TRAVEL TALES : THE DELICIOUS SIDE OF VENTURA.

Byline: Jeremy Bagott Daily News Staff Writer

In the days before banana-nut muffins and home cholesterol tests, grizzled longshoremen, pot-bellied trawler captains, cannery workers and assorted characters frequented small seaside eateries in the wee hours of the morning, fortifying themselves with hearty breakfasts of eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, toast and coffee. Now, you can, too.

As if preserved in Jurassic amber, a row of heirloom beach breakfast huts awaits in Ventura's Pierpont Beach district (a 45- minute drive from the San Fernando Valley, off the Ventura Freeway (101) at Seaward Avenue, then west one-quarter mile toward the water).

``For a breakfast joint to earn the name `hut' or `shack,' it ought to have been a person's house at one time,'' says Norm Honus over a bowl of oatmeal at Mrs. Olson's Coffee Hut at nearby Hollywood Beach. Honus, a retired oil platform roughneck, knows these Ventura and Oxnard breakfast joints like he does the backs of his calloused hands.

``No restaurant that hasn't been someone's house,'' says Honus, ``will have that proper ugly-duckling feel to it: the dinky bathroom with the bad tile job, the walls all over the place, the low ceiling.''

On top of Honus' criteria, a true breakfast hut will have few, if any, telltales of corporate restaurantdom - cutesy copper sauce pans hanging from hooks over country kitchen wallpaper, teen-age hostesses with glued-on smiles behind ``Please, wait to be seated'' stands, phony Fiberglas brick walls.

The true breakfast shack is small and raucous. A few grease-covered cobwebs may hang from a broken ceiling fan overhead. Its walls are adorned with faded black-and-white photos of motor launches named Sea Tortoise and Happy Hooker, and photos of long-dead anglers in peaked skipper hats, striped shirts and scarfs posing beside big, upside-down marlin.

If there must be a taxidermied fish on the wall, let it be old, real and a little dusty. Ditto, any lead diving boots, deep-sea rods, sconces, velvet paintings and other decor.

The waitresses, all of whom will remember you between even the most infrequent of visits, offer hugs at the door. And you should never feel underdressed in a breakfast hut, even in a Speedo and a shirt unbuttoned to the navel.

Sandra Bullock thought the Pierpont Beach cookeries photogenic enough to make them the backdrop of her recent movie short ``Making Sandwiches'' with Matthew McConaughey. In no particular order, they are:

Seaside Johnny's (1140 S. Seaward Ave.; 805-652-1095). While patrons wake up over mugs of strong coffee, read the paper and pick at crab and shrimp omelets in the front, the previous night's revelers nurse bloody Marys, and hangovers, in Johnny's bar on the other end of a long hallway in the rear.

The Foglifter Coffee House (1121 S. Seaward Ave.; 805-648-7339). Gingerbread house atmosphere. Feel free to praise the cabinet work, done by co-owner Nancy Gelaca's brother-in-law. While the staff serves up fresh coffee, muffins and bagels, the west-facing veranda serves up an ocean view and a little warmth from the sun.

Duke's Griddle 'N' Grill (1124 S. Seaward Ave.; 805-653-0707). Rambunctious, with vintage longboards on its walls and a charm that may not be apparent at first glance.

Weekend mornings, even foggy ones, it's packed. The Surfer Special - two eggs, two pieces of toast and Duke's fried potatoes with onions and green peppers - can be had for $1.99, provided you order it before 9 a.m. A dedicated few order teriyaki pork chops with rice and pineapple for breakfast. Others gluttonize on Duke's Kona hot cakes - pancakes with macadamia nuts and banana. All food is ordered at the counter.

Full of Beans coffee house (1124-A S. Seaward Ave.; 805-648-1194). Claims ``the best beans on the beach.'' The counter is cluttered with three large Rolodex wheels containing the names and stamp cards of its patrons. Fill up a stamp card, get a free coffee. Its muffins, scones and bagels are all fresh.

Mrs. Olson's Coffee Hut (117 Los Altos; 805-985-9151). In a vast sea of beach breakfast joints, it's an oyster. The huevos rancheros is to die for (order it with half beans, half potatoes). Buried in a residential area off nearby Hollywood Beach, it's not easy to find, but well worth the effort. From Seaward, head south on Harbor Boulevard about three miles, go right on Channel Islands Boulevard, then left on Sunset Lane to Los Altos. Call if you get lost and you'll be talked in.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) Duke's Griddle 'N' Grill, 1124 S. Seaward Ave., Ventura, offers a charm that may not be apparent at first glance.

(2) Bob Quiroz and Lilyan Barrett eat breakfast at Duke's. Weekend mornings, even foggy ones, it's packed.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News