DINING BEAT : GET `REAL' AT BEPPO.

Byline: Larry Lipson

Don't expect to see the new Buca di Beppo restaurant, 17500 Ventura Blvd., Encino, serving lunch.

That's because the former Adam's facility terms itself a ``dinner only restaurant.''

Newest of a Minneapolis-based chain of family restaurants that describes its food as Southern Italian immigrant cuisine, the Encino Buca di Beppo made its debut Tuesday evening.

First-nighters saw the 1,200 vintage family photos on the walls and experienced the hearty Italian-American fare.

It's the backlash to nuovo cucina, the return to red and white checkered tablecloths and spaghetti and meatballs.

The Buca people call it ``real Italian food - family recipes that originated in the tiny Southern villages of Italy and then served in immigrant homes in America.''

This translates into ``true Southern Italian red sauce specialties'' like linguine with clam sauce, ravioli, chicken cacciatore, rigatoni Positano and the signature spaghetti and meatballs dish of 2 pounds of pasta and three half-pound meatballs, enough seemingly to feed that entire tiny Southern Italian village.

This is not only food that you share, obviously served family style. It's also food you take home - simply because it's impossible to eat it all.

Look for the pictures of Sophia Loren and Joe DiMaggio, listen to the music of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and pig out at Buca di Beppo.

Limited reservation policy. Call [phone].

Chinese for charity

Tuesday was also the opening of a new Chinese restaurant at 18101 Chatsworth St., Granada Hills titled Pick Up Stix.

Tuesday's debut was an invitation-only event honoring Haven Hills Inc., a San Fernando Valley shelter for battered women and their children.

For detailed information about Pick Up Stix, call [phone].