Now that Maryland's top lawmakers are marching stoically toward ethics reform, some senators and delegates may be feeling the first pangs of change in their stomachs.

Among the reforms passed by both houses this week is a requirement that legislators can no longer let lobbyists pick up the tab for those delicious -- and often expensive -- meals that Annapolis restaurants are so famous for.

Instead, they will be given a total of 30 bucks a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If the tab runs higher, it comes out of their own pockets.

In most places in Maryland, $30 a day is pretty doable. No lavish meals, but you can get three squares. But Annapolis being Annapolis, a place where expensive food and drink is regarded more as a right rather than a privilege, it will take some creative meal planning to stay within that budget.

To hear Baltimore County Del. John Arnick tell it, he and his colleagues could practically starve if forced to stick to the $30 maximum. It is a pittance and "nowhere near enough," Arnick grumbled before voting to support the bill.

"Baloney!" says Suzanne Soles, a 34-year-old sales accountant who was wolfing down a plate of french fries at the Acme Bar & Grill, a restaurant on Annapolis' Main Street. "There is no reason that those guys can't get by on $30 a day. They are spoiled, that's what they are. They are used to eating high on the hog and don't want to come down and eat with us regular taxpayers."

With an indignant huff, Soles finished her $5.95 foot-long hot dog with chili and headed toward the door. "For God's sake, they handle the state's budget. And they can't manage to eat off of $30 a day? Makes you think that they shouldn't be handling money at all!"

And with that parting shot, the door of the Acme Grill slammed behind her, leaving the other patrons to wonder what the fuss was all about.

The fuss over meal money has caused a minor dust-up in and out of the halls of the State House. Some people side with Soles; others say trying to eat in downtown Annapolis on $30 a day is a trick worthy of Houdini.

"I think I could probably do it for $40," says Liz Kinzie, a food director for the Treaty of Paris restaurant on Main Street. "You can't buy a sandwich here for less than $5. And what about tipping? If I was a waitress and saw someone who asked for soup and water every day, they wouldn't get the greatest service."

So back to the question at hand: Is 30 bucks enough or should our legislators start thinking of creative ways to choke down nightly meals of pbj's and macaroni and cheese.

Hold on to your expense account, Del. Arnick -- it can be done. In fact, people do it all the time. College students, working moms, tourists. Send a college kid with three $10 bills in his pocket out with an edict of "go eat" and that kid will come back with a full stomach and a case of beer under his arm at the end of the day.

It can happen even in a place like Annapolis. You just have to know how to work the system.

Now, we shouldn't expect our venerable, middle-aged legislators to live off the same kind of Spartan grub that fuels the next generation of great minds, but is it too much to ask that some of our lawmakers humble themselves a bit?

Here, of course, lies the problem. Many senators and delegates, who migrate to Annapolis for just three months out of the year for the General Assembly Session, aren't into eating a slice of humble pie. Rather, the steaks at the Governor's Grille, a wonderfully expensive restaurant on Main Street, are what our lawmakers' palates crave.

So the ethics bills' restrictions come as a harsh reality check. To try to make the bite a little less painful, The Sun headed out to Main Street in Annapolis, the three-block-long favorite haunt of restaurants and shops just steps away from the State House, to see just what a hard-working, hungry lawmaker could eat in a day for 30 bucks or less.

But first, a question: Why the $30 ceiling in the first place? Like all great laws, it's built upon a foundation of diligent research.

The General Assembly Compensation Commission researched several corporate travel guides, which advised that anyone could eat in Annapolis for $30, says commission vice chair Phyllis B. Brotman, executive vice president of Gray, Kirk/VanSant advertising and public relations firm.

That said, does she believe it can be done?

"I don't think at this point that it is really sufficient," she confesses.

So why keep it at $30 then?

Brotman says the amount is meant to be supplementary. "We figured they would be going to a lot of cocktail parties," where food is plentiful and free, she explains.

Also, she says, the per diem money accrues, meaning a lawmaker who brown bags it one day, for instance, can roll over the unused portion of the $30 to the next day and splurge on a good meal if he so desires.

And so, all this in mind, here is an unscientific but mostly nutritious guide to eating ethically in downtown Annapolis:

Breakfast

A cheap breakfast at the Main Street Seafood Grill is an easy feat:

The Sunrise Special -- two eggs (any style), two pieces of bacon, two sausages and French toast -- is just $4.25

Bagel with cream cheese: $1.50

Egg sandwich: $1.75

Coffee: 95 cents.

Feeling a little less basic? Check out Cafe Normandie. Eggs Benedict with crab will run you $11.95.

But an average breakfast tab on Main Street should run about $5 at the most.

Lunch

Stop by the Treaty of Paris and check out the buffet. For $8.50, you can eat as much as you want from a sampling that includes cream of chicken or spinach soup, top round of beef, rice pilaf, vegetable medley, salads, French pastries and beverage.

Not ethnic enough? Make your way over to the China House, where no entree (except for the day's specials) costs more than $10. And even the Mandarin Crispy Duck, a special, is just $13.

Over at O'Briens, you can get a heaping helping of Navajo Nachos with chili, cheese and salsa for $8.95. Cuban black bean chili (large bowl) is just $5.95.

At the Acme Bar and Grill, chicken wings are king, and you can get them just about any style, including barbecue and Cajun. The price? Ten for $4.95; 20 for $9.40; 30 for $13.50; and 40 for $17.60.

The average lunch price should set you back about $9 or $10.

Dinner

Dinner is the tough one. This is the meal in which restaurateurs can sock it to customers with higher prices and larger portions. But with good detective work, cheap fare can indeed be found.

At the Castlebay Irish Pub, pick up a Garden Sandwich (sauteed mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, carrots, tomatoes, onions, ranch dressing on whole wheat bread) for $6.95.

Nikko Japanese Steak and Seafood offers sesame chicken for $10.95, or strip steak for $13.95. Both entrees come with soup, salad, shrimp appetizers, vegetables, rice and tea.

Back at the Main Street Seafood Grill, you can eat trout for $9.95, salmon for $10.95 and swordfish for $12.95.

Average dinner meal can run about $15, though you may have to forgo dessert.

So there you have it: five bucks for breakfast, 10 for lunch, $15 for dinner. Factor in the bonus of being ethically pure, and that's a deal any lawmaker could swallow. Bon appetit!

Pub Date: 3/20/99