FARE FARES WELL DINERS STILL BACK SMALL BUSINESSES.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK - This city's menu of sit-down dining choices has exploded as chain after chain restaurant has come to town, but the fare at Burbank's independently owned eateries is keeping some customers loyal.

Including cafeterias, Burbank boasts 333 eating establishments, according to the city. While it's unclear how many of those are small businesses rather than large chain restaurants, the California Restaurant Association estimates that 70 percent of restaurants nationwide are small businesses.

At the Riverside Cafe, husband-and-wife team Michael and Paula Kidby draw customers from the nearby Los Angeles Equestrian Center and surrounding neighborhood.

The cafe, at 1221 W. Riverside Drive, is in its 11th year of operation. It offers a variety of food and the intimate feel of the corner cafe, meant to look like a neighborhood pub with a gas fireplace and horse brasses on the wall.

Brian Frank, a server at another restaurant, said he started coming to the cafe soon after he moved to Burbank two years ago. One of the things that impresses him about the cafe is it serves steak tartar, a raw fillet of beef few restaurants offer.

``It's great because you're in Burbank and you can have stuff like that, and you can tell (that) the person making the food loves making the food,'' said Frank, 33.

For Diego Corte, 28, the place to get a reliable meal is Pinocchio Italian Restaurant. Pinocchio combines a buffet-style restaurant with a deli that stocks goods such as pesto and cookies imported from Italy.

``This reminds me of home. The music too, old style,'' said Corte, a Burbank resident who is originally from Italy.

Laura Brankovich, whose father took over the business in 1969, said the deli at 3103 W. Magnolia Blvd. gets many Italian-American customers. Some of them come from far away, such as Valencia or Orange County, to get the items they cannot find at their local markets.

Burbank residents used to have limited dining options. That has changed as numerous chain restaurants came to town.

Gordon Biersch Restaurant opened in 1998; the following year saw the addition of the Elephant Bar to the downtown area, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse made its debut in 2000, Outback Steakhouse opened in 2001 and Arnie Morton's, the Steakhouse, opened the year after that.

Since the beginning of this year, Romano's Macaroni Grill and P.F. Chang's China Bistro have opened. A Hooters restaurant is set to open later this month and a Pasta Pomodoro will open later this year.

``For the most part, a lot of times you'll see people frequent a chain restaurant for ... familiarity, product loyalty, consistency and just a name brand ID,'' said Jot Condie, president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association.

Still, some smaller, individual eateries manage to thrive.

Chili John's at 2018 W. Burbank Blvd. has been in business since 1946 and is family owned. The restaurant serves mild, medium and hot chili, but is closed during the hot months of July and August.

A more recently opened eatery in the downtown area is the Brazilian restaurant Picanha, which is owned not by a Brazilian but by Atta Taher, who is from Egypt. Diners at Picanha can dine on all-you-can-eat meat, which is barbecued on skewers over mesquite charcoal and served by men dressed as ``gauchos,'' the Brazilian equivalent to a cowboy.

Some particularly carnivorous customers will sit at the restaurant for hours until they get their fill.

``It happens all the time but we don't say anything,'' said Carlos Perin, a chef and gaucho at the restaurant, which is at 269 E. Palm Ave.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) A rider on horseback, above, leaves the Riverside Cafe in Burbank after stopping to get a drink. Paula Kidby, left, co-owner of the Riverside Cafe, welcomes customers inside for an early lunch.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer