Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 11:54:48 PM

It's the stuff of legend: Every two years when the General Assembly is in session, roving bands of legislators and lobbyists sweep through Little Rock's top eateries, stripping them bare of every last steak dinner and glass of whiskey like a plague of locusts wearing American flag lapel pins.

In the past, the restaurateurs at least had every other year to recover - but with this month's inauguration of even-year budget sessions, it can only mean one thing: Harried bar staffs and maitre-Ds frantically ordering up more Kobe beef and Maker's Mark, right?

Well... not so much.

"We don't have to stock up on anything [in particular] that I know of, just a little more of everything" says Doe's Eat Place manager Carmen Battisto. "It'll be business as usual. We look forward to them coming in."

Sitting in the iconic downtown restaurant's care-worn main dining room, surrounded by political paraphernalia, Battisto also put a stake in the heart of another bit of conventional wisdom: Namely, steaks.

"They like cheeseburger sand the fish plate," she said of the typical lunch of legislators and lobbyists. "They're not fussy. They want to come over, eat a cheeseburger, and go back to work."

That said, they do eat a passel of ground beef; her kitchen staff will go through 160 to 200 patties in a typical day. And some of their regulars have very specific tastes in how their burgers are cooked and dressed - so specific, Battisto said, the kitchen staff can often tell who's there by what orders come in.

She does acknowledge a bump up in sales during the session, but she theorized that it wasn't all due to the Ledge - some people, she said, eat at Doe's just to catch a glimpse of the legislators and lobbyists. Sort of like bird watching, one supposes.

"There's a lot of glad-handing," Battisto noted.

All right, if Doe's - with its famous back room and reputation as an insider's hot spot - doesn't have to make special preparations for a session, what about someplace a little more swanky? Say, the bar at the Capital Hotel.

"Not really," says manager Robert Rowley. "When we closed before the renovation this was a local hotspot, and now it's becoming that way again."

With a back-bar that's regularly stocked with high-end liquor, the Capital Bar & Grill doesn't have to make special orders to accommodate legislators. It does see a fair number of politicos during the session, usually in early afternoon. That does mean a bump in business, said Rowley,  "but not in a dramatic way."

"We see them anywhere between four and six o'clock," he said. "It's been a real privilege to get to know them and take care of them."

At the very least, does having a legislator or lobbyist at your table mean the server can expect a better gratuity than usual? Over at Doe's, one of the wait staff - a perky young woman with curly blond tresses - said she did see better tips. And manager Battisto suggested that they all tipped "according to their budget."

Well, since they're coming to town for budgeting purposes, maybe they'll work a little extra in for their servers during the session.

(Editor's Note: Talk Business contributor Eric Francis is the author of this story. You can reach him by email at eric.francis@yahoo.com.)

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