That's entertainment: thrills, chills, pool tables - Column

You're opening a new restaurant, and you want it to stand out from the crowd. So chances are you'll spike your concept with some form of entertainment, maybe even thrills and chills.

Perhaps in response to the shortened attention spans ofd today's consumers, Southern California restaurateurs seems bent on argumenting foodservice with non-dining diversions.

Pie legend Don Callender installed a crash-course jet pilot school and costly military flight simulators in his new Bottom Gun eatery in Moreno Valley earlier this year.

And in Century City, Los Angeles, Steven Speilberg and Levy Restaurants are preparing to launch a special-effects blockbuster called the Dive that will simulate submarine dining.

Near the Knott's Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park, a McDonald's franchisee recently installed a motion-synchronize space flight simulator not unlike Disneyland's Star Tours ride and Universal Studios Tour's "Back to the Future" attraction. For about the cost of a Big Mac combo meal, a customer can take a quick thrill ride in the quarter -million-dollar contraption.

All the rage with more conventional entertainment buffs are the '40s-style conga lines and swingband shtick of the Moonlight Tango Cafe in Sherman Oaks. But Papadakis Taverna in the San Pedro is the place to go for Greek-style carryings-on, from acrobatic singing waiters to plate-bashing rounds of applause.

Jazz reigns at Bernard Jacoupy's bistro-style Lunaria, near Century City, while cabaret's the thing at Mario Tamayo's glitzy Atlas Bar & Grill nightclub in mid-Wilshire L.A.

The latest "in" spot among Southern california's fun-and-games dining contenders is the improbably inconspicuous Gotham Hall, a quirky yet posh hideaway at the top of a stairway of of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

Known for attracting the likes of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore as well as Magic Johnson, Woody Harrelson and entire movie crews for "wrap" parties, the purple-hued Gotham Hall lures throngs of scene-makers who sometimes must stand in line for regulated admission.

Gotham Hall boasts on enticing menu created by transplanted St. Louis chef-restaurateur Davis Slay of Beverly Hills' popular David Slay's La Veranda. But dining reservations are not usually hard to come by despite the crowds. That's because patrons are mainly drawn to the stylishly hip place by its vast expanse of pool tables.

Renee and Albert Mizrahi, who spent about $3 million to launch Gotham Hall, apparently will recoup their investment more from pool revenues than from profits on Slay's imaginative appetizers, crisp-crusted designer pizzas and few main-course creations.

Still, the restaurant side of the business isn't likely to languish behind the eight ball, especially on weekends, when dinner reservations assure Gotham fans of instant access to the new-wave pool hall.

Border crossing: Maybe it's all the NAFTA-mania in the air these days. I'm talking about Taco Bell's quantum leap this month with the introduction of its new "Cross the Border" advertising slogan. Having tapped the time-honored "Run for the Border" motto for all it was worth, the chain inaugurated the Cross the Border era in conjunction with the launch of its 99-cent SevenLaver Burrito--beans, rice, pepper cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole. I suppose that means Ross Perot won't be eating at Taco Bell any more.

Chicken stuffing: The fast-food "value wars" have entered a new phrase: All you can eat. While some KFC units have taken to offering limitless buffets including chicken, a franchised El Pollo Loco branch in Lakewood, Calif., has feathered its nest by doling out all-you-can-eat meals of the chain's marinated, flamegrilled chicken.

The El Pollo Loco, owned by WKS restaurant Corp., tried coupons and discount promotions to boost sluggish business until Flagstar Inc. hired veteran quick-serve executive Raymond Perry as EPL's president last June.

Responding to what WKS said was Perry's call for local-marketing creativity, the franchisee began offering unlimited portions on usually slow Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.

For $3.99 at lunch and $4.99 at dinner, a threepiece meal with two side dishes comes with endless refills of chicken wings and such side choices as beans, corn, spanish rice, coleslaw and potato salad. After scoring a "tremendous" boost in business, the eat-in special went daily and is being studied by EPL, which recently launched a six-item chicken burrito line chainwide as KFC's new rotisserie product pecks away at the local non-fried Pollo market.

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