The Scene : Page Ploy

Feeling like a POW in the wireless revolution? Want to deposit your cell phone and your pager in the nearest receptacle?

Too bad, especially if you eat out a lot: The latest vogue in L.A. restaurants is dishing out pre-prandial pagers to hungry diners.

This high-tech trend is the buzz at eateries as disparate as Steven Spielberg’s DIVE! in Century City, the Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey, Country Star at Universal’s City Walk and the House of Blues, the hip late-night hot spot on the Sunset Strip.

Unlike many technological annoyances disguised as progress, this one actually works. It drastically reduces blaring announcements -- like “Dr. Snodgrass, party of 10” -- during peak dining hours and thins out claustrophobic bars and waiting areas.

It’s easy to use: Just check in at the restaurant, clip on the pager and go on your merry way. (To ensure the pagers’ return, many restaurants require a credit card deposit.) With a quarter-mile range, the pager frees you to take a stroll until the restaurant signals you. Then the pager silently vibrates, alerting you to claim your table.

Now, if only technology could ensure that restaurants would actually honor your reservation. Or tell you exactly what vongole in guazzetto is.