Few people have ever said, "I feel like a good Italian meal. Let's go to a car wash." But - just as it's generally a good idea to avoid such typically complacent and tourist-oriented places as oceanfront seafood restaurants, fine dining venues in towers (rotating or otherwise), and eateries of all kinds in amusement parks - the opposite can be true. That is, when you see a restaurant in a really unlikely or difficult-to-find location, there's a better than average chance that it's sustained by a demanding local crowd.

I've spent years wandering around Los Angeles investigating such spots, and my sojourns have yielded many more gems than duds, not to mention a few of the best meals I've ever eaten. With tourists out in force to pack the predictable places, summer is a perfect time to explore some unlikely delights. At the following oddly located establishments, you can get a genuinely good meal. And, unlike some spots around town that are private clubs, or so exclusive about taking reservations that they might as well be, all of these are open to everyone.

1) As noted above, not many folks would think "car wash" and "wonderful Italian dining" go together. Yet, thanks to La Bella Cucina (949 N. Figueroa St., L.A., 213-623-0014) on Olympic at Figueroa, this otherwise idiotic-sounding pairing actually makes sense. It makes business sense, too, because several office buildings are nearby, and the convention center is only two blocks away. Prospective diners are shocked to see white linen and a list of fresh seafood when they expect a snack bar, and they tell their friends, giving the place free advertising in the process. I have taken friends to La Bella Cucina without telling them what they were in for, and they were quite skeptical until they tasted the food. So was I, and when I first visited, I thought the place couldn't possibly survive - but that was more than 10 years ago, and it's not only still there but still good.

2) It is rather less surprising to go to Chinatown for dinner, unless you're looking for Texas-style barbecue. Oddly enough, it is available there. There's a strange story behind the Spring Street Smokehouse (640 N. Spring St., Chinatown, 213-626-0535), which you can read in next week's issue. Suffice it to say that this is real Texas barbecue in one of the less fashionable areas of Chinatown, and it's difficult to imagine what could be less in character for the neighborhood.

3) Unless, of course, it's an old-fashioned Italian restaurant hidden in a local market on a side street in Chinatown. There's no external sign that the Eastside Market's small restaurant (1013 Alpine St., Chinatown, 213-250-2464) even exists, much less that it's a place of pilgrimage for those who appreciate classic Sicilian cooking. At lunchtime, the small, dark room is packed with cops, construction workers, and cognoscenti, with a sprinkling of elderly locals who remember when Chinatown was Little Italy. Don't come here for anything with squid ink or fig and onion compote as prime ingredients, but if you want farfalle al pesto along with cheap but decent white wine in a bottle shaped like a fish, this is for you.

4) If you're looking for Italian food and a wide selection of wines in somewhat more upscale surroundings, you'll have to go to a more downscale neighborhood - the industrial area east of Chinatown, to be exact. There, in the midst of warehouses and truck terminals, is a relic of the days when orchards and vineyards dotted the landscape. The San Antonio Winery (737 Lamar St., L.A., 323-223-1401) was founded in 1917 and is still a working winery, though the grapes now come from California's central coast region. (A good thing, too, since, even though this area was once the state's major grape producer, the water quality in the Los Angeles River has dropped in the last hundred years.) The Riboli family, who have operated the winery since 1938, opened a section of the barrelhouse as the Maddalena Restaurant, creating an outpost of Napa Valley ambiance in an otherwise unromantic area. The restaurant is only open for lunch, though occasional wine dinners and special events are held there. For a leisurely lunch with a glass or two of wine, followed by a tour of the oak barrels and steel tanks that produced what you just drank, there's nothing else like it.

5) Another elegant restaurant is in a nearby historic building, though not a structure you'd probably associate with food. Traxx (800 N. Alameda St., downtown L.A., 213-625-1999) is located inside Union Station, where you can watch commuters and tourists dashing for trains while you sit in a sidewalk café and nibble crab cakes, stuffed smoked pork chops, or other modern American delights in a historic American setting. The service and food are both excellent, while the calls for train departures and the ambiance of the building itself create an almost cinematic mystique.

6) The Santa Monica Airport doesn't have quite the same historic atmosphere, but it makes up for it with a restaurant that is one of the weirdest Los Angeles has to offer. Typhoon (3221 Donald Douglas Loop S., Santa Monica, 310-390-6565) is located on the second floor of the terminal, and diners have a diverting view of small aircraft taking off and landing. However, they are unlikely to be distracted once their plates arrive, since the pan-Asian delicacies served at Typhoon are beautifully presented and quite tasty. This is one of the few eateries in town to serve insects, so adventurous diners can enjoy Thai-style crickets that are slightly reminiscent of spicy popcorn, but with antennae. Try it with the house drink, alcohol marinated in black mushrooms, ginseng, and fuzzy black caterpillars - all, I should note, rumored to be aphrodisiacs by Chinese herbalists. The bartenders refuse to confirm or deny such effects, and neither will I. Those who prefer more traditional Japanese food can visit the upstairs restaurant known as The Hump, for very good sushi with an unrivaled view.

7) Except, of course, for the view of Los Angeles from the Getty Museum, which has a better than average cafeteria and a formal restaurant that's nothing short of spectacular. The Getty Museum Restaurant (1200 Getty Center Dr., L.A., 310-440-6810) has a panoramic view of the mountains, sea, and cityscape, and could probably get away with serving average food and trading on its view and proximity to the splendid collection. Happily, it does no such thing. Chef Terri Buzzard uses exceptionally good produce and exotic ingredients to create tasting menus, and her creations would draw a crowd no matter where they were served. The combination of meal and view is the reason that lunch at the Getty is such a hot ticket. The restaurant is open for dinner only on Thursday and Friday, and it's worth tweaking your schedule to take in a sunset as you dine.

8) The view from Four Oaks (2181 N. Beverly Glen Blvd., L.A., 310-470-2265) isn't quite as spectacular, though it has a certain majestic tranquility. Near the top of Beverly Glen, it was once a stagecoach stop and bordello, back when the road was one of the major arteries between L.A. and the Valley. The neighborhood has changed since then, and multimillion-dollar homes surround the very stylish French restaurant whose rooms once welcomed muleskinners into the arms of professional ladies. The drive up the winding canyon is part of the enjoyment, giving you a real sense of leaving the metropolis for a sophisticated European country inn.

9) There isn't quite the same sense of space at La Cachette (10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City, 310-470-4992), another fine French restaurant surrounded by stylish homes. The address on Santa Monica Boulevard would seem to imply high visibility, but the reality is quite different. It's on little Santa Monica in an area separated from the main boulevard by a hill, and there are no signs to help you find it. The only entry is from an alley off a side street, and anyone making a dinner date with someone who hasn't been there before should allow extra time for their ´´ companion to get lost. The payoff is excellent California French cooking in a peaceful atmosphere, and it's worth going around the block a few times to enjoy the experience.

10) The homes around Caffé Pinguini (6935 Pacific Ave., Playa del Rey, 310-306-0117) aren't nearly as luxurious as those around La Cachette, but the location offers a different sort of seclusion. This penguin-themed Italian restaurant is located on a residential street in Playa del Rey that gets almost no traffic, despite the fact that it's only two blocks from busy Vista Del Mar. Given the natural diet of penguins, it's not surprising that seafood is a specialty, though it's prepared with more subtle spices than are generally available in either the Antarctic or the Galapagos. The cozy dining room and lush patio remind diners much more of Italy than the antipodes, despite the tuxedoed birds that stare quizzically from the menu.

11) Hallenbeck's General Store (5510 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood, 818-985-5916) also transports visitors to another time and place, though the Midwest in the late 19th century doesn't have quite the exotic appeal as penguin country. Inside and out, it looks like a general store from Nebraska that was parachuted to a dull strip of Cahuenga in North Hollywood. The owner also runs a prop-rental house, and the place is cluttered with Americana that sets scenes for Hollywood. The menu is simple - sandwiches, salads, and soups - but that fits the ambiance nicely. In the evening the place hosts improbably good local bands on a tiny stage, making the experience even more surreal.

12) Finally, it's worth remembering that things can be hidden in plain sight. Chichen Itza (3655 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A., 213-741-1075) looks like just another food stall in the bustling El Mercado development just east of the 110 freeway, rather than a place that has been voted one of the best restaurants in California. Yucatan-style food is a delight that few Angelenos have experienced, and they might expect to go to a fine restaurant to find the best. In fact, they soon will be able to do so - the owners of Chichen Itza have done so well at their little mall stall that they'll soon open a full-service place. A restaurant consultant would probably tell them that they have to carefully consider the location, but they may know something he doesn't; people in Los Angeles are obviously willing to support excellence, even when it is well-hidden.