HOLIDAY DINING : Pamper Dad on His Day With a Really Tasteful Gift

OK, so you took Mom out for Mother’s Day. Surely you’re not going to stick Dad out in the backyard tending the barbecue grill this Sunday, Father’s Day! Especially not when so many restaurants are ready with so many alternatives.

Let somebody else do the barbecue.

The Hyatt Regency Irvine, 17900 Jamboree Road, not only cooks up a barbecue brunch but invites the whole family to make a day of it with live entertainment and free use of the tennis courts, pool, whirlpool and health club. Kids can keep busy with movies on the large-screen TV and basketball, football and video games, all complimentary. The buffet includes suckling pig, steamship of beef, bistecche , pork ribs, marinated chicken, blackened redfish and Italian sausages. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. $26.95 for adults, $11.95 for kids under 12, no charge for kids less than 3 feet tall. (714) 975-1234, Ext. 2103.

The Western barbecue at the Doubletree Hotel at 100 City Drive in Orange will feature St. Louis pork ribs and chicken grilled before your eyes, as well as steamship round of beef and trout fillets. There’s an extensive buffet and, in addition to pouring champagne, they’ll tap a keg of beer. 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. $19.95 for adults, $8.50 for ages 3 to 12. (714) 634-4500, Ext. 53.

Speaking of beer . . .

You can pour Dad a Weizen at the Fullerton Hofbrau, 323 N. State College Blvd. Brewed from both wheat and barley malt, it’s $2 a glass, $4.75 for a 23-ouncer. Chef Horst Volsing’s Father’s Day specials will be roast leg of lamb in fresh rosemary sauce ($9.95), New York peppercorn steak ($11.95) and chicken Munich, a grilled boneless breast with fresh tarragon sauce ($8.95). 11 a.m. till 10 p.m. (714) 870-7400.

And doesn’t Cattleman’s Wharf sound like a man’s kind of place? From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the restaurant at 1160 W. Ball Road in Anaheim will serve Dad all he can eat and champagne to wash it down with. Choose any of six special theme dining rooms, such as Ben Franklin’s library, the Southern-style Tara Room and the Oriental Shogun Room. $13.95, children under five eat free. (714) 535-1622.

Not ethnic enough? The champagne brunches at both the Laguna and Newport Beach Royal Thai restaurants (1750 S. Coast Highway in Laguna, 4001 W. Coast Highway in Newport) include appetizers, salad and a choice from six entrees, from chicken curry with coconut milk to summer palace pork sauteed with red chili, onions and mint leaves. $11.95 for adults and $6.95 for children under 12. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (714) 645-THAI in Newport; (714) 494-THAI in Laguna.

Buy one $9.95 brunch at any of the three China-West restaurants on Sunday, and you’ll get another one for half price. The extensive Mandarin-style buffet will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 17585 Harvard Ave. in Irvine, ((714) 756-1177), 2502 S. Bristol in Santa Ana, ((714) 549-9541) and 2300 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa, ((714) 545-3331).

For an English-style celebration, the Five Crowns at 3801 E. Coast Highway in Corona del Mar will offer brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Brunch specialties include crepes Veronique and Lawry’s roast beef hash; prices range from $11.50 to $16.95. Dinner entrees, $14.95 to $23.50, run from sauteed jumbo prawns and scallops to prime rib. (714) 760-0331.