Shop Until You Drop--Then Stop for a Bite : Timeout: In or near the mall of your choice there is someplace to sit yourself down, have a snack and catch your breath.

You finally found a parking space. You actually got a salesperson to help you.

You fought your way to the cash register.

Good.

One down, the rest of the list to go.

After a couple of hours of this exercise we call Christmas shopping, you are going to need a cup of coffee or tea, or a straitjacket.

Take heart. There’s help nearby, at least with the munchies.

In or near the mall of your choice there is someplace to call timeout, sit yourself down, catch your breath and have a bite to eat.

And that’s important.

The three rules for Christmas shopping, from a world-class shopper, are:

* Make lists.

* Make a budget--and stick to it.

* Make yourself stop when you are tired.

There is nothing more dangerous than shopping on empty, according to former Studio City resident Suzy Kalter Gershman, now the American Express shopping consultant in New York City and author of the book series “Born to Shop,� which tells you where to get the best bargains in cities around the world.

“You will exhaust yourself and your pocketbook if you don’t take a break when your feet refuse to stand for any more,� she said, adding that most expensive mistakes are made when you are just too pooped to think about what you are doing.

“Just try to look at Christmas shopping as a game of endurance in which you have to pace yourself,� she said. “Tired and broke are not good ways to experience the holidays.�

If you shop at Topanga Plaza in Canoga Park, Antelope Valley Mall or the Sherman Oaks Galleria, the obvious, but not necessarily best, choice for your “sit and snack� might be the food halls. It’s fast-food and about as relaxing as the “1812� Overture, but at least you don’t have to move your car.

At the Sherman Oaks Galleria, there are several places nearby where you might go for an afternoon aperitif, or some coffee and a sweet, if you are willing to stash your packages in the trunk and drive a couple of blocks.

Both L’Express, near Kester Avenue on Ventura Boulevard, and Le Cafe, down the street near Van Nuys Boulevard, offer tea and sympathy. The pastry chef at L’Express has gotten raves for good reason. Le Cafe has outside seating, if the weather is good.

At Topanga Plaza, there are several excellent options to the food halls, and two are on the premises.

The California Pizza Kitchen offers designer pizza and hearty salads, along with lighter fare. The Red Robin is gourmet fast-food served in pleasant surroundings.

If you can face another crowd, head over to the Cheesecake Factory in the Trillium on Canoga Avenue. The food and ambience are impressive. So, unfortunately, is the waiting time, although between 3 and 5 p.m. you’d probably breeze right in.

The Glendale Galleria and Northridge Fashion Center are busy places as well, but they don’t have the food hall situation.

In the Northridge mall, Anna Miller’s Pies is an OK place to sit for a few minutes and collect your thoughts, and there is Coco’s at the northeast end of the mall, in a separate building.

If you are willing to give up your parking place in exchange for getting out of the fray, there are a string of restaurants south on Tampa Avenue, including Marie Callender’s and the pleasant El Torito.

Glendale has a number of excellent places for a quick stop inside the mall, including La Petite Boulangerie and Cafe Le Pafe, which have homemade pastries and aromatic gourmet coffees and teas. There is also a Good Earth, near Mervyn’s, where you can get organic munchies.

Not far from the mall, if you are willing to hoof it, there is Fresco on Brand Boulevard, where you can sit down to white linen and gourmet goodies.

At the newly redone Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, there are several good choices, including the salads and soups at California Crisp, and everything at Paradise Bakery.

But if you are willing to car hop, you can trundle down to La Serre or the Bistro Garden at Coldwater for some pastries or other goodies and enjoy all the ambience at very little cost. Since meals aren’t being prepared, your selections will have to run to sweets or sandwiches, but it’s a great way to visit these gourmet greats without shelling out the lunch or dinner prices.

One of the more relaxed malls in our area, where the crowds are almost always in the acceptable range, is the Promenade in Woodland Hills. This upscale shopping area, which will be renovated after the Christmas rush, curiously has no place to enjoy a gourmet goodie, except for the tiny lunch room at I Magnin’s. There is also Magic Pan and Anna Miller’s.

The surrounding area, however, is lush with possibilities. There is the pleasant, publike Bob Burns in a free-standing building just west of Saks. And across the street is the Marriott Hotel, which offers a number of dining rooms in which to rest and recover.

Heading north from the center there is the aforementioned Cheesecake Factory, and next door to that is the Hilton Hotel, a pleasant place to pop in for a drink.

The most important thing is not where you go, but that you take the time to do it.