CHANGES BREWING ON CITYWALK.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

Microbrew fanciers from the San Diego area know Karl Strauss very well.

His brews and restaurants in downtown San Diego, La Jolla, Sorrento Mesa and Carlsbad have brought him justifiable popularity and local fame.

Now he's brought his act to Los Angeles, more specifically Universal City.

As one of Universal CityWalk's 15 new eating and drinking opportunities, the Karl Strauss restaurant may be the best sit-down, full-service place in the entire complex.

And you don't have to be a brew lover to appreciate it.

Of course, it doesn't hurt if you like sipping well-made, cleanly finished beers and ales with your meal. There's even a consumer-friendly oatmeal stout among the Strauss options.

Best deal for first-timers is the sampler of eight five-ounce glasses for a reasonable $6.95. One night they consisted of a tasty wheat beer, a refreshing amber lager, an Austrian-type lager, a German-style golden ale, an easy-to-drink pale ale, a richer red ale, a big golden dopplebock beer and the already mentioned oatmeal stout.

Also available these days is the just-released Octoberfest beer. It is typically blond and Bavarian in style, inoffensive and, again, a cleanly made brew that goes well with food.

And that's the way to enjoy the Strauss foamy beverages, with the restaurant's well-thought-out, beer-compatible fare.

I don't think I've enjoyed on-premises-produced beer and food together as much in the Los Angeles area since Wolfgang Puck's ill-fated Eureka seduced my palate a few years ago.

Some of the better ways to start out here are meaty.

The kitchen marinates beef in a spiced soy sauce and orange juice mixture, flame-grills strips of the meat on skewers, stacks them dramatically on a mound of cut, raw cabbage and serves them with piquant, green chimichurri dipping sauce as ``Argentinean-style'' for $6.95.

The result: tender and tasty.

Sausages, a natural with beer, receive the necessary attention here, a satisfying trio of them (smoked chicken-apple, andouille and bratwurst) offered as a sampler starter ($7.50) on skewers with bell peppers, onions and a honey-mustard sauce. As an entree the beer-steamed bratwurst and spicy andouille sausages ($9.95) can be had with the kitchen's excellent fries and braised red cabbage.

Beer also is used in cooking the fine red bean and beef house chili ($3.95 and $4.95), a soupy rendition, with onions, peppers, tortilla strips, cilantro and cheddar.

Ironically, there appears to be more tortilla strips in the chili than in a du jour tortilla soup ($3.25 and $4.50) one day, and the regular black bean soup ($3.25 and $4.50) seems thicker than the chili.

Textures aside, all of them generate good tastes.

But the most memorable beginning dish is an Asian-inspired recipe of stir-fried diced chicken with celery and water chestnuts bound with a thick red chile sauce, served with separated, fresh lettuce leaves and a cool cucumber relish, allowing the diner to make his or her own, individual lettuce wraps ($6.50).

The kitchen looks to Asia again, this time Thailand, for a delicious chicken breast offering. It's marinated, flame-grilled and served moist with a touch of smokiness. Accompaniments (nicely executed basmati rice, steamed broccoli, spicy chile dipping sauce and hoisin-peanut dipping sauce) make this entree ($11.95) extra special.

Also enjoyed here: a cheese steak sandwich ($9.50), a respectable plate of beer-battered fish and chips ($11.95), and a thick Cajun-style seafood stew ($12.95). The stew, incorrectly labeled a gumbo, displayed a scattering of scallops, Manila clams and shrimp.

Incidentally, the sandwich hardly resembles the Philadelphia original: This one in a baguette with good-quality sliced ribeye, real cheddar instead of Cheese Whiz, caramelized onions and mushrooms, served up with crispy fries and horseradish sauce.

The perfect companion to your choice of brew.

Karl Strauss Brewery Garden.

Where: Universal CityWalk, 1000 Universal Center Drive, Universal City.

When: Open for lunch and snacks from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Sunday, for dinner and snacks from 4 to 10 p.m. nightly, to 11 p.m. Thursday, to midnight Friday and Saturday, bar open to 1 a.m. on the weekend. Dining room open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, bar to 11 p.m.

Recommended items: Red trolley chili, black bean soup, beef skewers, chicken lettuce wraps, sausage sampler, Bangkok chicken, cheese steak sandwich, fish and chips, Cajun stew, beer sampler.

Children's menu: Five plates (chicken fingers, fish & chips, penne pasta two ways, burger) with beverage ($3.95 each).

How much: Starters and salads from $3 to $11, sandwiches $8 to $9.50, entrees from $9 to $19, desserts from $5.25 to $6. Full bar (serves all cocktails, but only Strauss beers). One dollar off all beers 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays. AE, M, V.

Wine list: No actual written list. A few wines stocked. But draft beers are the thing here. Ten taps available by the sampler ($6.95 for 40 ounces), pint ($4.50) and 20-ounce (super pint, $5.50).

Reservations: Taken for parties of eight or more. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three and one half stars for food; three and one half stars for service.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) Chef Eric Trevino, left, holds plate of fish and chips and a seared salmon salad while assistant manager Michael Hill holds a sampling of the handcrafted beers available at the Karl Strauss Brewery Gardens in Universal CityWalk, above. The beers, top, can include amber lager, golden ale, dopplebock beer or stout.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer