If you want to divide the room into two violently opposed factions, just light up a cigarette. There are not many mild responses to the new metro-wide indoor-smoking ban, which went into effect at the beginning of 2011—people either love it or hate it.
Some bar/restaurants are losing serious business from the ban, while other establishments, i.e., the bars that draw less than 25 percent of their gross from food and are exempt from the new law, are getting a new wave of customers who just have to light up.
Here’s what’s happening at some noteworthy eateries and bars.
At one end of the continuum of responses, West End Grill co-owner Henry Arciniega says of the new smoking ban, “I love it. We’re one of the last cities to allow smoking inside, anyway, and it’s not like you can smoke at work or at school. People are blowing this out of proportion.”
Arciniega has made no special provisions for smokers heading out to the cold, but says, “I used to be one of those guys who smoked outdoors in 2-degree weather, that’s just what you do.”
“Some of my customers have said they can’t come back, but they’ve been back anyway,” he adds, “because they’re comfortable here.”
Similarly, Frank Cunetto of Hill landmark Cunetto’s says, “I think it [the ban] is a good thing, and I probably would have done it eventually, so I’m happy someone else made the decision for me.”
“Some people didn’t like waiting for their table in a smoky bar,” he says, “and when I posted on my Facebook page that we would be an entirely non-smoking establishment, all the comments were positive. The biggest impact has been on my employees—they have to go outside instead of to the basement to smoke now.”
Syberg’s, the family of pubs that specializes in shark dishes and those dynamite wings in a tangy mustard-based sauce, has tented part of the patio at the Gravois and Dorsett locations, says Tom Tworek, general manager of the downtown location. “Some people are upset about it, but some people are excited—our lunch business has improved.”
“Personally, I think it’s a good thing,” he adds. “I’ve worked in this restaurant for 13 years and going home without having the odor of cigarettes on me is great.”
Famously upbeat Blueberry Hill owner Joe Edwards was, predictably, upbeat about the change.
“I think we’ll look back on this 10 or 15 years from now and say, ‘Wow, can you believe they allowed smoking inside buildings back then?’ It’s the same way we look back now and cannot imagine allowing people to smoke on an airplane,” says Edwards. “It’s just part of the evolution of mankind, and it’s a positive step. I haven’t heard one complaint. If Ireland can go non-smoking, the metropolitan St. Louis area can survive.”
Edwards, who makes it his business to show everyone a good time, has relented and is building a smoking porch just south of Blueberry Hill’s Dart Room. “It will be a wedge-shaped area with radiant heaters,” he says. “I didn’t want the smokers potentially blocking the front door.”
Smokers puffing by the front door, it turns out, has become something of an issue at Dressel’s. Torre Alsup, a manager at the CWE pub with the intellectual decor, says one difference after the ban is that “we are picking up butts on the ground out in front now.” He adds that people once had to walk through a room that could get smoky on their way to a table, but those days are over—as are the times after dinner service when smokers could light up in Dressel’s second-floor “Pub Above.” “We are looking into options such as a tent and outdoor heaters,” he says.
It’s a completely different story for a neighborhood bar like Clayton stalwart Krueger’s, where the gross from booze is more than 75 percent, so they get an exemption. Co-owner Adam Becker says that the smokers are jamming the joint. “Every day I get multiple calls from smokers who call ahead to make sure they can smoke here,” he says. “We’ve always been known as a smoky establishment,” he adds. “In fact we recently added an air purifier and an exhaust fan that purges the air every fifteen minutes.”
Dawn Lamb, bar manager at Michael’s in Maplewood, says, “We have already lost some of our evening customers to other establishments. I think it [the ban] is gonna hurt us for a minute, for a short period of time. A lot of us feel this should have been up to the individual owners.”
“[Owner] Michael Malliotakis is working on getting a removable awning and heaters on the patio.”
Michael Cline, general manager at the Scottish Arms, says, “We put up a tent for the World Cup game in June and we just kept it up. Then we went non-smoking back in August to stay ahead of the game—we knew this was coming. Now the tent is heated, too”
Webster Groves institution Weber’s Front Row is also “in the process of putting up a structure for smokers with heaters,” says Manager Kevin Kilper. “In Webster you have to go through all kinds of reviews to get approved, but we’re working on it.”
“We’re hoping to attract a new crowd that didn’t like the smoke,” he adds.
A number of taverns with impressive menus, like Atomic Cowboy and the Royale, are in the fortunate position of having to change nothing—they’ve had a completely non-smoking policy for some time already.
Similarly, outspoken Onesto owner Vito Racanelli, says, “It [the ban] doesn’t matter to me. I run a family place, and I never had a smoking section—people have always gone outside. But I feel bad for people in the bar business. People that drink and want to smoke at the same time are really going to suffer. If I owned a bar that served a lot of food, that would be kinda shitty.”
On that note, some other area restaurateurs are smoking with anger.
The Tin Can might be known just as well for its inexpensive beer in cans as for its menu of tasty comfort foods. The South Side bar’s smokers have been put on the street, and Tin Can owner Mike Headrick is not happy about it. “I believe it should have been left up to the bar owner, especially if you own the building,” he says. “I don’t like the fact that the City decided to just do whatever the County did. Government is stepping on our toes. I’m a small bar but I serve more than 25 percent food. There’s a bar down the street that doesn’t serve food that’s probably going to reap the benefits of my customers going down there to smoke.”
Iron Barley’s Jen Coghill seconds that emotion: “This is our restaurant, and we should be able to run it the way we want,” she says. “If they’re not going to let you smoke where you want, just make smoking illegal, period.”
Tom Tucker of the Tucker’s Place family of restaurant/bars is steamed, too.
“This has affected our late-night bar business a lot,” he says. “Believe it or not, I don’t need the government to tell me to walk out of a restaurant if it’s too smoky.”
When we reached Tucker, he was, coincidentally, putting ashtrays on the tables on the patio.
“I’m considering an outdoor heating unit,” he says, “and by the way, that’s gonna be a huge market for somebody around here now.”
