Small Bites: 50% off at the Smoke House; Pinkberry introduces chocolate yogurt; Stone Fire Pizza reborn as Oak Fire

Half off at the Smoke House: If you're not utterly sick of food by the day after Thanksgiving, old-school steakhouse Smoke House will be offering 50% off its entire menu Friday from 3 to 11 p.m. Slip into a red leather booth, order a basket of its famous cheese bread and sip a martini while soaking up the ambiance of this classic restaurant, which celebrated its 63rd birthday in October. Reservations recommended. 4420 W. Lakeside Drive, Burbank. (818) 845-3731, www.smokehouse1946.com.

Pinkberry goes brown: The fro-yo purveyor will make its newest flavor, chocolate, available in California on Friday.

The name game: It didn't happen in summer as Greg Morris had planned, but Stone Fire Pizza has finally and officially rechristened itself as Oak Fire Pizzeria & Pub. Morris, the man behind the Spanish Kitchen, the Belmont, the upcoming Olive and most recently the Oaks gourmet market, made the change to eliminate any brand confusion with a similarly named L.A. chain (cough, cough, Pitfire Pizza). In addition to thin-crust and deep-dish Chicago-style pies, it boasts a full bar with artisanal liquors and a rotating selection of microbrews. 829 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood. (310) 659-8848, www.oakfirepizza.com.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo credit: Jill Connelly / For The Times

Small Bites: Street's new seasonal menu, Kitchen 24's new cupcakes, Agura's new happy hour

Word on the Street: This Friday, Susan Feniger's Street officially debuts its new seasonal dinner menu, featuring: Argentinian/Italian ricotta dumplings simmered in brown butter and lemon with celery root puree; black-eyed pea fritters; lamb kafta meatballs; Moscow-style eggplant; toasted amaranth, chicken and spoon bread dumplings; beef tenderloin schnitzel; honey-glazed Peking quail; barbecued Hawaiian pork wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked over a marinade of sugar cane, pineapple and soy; and more. The new lunch menu, which debuts on Saturday, also has several additions: mini Kobe beef chili dogs; crispy lamb taquitos; Vietnamese pulled pork sandwiches; Andouille sausage and shrimp gumbo; Moroccan spiced winter squash with roasted chestnuts; Burmese lettuce wraps with lentils, toasted coconut, peanuts, fried onions and sesame ginger dressing; Hawaiian ono sashimi in spicy sesame mayo; and more. 742 N. Highland Ave., L.A. (323) 203-0500, www.eatatstreet.com.

Cocktails and cupcakes: Kitchen 24's pastry chef, Daisy Roman, recently launched a featured daily cupcake at the 24-hour Cahuenga corridor diner. Flavors include: chocolate (Monday), carrot (Tuesday), vanilla (Wednesday), pumpkin (Thursday), winter mint chocolate (Friday), buttered pecan (Saturday) and red velvet (Sunday). Kitchen 24 also debuted four seasonal cocktails, including the Sweet-Tartini with muddled cranberries, Tanqueray, elderflower liqueur, cranberry juice and lime juice; and the Hot Spiced Cider with unfiltered apple juice, Jim Beam, orange liqueur and a secret spice syrup. 1608 N. Cahuenga Blvd., L.A. (323) 465-2424, www.kitchen24.info.

C'mon, get happy: Sushi and Japanese fusion restaurant Agura, the latest addition to La Cienega's restaurant row, recently launched a happy hour that features 50% off drinks and $3 to $5 small plates of salmon nachos, fried popcorn shrimp, spicy tuna and yellowtail rolls, shrimp-wrapped spring rolls, unagi avocado rolls, takoyaki and more. (10 p.m. to midnight Monday to Saturday and 6 p.m. to midnight Sunday). 514 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood. (310) 289-1940, www.aguradining.com.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: The interior of Kitchen 24 in Hollywood. Credit: From Kitchen 24.

Today only: Free flatbread lunch at Jamba Juice (and some fine print)

Today, your meal could be on Jamba Juice. The chain's giving away free food as part of a promotion for its California Flatbreads, which come in four flavors: Tomo Artichoko, Smokehouse Chicken, MediterraneYum and Four Cheesy.

So what's the catch? First, not all outlets are participating -- just the ones that offer flatbreads -- so you might want to look up your local Jamba Juice here and check before you head out. Second: Only the first 150 people will get the freebie. Third: The giveaway won't start until 2 p.m. and runs until 5.

But still ... it's hard to beat the price tag: Free.

Another highlight: The flatbreads are all less than 330 calories, with no preservatives, no artificial flavors, no trans fats and, if you care about such things, no high fructose corn syrup.

Have you tried the flatbreads? Which flavor do you suggest? I think I need to round up three friends and try them all.

-- Rene Lynch

Photo: Smokehouse Chicken flatbread. Credit: Jamba Juice

DineLA Restaurant Week extended

The first fall edition of dineLA Restaurant Week has been such a success that it has been extended for an extra week. This season saw the participation of 260 restaurants, and now more than 200 have decided to continue offering the prix-fixe specials that define the program (which is poised to enter its third year).

The three price tiers remain the same. Deluxe Dining: $16 lunch, $26 dinner; Premier Dining: $22 lunch, $34 dinner; and Fine Dining $28 lunch, $44 dinner.

Now is your chance to eat at that ritzy place you've always wanted to try. See the dineLA website for participating restaurants.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Chefs, from left: John England of Rosa Mexicano, Walter Eckstein of Lawry's the Prime Rib, Alain Giraud of Anisette Brasserie, Jason Johnston of Dakota Steakhouse and Eric Greenspan of the Foundry on Melrose, with the dineLA food truck at Road Stoves. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Delicious Deals: It's Thai Hometaurant

If you're among the many people this season who are cutting back on dining out, then you'll be happy to learn about a little-known strip mall gem in Echo Park called It's Thai Hometaurant. Open for a just under a year, the diminutive restaurant is sandwiched between a Burger King and a WIC office, just down the street from the Echoplex.

It's got a gorgeous little outdoor patio filled with lush green potted plants and chic tables and chairs. The back walls of the patio are made of corrugated steel, which is painted with funky colors. The inside is all low light and deep orange hues, with pleasant table settings and satisfyingly heavy cast iron teapots.

Best of all, though, are the incredibly reasonable dinner specials on offer. For $8 you get soup (a tasty miso broth with tofu), salad (with deep-green greens) and your choice of entree (pork, chicken, tofu or vegetable). Add $1 for beef or $2 for scallops or shrimp. Entrees include spicy eggplant, spicy garlic, cashew nuts and red chile paste, panang curry, asparagus and shiitake mushroom and more. 

This isn't greasy, MSG-laden food either. It's nuanced and flavorful and presented on square porcelain plates and in fragile bowls, with light sauces and purple-colored brown rice. That's in large part due to the care of chef Danny Suptong, who once worked at Pimai restaurant on Franklin Avenue. 

There's nothing quite like dining on a quiet, satisfying meal with friends at It's Thai to make you wonder why on Earth all those people just across the way are spending almost as much money for their Burger King value meals.

-- Jessica Gelt  

Photo: Charlie Amter

Recession Busters: Free dinner at new Stonefire Grill

Stonefire Grill -- the mini-chain with locations in Valencia, Irvine, Chatsworth, Fountain Valley and West Hills -- is opening a new restaurant in Pasadena. The pre-opening party takes place Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. On offer: free dinner. But be sure to leave a tip (and a big one if you can swing it) because all tips go to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Owner Mary Harrigan's nephew, Brenden, suffers from the disease, and she has long been involved in the fight to find a cure.

Stonefire Grill specializes in American fare with a menu full of, you guessed it, grilled chicken, tri-tip and baby back ribs. Stonefire Grill, 473 N. Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena. RSVP to (818) 991-4054, Ext. 0.

--Jessica Gelt

Photo: Stonefire Grill

BlackboardEats.com: New website brings you L.A. restaurant deals

Today marks the launch of a new website called BlackboardEats.com. Add it to your list of regular e-blasts (I get Daily Candy, Urban Daddy, Tasting Table and the Rundown among others) and wait for some very fine L.A. restaurant deals to be sent to your in-box twice weekly.

Besides giving you background and information on a particular restaurant and a regular rundown of deals around town, the website (subscription is free) offers you the option of signing up to get a discount at different restaurants. For example, you can sign up to receive 30% off your next bill at Akasha. 

Specials like that are available for only 24 hours, so you've got the rest of the night to sign up for the Akasha deal. Once you do, an e-mail is sent to you with a pass code that you then give to the restaurant upon arrival. You can only use your pass code for a particular restaurant once, and once you receive it you've got 30 days to use it. 

It will be interesting to find out how well this works as time passes. It seems like a great way to get people to visit your restaurant for the first time. Kind of like Restaurant Week all year long.

-- Jessica Gelt

Credit: BlackboardEats logo from BlackboardEats.com

Small Bites: Brunch at Allston Yacht Club, free dessert at Shin, free drinks tonight at Magnolia for Britney Spears' ticket holders

Sunday brunch in the neighborhood: Allston Yacht Club, the friendly Echo Park neighborhood restaurant, has begun serving Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The restaurant, known best for its  eclectic small-plates dinner menu and creative cocktails, will serve up tasty dishes including duck confit and sweet potato hash, biscuits and gravy, gravlax, organic house-made granola and yogurt and more. Need some hair of the dog? Try the AYC Ship to Shore bloody Mary, a classic Sazerac or mimosa. This new development should keep Echo Park locals from rushing to Silver Lake for their weekend-morning food fix. Allston Yacht Club, 1320 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 481-0454. www.allstonyachtclub.com.

Let them eat free cake! Simon Shin's hip Hollywood Korean barbecue restaurant, Shin, is celebrating its one year anniversary this month. To honor customers and generally make diners happy, the restaurant will be giving free "Shin Cake" to parties of four or more who have ordered the all-you-can-eat barbecue menu. (I recommend this option. At $25, it's a steal, and Shin's barbecue is particularly yummy, especially the beef short ribs.) "Shin Cake" is basically a green tea powder-infused rice flour pancake stuffed with cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Shin, 1600 Wilcox Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 465-4100. www.shinbbq.com.

Drink it up for Britney: Tonight only, if you are one of the lucky fans going to the Britney Spears concert at Staples Center, show your ticket to the folks at Magnolia downtown and get a free VeeV cocktail. Magnolia, 825 W. James Wood Blvd., L.A. (213) 362-0880.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Gravlax at Allston Yacht Club. It's what's for brunch. Credit: Allston Yacht Club.

25 delicious deals

There are deals, and then there are delicious deals. But at a time when restaurants' offers of "buy one get one free" and "half-price on Wednesdays" are as commonplace as tuna tartare or beet salad, sometimes it’s tricky to distinguish the two.

This is definitely an eater’s market — but just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s a bargain. If a $5 cocktail isn’t well-crafted, or an appetizer that costs less than a cup of coffee fails to excite your palate, then it’s not a delicious deal.

So, wading through the low-price hype, L.A. Times Food section writers found 25 of the best values around, including $1 specials at a favorite San Gabriel Valley noodle house, a 10-course Indian thali feast, a $14.95 lobster dinner with a million-dollar view, the happiest happy hour and our top spots for all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue. Check it out:

Photo: At the Beachcomber in Malibu, the $14.95 lobster dinner special is too good to pass up, especially since they throw in the million-dollar view for free. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

 

Santa Monica Pier celebrates 100th anniversary

This year marks the Santa Monica Pier's centennial -- that's 100 years of entertaining visitors with cotton candy, carnival games, ocean views and a world-famous carousel, which looks especially stunning at night. On Wednesday, the pier celebrates its 100th birthday with a day of festivities: a morning blessing at 7 a.m., a re-dedication ceremony at 6 p.m. followed by a free concert featuring surf-guitar legend Dick Dale, and a fireworks show at 8:50 p.m. Here are a few suggestions for where to watch the fireworks. And here are a few Pier-inspired deals from local restaurants.

Pre-pier menu: Chef Ray Garcia of the very grown-up FIG offers a whimsical menu inspired by nostalgia: Scotch duck egg on a stick ($7), a lobster corn dog ($7), bratwurst on a pretzel roll ($9), a 1940s-inspired sandwich made with cashew (not peanut) butter and jelly ($8) and bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers ($8). The "pre-pier menu" is available Sep. 3 - 9 for lunch and dinner. 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 319-3111, www.figsantamonica.com.

Clambake: Chef Dakota Weiss hosts an extravagant raw bar and clambake on the roof of this historic hotel. It comes with free champagne and cocktails, but it doesn't come cheap: $100 per person. Shangri-La Hotel, 1301 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica. 7-10 p.m., Wed. (310) 394-2791, www.shangrila-hotel.com/eat/. 

Longer happy hour: On Wednesday, Le Troquet, Le Merigot's terrace bar, extends its happy hour from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., with 50% off well drinks and 30% off appetizers like crab quesadillas and steak au poivre. Le Troquet at Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica. (310) 395-9700.

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: The Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times