STARCH YOUR ENGINES PAT & OSCAR'S SERVES SIMPLE MEALS AND CARRIES A BIG BREAD STICK.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

A BREAD STICK FAD must be going on.

Both the new Stonefire Grill in West Hills (reviewed here last week) and the new Pat & Oscar's, bordering Glendale on Los Feliz Boulevard, have thick, doughy ones as their signature items.

In fact, Pat & Oscar's, a chain operated by the same people who own Sizzler, is remarkably similar to the Stonefire Grill.

But where tri-tip is co-billed with chicken there, baby back ribs co-star at Pat & Oscar's.

There's a similar supporting cast of salads, pizzas and pastas, but the salads aren't nearly as bountiful in the small size and the corkscrew pasta (not penne, as illustrated on the backlit menu board) has less interesting sauces.

However, the sole pizza tried ($12.29), which had an unusual gyro meat topping with feta cheese, tomatoes, red onions and a crunchy sesame seed crust, certainly overshadowed the less expensive Stonefire pizza.

Cobb salad ($6.79), deemed passable, would have been better if finely chopped. But a quartet of the baby back ribs (with a sort of dry-rub barbecue saucing, $8.49) were nice and meaty and came with three of those fat bread sticks and a small salad.

The chicken (lemon-style, $7.49), sad to say, was a tad too dry for my liking.

Pat & Oscar's is a well-lit, airy, bright yellow-toned place, with an order-and-pay-at-the-counter arrangement.

Yes, it's also one of those that gives you a plastic disc with a number on it and a cup for your drink.

One time I noticed one customer who had a lot of trouble at the beverage dispenser trying to hold on to his plastic disc while pressing the button to discharge his drink while steadying his cup under the spout and retaining his receipt.

First he dropped the numbered disc. Then he dropped the receipt. Finally, he put one or both in his pocket before managing to fill his cup.

So much for self-service.

Anyway, once you place the numbered disc on its stand on the table, you wait for your food to come.

You have to be alert because the server has a tendency to want to take the number away before you receive everything you've ordered and paid for.

``Hey, wait a minute,'' I said, ``we didn't get our potatoes yet.''

The order of baked, seasoned, small wedged potatoes (99 cents) actually are pretty tasty. Unfortunately, if you've already stuffed yourself with one or two of the chubby bread sticks, you're only boosting your starch intake to new highs.

But at this price you won't mind leaving some.

As for desserts, nothing much here other than a passable rectangular brownie ($1.59).

But like Stonefire, Pat & Oscar's lists things in all these different sizes. For example, you can get half a dozen chicken wings with a salad and three bread sticks for $6.49. Or nine wings a la carte for $5.99, or 18 for $9.49. There's even a kiddie meal of three wings with potatoes and two bread sticks for $3.59.

You get the feeling that if you wanted 100 or 1,000 of these wings, Pat & Oscar's would be willing to negotiate.

Especially if you asked for an equal number of its precious bread sticks.

PAT & OSCAR'S

Food: Two stars. Value: Two and one half stars.

Where: 2921 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles. (Also in Puente Hills, Irvine and elsewhere.)

Hours: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Recommended items: Gyro pizza, baby back ribs, potato wedges.

How much: Sandwiches, salads and pizzas from $5.79 to $20; entrees for one (with salad and bread sticks) from $6 to $8.49. Slab of ribs $18. Whole chicken $9.49. Desserts 99 cents and $1.59. No alcohol yet. Major credit cards.

Wine list: Beer and wine license pending.

Reservations: Not taken. First come, first served. Information and takeout orders: [phone].

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) Pat & Oscar's in Los Angeles serves its bread sticks big and doughy and its ribs dry-rub style.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News