The bells and whistles that used to be sure signs of restaurant failure -- things like theme nights or buy-one-get-one-free offers -- are now competitive necessities in Silicon Valley.

From Palo Alto to Santa Cruz, restaurants are cooking up promotions, meals to go, classes, lower prices and new names in an effort to fill seats in the midst of the region's economic downturn.

In San Jose's Almaden Valley, Mike Miller changed upscale restaurant Umunhum into casual Bistro Almaden over the summer. The boutique wines are still there, but so is wine by the pitcher. Average checks plunged from $65 to $25 a person. But the lower prices and a new children's menu are bringing in more families.

Just south of Santa Cruz, the higher-end Bittersweet Bistro has added an all-day express shop with complete meals, packaged to go. The California Cafe restaurants in Los Gatos and Palo Alto have new small plates, ranging from $4 to $12. And in Palo Alto, L'Amie Donia lowered prices for the first time since opening in 1994. The three-course dinner that cost $34 this summer is now $28, and chef-owner Donia Bijan resumed cooking ``simple, timeless grandmother's food'' such as chicken livers, instead of foie gras.

Downtown San Jose may have taken the biggest hit this summer. Restaurants such as the Grill on the Alley, La Pastaia and A.P. Stump's all have been affected by a drop in convention attendance. Business at the Agenda restaurant and lounge is off 30 percent from last year, said owner Jacek Rosicki.

Greg Ochinero, the longtime director of the Silicon Valley Restaurant Association who now sells insurance to area restaurants, said his clients are ``barely hanging in, for the most part, and I'm bringing them insurance increases of 200 and 300 percent. I had a client start crying the other day.

``If it doesn't get better soon, you're going to see a lot more failures,'' he said. ``There's almost no explaining why some make it and others don't.''

`What have you heard?'

The restaurant business has never been easy. One rule of thumb gives 80 percent of all new restaurants just two years to live.

Lately, it doesn't take much to make Silicon Valley restaurateurs skittish. ``Why, what have you heard?'' one owner responded when asked ``How are things going?'' along with a question about the new restaurant's hours.

Even diners are telling morgue stories of walking into formerly hot restaurants that are now empty. Or places where only the seats by the front window are occupied.

Nationwide, restaurant business is sluggish, said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic restaurant consultants. But it's tougher in Silicon Valley because of the technology slump.

For customers, some of this is good news since it can mean a break on prices. The specials in turn help restaurants increase traffic -- and the hope of selling high-margin beverages and desserts to break even.

But Conway Chan, a valley business consultant who eats out a lot, is discouraged. One of his favorite places, Menlo Park's Wild Hare, closed three weeks ago. Among the others, he said, ``Restaurants are getting to be like Disney movies, the same plots, the same characters.''

To be sure, there are isolated bright spots.

Zucca in Mountain View and Aqui in South San Jose have been packed on weeknights. And Agenda had a great Saturday night recently because of shows in downtown San Jose.

Others are opening, expanding the possibilities for diners like Chan. In Palo Alto, the contemporary Vietnamese restaurant Tamarine this week replaces Perry's, an American grill. In Los Gatos, the new Hotel Los Gatos will be anchored by Kuleto's Italian Restaurant, opening in mid-November. And the chef at Palo Alto's popular New Bamboo recently opened her own restaurant in San Jose, Yung Le's Fusion.

Demographic trends

At a meeting of Bay Area restaurateurs last week, publisher Tim Zagat of the national Zagat Surveys gave the crowd several demographic reasons for hope: Generations X and Y got used to buying meals at a young age. And many people are unprepared to cook at home.

That's the market Tarragon in Sunnyvale now aims for, advertising, ``We are now Casual! Upscale fine dining to downscaled oasis of comfort.'' The 12-ounce New York steak that used to be $25.95 is now $16.75. Instead of organic vegetables, it comes with the same sauteed vegetables that accompany most entrees. Tables are covered in paper rather than linen.

``Our numbers almost doubled from this time last year, but we are not necessarily taking in more money,'' said manager Zoran Matulic.

All that isn't going to captivate diners like Chan.

``When you go out to eat, you want something you wouldn't make yourself. Nothing is worse than going to a restaurant and seeing nothing that appeals to you on their limited menu of the usual suspects: salmon, beef, chicken and pasta.''