All orders can be made to take out, but now that the Persian has undergone its transformation, you might as well stay and admire its newly acquired exposed brick walls, fireplaces and hanging plants.

Cafe Pamplona

12 Bow St.

The Cafe Pamplona is tucked quietly into the east side of Bow St. just beyond the more obtrusive facades of The Underdog and Bugatti. The cafe offers a small menu of moderately-price non-alcoholic drinks, luncheon foods, and desserts, all with a European twist. Pamplona's caretaker, Josefina, emigrated from Pamplona, Spain, many years ago and bestows her native touch in preparing all the foods. The cafe is stowed in a small basement--whose dimensions suggest the subterranean architectural genius of an enterprising mole--but surfaces to a streetside patio in fair weather. Despite its size, the basement houses a shiny expresso machine and a quaint fake-woodburning heater, in addition to a tiny kitchen and enough tables for two dozen patrons. It is, nonetheless, very pleasant, and one attains a certain satisfaction simply by observing how close the waiters' heads come to skimming the beams as they make their rounds.

The expresso is supposed to be the best in Cambridge and costs a meager 35 cents. Intrepid diners might sample the double expresso at 60 cents. The Pamplona offers good hot chocolate, "mokka," and American coffee at somewhat stiffer prices, while the cappuccino is a buy at 45 cents.

Of the luncheon foods offered, the gazpacho is extraordinarily good and reasonably priced. The desserts are also fine, if esoteric, and everything here costs less than a dollar.

The Pamplona is a nice place to learn that everyone who is cultivated and lives in Cambridge doesn't go to Harvard or teach Classics. The regular patrons are mostly non-Harvardian and like to linger quietly over chess games or books in the early afternoon. The cafe usually closes at 6 p.m. for two hours, then reopens until 1 a.m. (except on Sundays). The place gets noisier at night.

If there is anything wrong with The Pamplona, it is that it is all too rarefied. The expresso comes in tiny cups, the desserts are small and arrive with dainty silver spoons, most of the patrons look interesting and speak softly, and the dimensions are as noted, somewhat lilliputian--which all just might convince the outsider who stumbles into 12 Bow St. that his tastes just aren't subtle enough for this existence.

Orson Welles

1001 Mass Ave

Everybody knows that the Orson Welles is a movie theatre. More and more smart diners in Cambridge are finding out that Orson Welles is also a restaurant--and a very good one at that.

The upstairs restaurant at the Welles is for the casual eater of drinker. It attracts large numbers of the before and after movie crowd. Prices are on par with most places and the food offerings varied.

But if you're looking for a fancy meal and are willing to pay between $4 and $7 for it, you've got to try the downstairs restaurant at the Welles. Every table is served a loaf of freshly baked honey/molasses bread on a cutting board to start and all of the meals come with a salad. The cheapest items on the menu are the vegetarian dishes--such servings as stuffed green peppers in a rouquefort cheese sauce--and they are superb. But you really won't go wrong with any of the dishes, they are comparable to those served in many of Boston's finest.

The Welles offers its dinner patrons a chance to get into the movie theatre for half price--$1.25. Of course that's not the only reason to go to the Welles restaurant, but it does provide some added incentive for the hungry movie goer.

Both the upstairs and downstairs restaurants tend to get crowded on weekends so we'd suggest that you go early or gauge a 10 to 15 minute wait into your time calculations. But we're sure you'll find the wait--and the food--worth your while--and your money.