The Feasts and the Children : Valley restaurants are offering crayons, coloring books and expanded menu choices for youngsters. Some let the kids eat free on certain days.

Parents: Do you want to go out to eat with your kids, but not be limited to fast food or Chuck E Cheese’s?

The good news is that many local restaurants, both chain outlets and independents, are going out of their way to become kid-friendly and, as every mom and dad knows, that is something that’s parent-friendly too.

Besides offering the usual high chairs, booster seats and separate children’s menus, San Fernando Valley eateries are providing crayons, coloring materials, game books and other diversions to keep the little ones 1) quiet, 2) happy, 3) distracted, 4) all of the above.

Sid’s Seafood House, 21911 Roscoe Blvd., Canoga Park, is one of those independents that offers something extra to families.

“We’re not a children’s restaurant; we’re a seafood restaurant,” owner Sid Lopez says. “But when kids come in, we take care of them. They feel comfortable here.”

The kids like the restaurant’s nautical decor, and the large, tropical fish tank is a major attraction that has an almost hypnotic effect on the little ones, according to one parent. For those not totally enthralled by the aquatic specimens, Sid’s hands out crayons, and the kids’ menu doubles as a game / coloring sheet.

Sid’s kids’ menu features somewhat exotic entrees such as crab legs, chicken fingers, shrimp kebabs, baby-back ribs and fried shrimp, as well as the old standby, burgers. Kids’ prices range from $4.95 to $6.95, which includes a beverage and dessert.

Another independent, The Fish Broiler, 5530 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, keeps kids smiling with a model train that runs along a ledge throughout the restaurant.

Other kid-pleasing furnishings include a robotic pirate that talks, and the staff also offers tots the requisite art supplies.

Children’s entrees--all priced at $2.99--include pasta, pizza, corn dogs, fish and chips, and hamburgers. Drinks and desserts are extra.

If you’re hungry for something other than seafood, Ruby’s Diner, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills, is packed with the nostalgic spirit of a bygone era. Decked out like a 1940s diner, with bold red and white accents, the restaurant displays an old-fashioned bumper car behind the counter and serves its kids’ meals in a cardboard facsimile of the gleaming machine.

While kids are busy coloring on their place mats, their parents can order for them from a junior menu of grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, corn dogs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken fingers, and fish and chips. Children’s meals cost $2.99, and that includes a drink and small ice cream cone for dessert. For an additional sum, kids’ menu items can be served in a flying disc (Frisbee) instead of the cardboard bumper car.

Besides offering the usual art materials, Casa de Carlos, 22901 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, lets kids 10 and younger eat free all day Tuesday (a new level of parent-friendliness), according to manager Fred Villaverde. “All our business is family business,” he says.

Whatever day they come in, young ones choose from menu options that include a hamburger, burrito, taco or quesadilla. Each entree comes with rice and beans plus a drink and either an ice cream dessert, salad or soup. The complete price, unless it’s Tuesday, is $2.95.

El Torito, the Mexican restaurant chain with several Valley locations, also lets kids 12 and younger eat free on certain evenings during the week. (At El Torito in Burbank, Northridge-Tampa and Encino, the night is Monday; in Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Woodland Hills and Northridge-Devonshire, it’s Tuesday; in Valencia, it’s Wednesday.) El Torito limits the offer to one child per paying adult.

El Torito also provides materials for budding Picassos, along with a game / coloring book. The book doubles as a kids’ menu, offering a taco, cheese enchilada, a beef or chicken burrito, a hamburger, chicken fingers or quesadilla with mini-nachos and a choice of fries or rice and beans plus an ice cream sundae for dessert for $2.99. For an additional $1.49, drink options include a choice of shakes, fruit punch and soft drinks, tea or milk.

California Pizza Kitchen, with locations in Encino, Canoga Park, Glendale and Studio City, offers the biggest kids’ coloring / game book, which is 8-by-10 inches, 16 pages and, of course, comes with crayons.

The children’s menu lists five varieties of pizza, ranging from a traditional cheese for $3.25 to an exotic barbecued chicken pie for the adventurous tot for $4.75. Four varieties of pasta range from $3.25 to $4.75. Drinks and dessert are extra. Soft drinks are $1.25. A kids’ sundae, offered for $1.95, features vanilla ice cream with fudge sauce, whipped cream, chopped nuts and a cherry.

The Bear Pit, 10825 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills, serves up its Bear Pit Burger along with a drink, dessert and fries for $3.25. Other entrees include a hot dog, grilled cheese sandwich, and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

The restaurant also provides the standard artistic materials to keep little hands busy while parents enjoy the barbecue.

Red Robin, 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga Plaza, Canoga Park, and 24005 Calabasas Road, Calabasas, adds balloons to its offerings of crayons and coloring materials for youngsters.

Its kids’ menu features a choice of burgers, spaghetti, hot dogs, corn dogs and chicken fingers for $3.49 with drink. Dessert is extra.

Sizzler outlets offer kids’ entrees, including shrimp, chicken fingers, pizza, fish and burgers, for $1.99. Kids’ soft drinks are 69 cents. Sizzler also gives youngsters an activity book and crayons.