Sampling the fruits of next month’s San Diego Restaurant Week will be as easy as one-two-three.

With just a few clicks of a computer mouse, you can hone in on your desired location and price point, secure reservations at restaurants scattered all over San Diego County and then indulge repeatedly in affordable three-course meals during six straight days if your stomach so desires.

Now in its third year, the event allows residents and visitors to inexpensively lap up the area’s teeming dining scene from more than 125 of the area’s latest and greatest restaurants. Scheduled for Jan. 7 to Jan. 12, consumers will find everything from fresh seafood glistening in crafty sauces and slow-braised meats fit for a winter’s night to lively seasonal vegetable medleys and desserts that practically drug the senses with their cloying fabrications.

Last year’s event drew nearly 120,000 diners, although organizers are certain the number will increase this year due partly to a new pricing structure that gives restaurant goers a choice of two fixed prices, at either $30 or $40 for meals based on a minimum of three courses. Additionally, a streamlined Web site now allows the public to see who’s serving what and match their hankerings to specific neighborhood preferences through a simple site search.

“Diners will experience at the restaurants what they experience the rest of the year, but at lower preset prices,” says Andrew Hauser, who heads the newly formed marketing subcommittee for San Diego Restaurant Week. “Having two different price points this time around allows all of the restaurants, especially the high-end ones, to provide meals that are truly representative of their cuisine.”

Hauser, who is also director of marketing and information technology for Anthony’s Seafood Group, adds that Anthony’s Fish Grotto is taking part at the $30 level with dishes such as crab-stuffed mushrooms, Sterling Silver sirloin steak, grilled shrimp and the restaurant’s popular homemade mud pie.

Participating restaurants are required to offer at least three choices within each meal category: appetizers, entrées and desserts. Some will present various upgrade options and wine pairings at additional prices for those looking for a broader gastronomic adventure. Others might add of their own volition a bonus course or two. And because of increased partnerships, guests who visit any of the restaurants during the event will receive coupon booklets containing discounted admissions to San Diego’s destination attractions such as SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, the Maritime Museum, Balboa Park museums and more.

“We couldn’t have gotten this far unless there was an igniting between all of the entities involved,” says restaurateur Ingrid Croce, referring to the California Restaurant Association [CRA], the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau and San Diego Magazine.

Croce, a longtime board member of CRA’s San Diego chapter and proprietor of Croce’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar in the Gaslamp Quarter, adds that San Diego Restaurant Week was 12 years in the making.

“The idea came up at every CRA meeting before partnering with the other organizations to create the final spark,” she said. “It was a wonderful coming together of different perspectives into one positive cause to bring attention to our diverse dining scene.”

In its infancy in 2005, she recalls the event attracted only 70 restaurants. “We didn’t even start recruiting them until November. This year, we had over 100 restaurants sign up by Sept. 1.”

Among them is the new Market Restaurant + Bar in Del Mar, operated by chef Carl Schroeder and Terryl Gavre, who also own Café 222 in downtown San Diego and serve on Restaurant Week’s marketing committee.

“This is a fantastic event because it creates a huge dining buzz and allows us to show off what we do to so many people who might not ordinarily visit all of the restaurants taking part,” Gavre says. Beef short ribs with sweet onion-potato puree and choy sum in braised beef jus, plus Hawaiian sunfish accented with yuzu glaze and garlic roasted vegetables are among the menu choices participants will discover at Market.

Other restaurants on board include 1500 Ocean, Chive, JRDN, Molly’s, The Marine Room, Stingaree, Jack’s La Jolla, Thee Bungalow, Savory and scores of others spread throughout nearly every reach of the county.

Though food aficionados can walk into any participating restaurant and peruse their menus before landing a table, advance reservations are strongly recommended by phoning ahead or visiting the Web site www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com.

“We’ve made it much easier this year for guests to go online and make reservations,” adds Croce, who will be offering such dishes as pan-seared bluenose sea bass in grapefruit beurre blanc and her signature CAB prime contemporary meatloaf with Gouda mashed potatoes.