DINE BEAT : RESTAURANT NOTES LAST-MINUTE MOM MEALS.

Byline: - Larry Lipson, Restaurant Critic

Last-minute Mother's Day possibilities include such big-time brunch spots as the Odyssey, 15600 Odyssey Drive, Granada Hills, [phone]; Castaway, 1250 Harvard Road, Burbank, [phone]; 94th Aero Squadron, 16320 Raymer Ave., Van Nuys, [phone]; and the Sportsmen's Lodge, 12833 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, [phone].

The latter has a deal where moms receive a free brunch (along with any tots under 5) when there are three paid, $24.95, brunch patrons in the party.

If Mother likes magic, Wizardz in Universal City's CityWalk at 1000 Universal Center Drive, [phone], could be the place to take her.

If she wants a luxury sit-down lunch or brunch, consider Checkers at the Wyndham Checkers Hotel, 535 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles, or the $44 brunch buffet offering at the hard-to-find Sunset Marquis Hotel, 1200 N. Alta Loma Road, West Hollywood, [phone].

And if she used to love going to Scandia, there's a new dining spot in the same building called Legacy, 9040 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, [phone], that surely will bring back memories.

Expanding its pincers 

After being dark for around a decade and a half, The Lobster, a landmark seafood restaurant since 1923 at the pier in Santa Monica, is undergoing expansion from its original cramped 860 square feet to a new spacious 4,000 square feet (125 seats). Owner Jack De Nicola says it will reopen in early June at 1602 Ocean Ave.

De Nicola, who was a partner at TriBeca in Beverly Hills prior to its sale, snagged celebrity ocean-fare chef Allyson Thurber, formerly of the Water Grill, downtown Los Angeles, and Striped Bass in Philadelphia to help plan the menu and head the Lobster's kitchen.

Live Maine lobster will be the signature item, said De Nicola. But other lobsters, like those from Santa Barbara or Australia, also will show up.

He described the culinary direction as ``classic seafood'' and said that the menu plans are still in progress. Price-wise, they're shooting for a $30 to $35 dinner check average.

Information: [phone].

Napkin notes

On the coffee shop front, Paty's, the longtime Toluca Lake hangout at 10001 Riverside Drive, has closed, and the combined Carriage Inn Coffee Shop and adjacent Carriage Room at 5525 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, is sporting a Denny's sign. . . . On the lunch front, both Charlie G's Prime Steakhouse, 18663 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, [phone], and One, 672 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, [phone], are serving lunch on weekdays.

Like the new, frozen Chasen's chili, those famous souffles from the Bistro Garden (formerly of Beverly Hills, now solely in Studio City) now can be found frozen ($13.99 per package of four) at Gelson's (and Mayfair) supermarkets. . . . Cafe Mirabeau, the hideaway, Provencal-style breakfast, lunch and tea spot at Frederic Fekkai's hair salon at 440 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, is a year old. . . . Family-style dining circa 1927-64 in the country French manner of Taix, 1911 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles - back then known as Les Freres Taix - has been brought back every second Friday of each month.

The 7 p.m. dinner is six courses long and priced at $15.95 per person. Next one: May 14. Details and reservations: [phone]. . . . Cafe 8-1/2, 18588 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, replacing Buky's County Line, is trying hard to open by May 15. Information: 343-8588.