An African-American couple has accused a downtown Annapolis restaurant of barring them from its main dining room because of their race.

The restaurant's owner says he has never discriminated and intends to file criminal charges against the couple for not paying their bill.

The city's Human Relations Commission agreed this month to mediate the dispute.

"This is analogous to requiring us to sit in the back of the bus and is totally unacceptable," Cortez Clarence Austin Jr. and his wife, Gail, wrote in a complaint filed with the commission.

"This is ridiculous," restaurant owner Charlie Priola said. "This is absolutely ridiculous that they're taking it this far."

The city declined to release a copy of the complaint because it has not been resolved, but the Austins, who live in Upper Marlboro, provided a copy to The Sun.

In the complaint, the Austins wrote that they arrived at Maria's Sicilian Restaurant across the street from City Dock without reservations about 6 p.m. Oct. 25.

The Austins and the owner agree that tables were available in the dining room's nonsmoking section.

They agree that the Austins were told there would be an hourlong wait and were then seated for dinner in the bar area, which allows smoking. They also agree that some people - who were white - were seated in the dining room after the Austins were seated in the bar area.

Where they disagree is this: The Austins wrote that the groups were seated in the main room because they are white; Priola said that the dining room was booked with reservations and that anyone seated there after the Austins either had a reservation or filled a table left empty by no-shows. The restaurant fills no-show tables 15 minutes after the reservation, he said.

"Some reservations didn't show up. It's not my fault," Priola said.

The Austins left without finishing their meals. Before they left, Priola said, he offered to seat them in the dining room. The Austins said Priola didn't do this. "My wife and I are certain that the reason we were seated in the bar was that we are African-Americans," the Austins wrote.

There are no other complaints on file about the restaurant, city officials said.

The complaint comes nearly four years after the last high-profile flap involving a downtown restaurant. In 1999, Del. Melony Ghee Griffith, an African-American from Prince George's County, said she was treated rudely and forced to wait for a table while white customers were greeted warmly and seated at the Maryland Inn.

The restaurant's maitre d' was fired and later sued Griffith for damages, but the lawsuit was dismissed.

The Austins wrote that they want the city to require restaurants to post signs stating that discrimination is illegal, seek volunteers to test restaurants for discrimination and publish a list of restaurants charged with discrimination.

Michael J. Keller, chairman of the Human Relations Commission, said the panel had not received a racism complaint about a restaurant during his six years of service.

Keller declined to comment on the specifics of the Austins' complaint. He said that by voting Dec. 2 to mediate the complaint, the 15-member commission did not make any judgments about the complaint's merits.

The Austins and Priola have agreed to mediation.

The commission can either decide that the Austins did not present enough evidence and dismiss the complaint, or it can refer the complaint to the state's Human Relations Commission to be investigated.