmy's restaurant in Century City, just west of the Beverly Hills border.

Even worse, said Murphy, has been the effect of the riots on tourism. After the riots ended, people across the country continued to see news of related events, such as the new trial for one of the police officers involved in the Rodney King beating and the arraignments of four men accused in the beating of a truck driver, he noted.

"It's the first thing on the national news every day," said Murphy. "The riots have turned people off. People who were coming to town have canceled. It's very negative news."

Segal said all restaurant owners in town are "nervous to see what impacts the riots are going to have on us on a long-term basis."

Wallace said Orleans Restaurant was closed for four days during the curfew, and business was slow for two weeks after the riots. Things have been "slowly coming back" since, he said.

Wallace is among those hoping that the new "L.A. a la carte" food and music festival at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in August, which will feature food samples from top area restaurants, will help improve traffic in Westside eateries.

When the former "Seagram's Taste of L.A." festival died last year, buried by rubber checks and unpaid bills, many were concerned that the lack of a restaurant festival would bring further harm to the industry. Now they are optimistic that this new festival, produced by James Wurster of "Taste of Orange County" fame, will be better and more successful than the "Taste of L.A." was.

"L.A. a la carte is extremely well-organized and professional, more so than the other one; it's going to be better than ever," predicted Ann Flower, spokeswoman for the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. "It's really going to benefit charity this time."

Murphy said he's for "anything we can do to get back to normal."

"It was unfortunate that the people doing it (Taste of L.A.) got into trouble," Murphy said. "Certainly, things like that do not help the business."