Mark Mallory's favorite restaurants

State Sen. Mark L. Mallory has a legendary appetite. He gets grumpy when he's hungry. And his Statehouse and mayoral campaign staffs are under strict instructions not to schedule meetings anywhere near noontime -- unless there's lunch.

Often, Mallory's campaign contributors pick up the tab.

In just the first five months of the year, Mallory's mayoral campaign spent $3,664.95 on meals, according to filings with the Cincinnati Elections Commission. That doesn't even include food purchased for fund-raising events.

By comparison, David Pepper has spent $244.63 on meals; Justin P. Jeffre, $123.75; and Alicia Reece, $0. (Charlie Winburn was not a declared candidate at the last Elections Commission filing deadline.)

Sometimes, two or three meals a day are charged to the Mallory campaign. His favorite eating places:

	Eatery	Amount	Trips
	Shane's Gourmet Market, Columbus	$600.80	1
	Brownstone on Main, Columbus	$408.81	1
	Sam's Club, Green Township	$342.61	5
	LaRosa's, College Hill	$258.84	6
	RJ Snappers, Columbus	$199.02	3
	Tony's Restaurant, Columbus	$162.90	1
	Mejana Restaurant, Downtown	$160.61	2
	Montgomery Inn Boathouse, Downtown	$138.54	4
	Red Lobster, Sycamore Township	$138.17	2
	Bacalls Cafe, College Hill	$121.06	3
	York Street Cafe, Newport	$105.51	1
	T. Marie's Restaurant, Winton Place	$100.00	1
	Genji Japanese Steakhouse, Reynoldsburg	$94.58	2
	Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, Downtown	$93.54	1
	Tinks Cafe, Clifton	$87.65	1
	Kroger Co., North College Hill	$77.98	1
	BD's Mongolian Grill, Columbus	$59.60	1
	Chung Ching, College Hill	$58.50	2
	Millenium Hotel, Downtown	$49.09	1
	Steak-n-Shake, Oakley	$43.71	1
	Famous Dave's BBQ, Springdale	$43.05	1
	Lenhardt's, Clifton Heights	$41.55	1
	Joe's Crab Shack, Bellevue, Ky.	$41.22	1
	Outback Steakhouse, Colerain Township	$37.96	1
	Buffalo Wild Wings, Columbus	$33.22	1
	McFadden's Restaurant, Downtown	$32.63	1
	Vernon Manor Hotel, Avondale	$27.69	1
	Buckeye Fried Chicken, Columbus	$25.62	1
	Roadhouse Grill, Oakley	$22.23	1
	Redfish, Downtown	$21.88	1
	Mayura, Clifton	$19.21	1
	Goodies BBQ, College Hill	$17.17	1

Now, there's nothing illegal or even unethical about using campaign funds for meal and entertainment expenses. In fact, state law forbids elected officials from using taxpayer money for in-town meals and entertainment, so many politicians use their campaign coffers for business lunches that the private sector would put on the company expense account.

And that's what Mallory says he did in many cases. "I am the Senate minority leader, and that puts me in a position of working a lot not just with my own caucus and my campaign staff, but other lawmakers," Mallory said. "There's a bunch of situations where I have to bring a lot of people together and buy the meal."

Mallory said Shane's Gourmet Market provided box lunches for participants in a hybrid-fuel car show after he sponsored a bill to encourage the state to buy more hybrid vehicles.

But Mallory said there's a simpler explanation for the meals: He's not going to skip lunch for a work meeting.

"Let me see if I can say this the right way," Mallory said, measuring his words carefully. "I gotta eat. That's the bottom line."

(Photo by Steven M. Herppich/Cincinnati Enquirer)