Virginia restaurants set to be smoke-free…ish
The smoking ban announced by Governor Kaine’s office back in February officially has officially gone into effect. That’s right, folks. As of today, smoking in Virginia restaurants will be a thing of the past. Well, sort of.
Editor’s note: If you’re looking for Richmond restaurants with smoking accommodations, we’ve set up a search function on our Eats directory highlighting those establishments. It’s in development stages at this point, but we expect it to grow as the ban’s start date gets closer. If you’re aware of restaurants taking steps to provide space for their smoking customers, let us know and we’ll add them to the list.
The smoking ban announced by Governor Kaine’s office back in February has officially gone into effect. That’s right, folks. As of today, smoking in Virginia restaurants will be a thing of the past. Well, sort of.
For those of you who who enjoy the social cig or two (or more), a few restaurants around town have made arrangements so patrons can (legally) light up, should they so desire. But more on that in a second. First, let’s go over some basics of the new law.
The focus of this ban is to prohibit smoking in restaurants that are open to the public. There are, however, a few exceptions. The ban does not apply to:
- Private clubs (obviously, as they are not public by definition)
- Operations that prepare food for catering services, pushcarts, hotdog stands, or other mobile points of service
- Outdoor areas of a restaurant (with or without a roof covering) as long the outdoor area is not enclosed by any screened wall, roll-up doors, or other temporary enclosures. However, if the outdoor area is enclosed, smoking is permitted if the enclosed smoking area is structurally separate from the non-smoking areas of the restaurant and is vented.
- Any restaurant located on the premises of any manufacturer of tobacco products
- Any portion of a restaurant that is constructed in a manner that the area where smoking is permitted is structurally separated from the non-smoking areas of the restaurant and separately. At least one public entrance must be into an area where smoking is not permitted.
That last point is what restaurants like the newly-opened Republic Restaurant & Bar and Richmond favorite The Tobacco Company are running with as they try to keep smokers happy.
The Republic has pushed their smoking accommodations to the forefront of their marketing during this opening week, touting “smoking and non-smoking bars” all over their website. Meanwhile, Rachel Grove, marketing director of The Tobacco Company highlighted the restaurant’s mission to still cater to the smoking customer while acting in accordance with the ban’s restrictions.
“The Tobacco Company Restaurant is going to do everything possible to make smoking comfortable for our patrons but remain in compliance with the upcoming anti smoking legislation,” stated Grove in an e-mail. “We will still permit smoking in The Tobacco Company Club as this room has a separate entrance and a separate ventilation system.”
As temperatures start to drop, The Tobacco Company is also thinking ahead when it comes to the comfort of their smoking customers.
“For our dining and lounge guests, we are having heaters installed outside of our side entrance on the first floor to ensure these customers stay warm,” stated Grove.
What remains to be seen is to what extent restaurants will adhere to the new smoking ban. Currently, failure to comply results in a $25 fine – no other recourse will be taken. In an article published on NBC12.com last week, Virginia Department of Health representative Gary Hagy was quoted as saying, “If you are not in compliance, we cannot put your permit in jeopardy. We cannot threaten to take your permit.”
Of course, the hope (and the expectation of the Health Department) is that restaurants are going to fall in line with the ban’s stipulations, providing outdoor space and/or those separate rooms for smokers, should their clientele demand it.
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Valerie Catrow
Valerie Catrow is editor of RVAFamily, mother to a mop-topped first grader, and always really excited to go to bed.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Don’t bother wasting money on patios. Tobacco control will be back for the patios later. Page seven of the tobacco control handbook instructions are to ban patio smoking AFTER business owners spent thousands of dollars to build them for their smoking customers. This clearly shows that these people have ABSOLUTLY NO CONCERN for local businesses. It’s the “inside-out” provision on page seven. Once these people find gullible lawmakers and get a foot in the door, there’s no stopping them. You will see them walk past clearly posted “smoking allowed on patio” signs only to holler and scream and disrupt an otherwise peaceful gathereing of smoking friends. Have your camcorders ready. You may need to CTRL and scroll to read their handbook.
http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/CIA_Fundamentals.pdf
Notice that there’s no mention of patios in the model “smoking ban for dummies” on page eight. They didn’t want that to be seen when the bans were first brought up.http://www.no-smoke.org/document.php?id=229
I hope they ban alcohol next.
It will be nice to go out and not come home wreaking (well, of smoke anyway).
Looking forward to the smoking ban–I can’t wait to go out somewhere and NOT come home sick from all the smoke I never wanted to inhale in the first place.
I miss my personal freedoms…
Needs to be all or nothing. Allowing those w/ space and resources to have smoking, puts others at a distinct and unfair business disadvantage. The ban is fine, but what’s good for the goose…….
I don’t think allowing these separate rooms will hurt other businesses. I can’t imagine we’ll see crowds of people abandoning restaurants across town for the handful that could afford separate ventilation systems.
Ok….what effect will a $25 fine have on anything? Nothing will change, restaurants will still allow smoking everywhere. The whole thing is pretty pointless. Why have the law at all when there is no real way to enforce it?
This just in from Havana 59’s Je Depew:
“Havana 59 is enclosing the 2nd floor rooftop to allow smoking. Our new upstairs will provide great service, wonderful food and the option of smoking all year round. On Wednesday, Dec. 2nd we are kicking off the Holidays and the rooftop with Patron as they are introducing their new rum, Pryat Rum, with us at Havana 59! We will have live music, cigars and our Mojitos will be made each Wednesday in December with this great new Rum! Unfortunately, every Friday in December is booked for private events, so we will not be open to the smoking public on our Rooftop on Fridays in December.”
So there you have it folks! One more restaurant to add to the list of smoker-friendly establishments.
@Eddi: If you get sick from a little secondhand smoke then clearly you have not built up your lungs’ defenses yet. Get out there MORE and develop a tolerance!!
and telling private, tax paying businesses to cater to your pink-lunged demands is a dangerous precedent. I mean, alcohol kills people; alcohol kills a whole lot of people. Shouldn’t we ban that next?
BYE BYE LIBERTY
Wow I didn’t realize the fine was only $25 with no other recourse… honestly what place is going to bother complying? Talk about a law with no teeth. If you’re going to do it, do it right or don’t do it at all. What a waste of taxpayer money.
I’m assuming the Havanna roof will still be open-air in the summer?
Anyone who is trying to compare drinking with smoking is foolish. Smoking affects everyone around you with an inescapable health risk. If I take a drink, it’s not going to affect the person sitting next to me’s liver. Obviously, if I drink to the point of being drunk and obnoxious or try to drive, that’s a problem. Oh wait, there’s already laws for those situations…. the smoking ban sounds like a good plan to me. If you’re concerned about your “liberties”, maybe think about the non-smoker next to you, and take it outside. Smoking isn’t banned. Smoking around other people in a closed area is banned. Now instead of everyone’s personal well-being at risk, it’s simply being segregated to an area where people who CHOOSE to partake can do so. How can anyone possibly be opposed to this?
very easily
Bailey’s on the Southside has made provisions for smoking, too. I’m assuming that Bailey’s in the West End has made the same provisions, but I haven’t been there.
anon you said- Smoking affects everyone around you with an inescapable health risk.
what about car and bus exhaust?
or crude language? That always hurts me…
Although the ban on smoking has weak direct enforcement, I wonder if it opens the door for any non-complying restaurant to be sued in civil court by non-smoking patrons who claim they suffered harm due to the establishments failing to comply with the law. That could be a strong deterrent to restaurants who are lax about the ban. Any thoughts?
Thank God. I was in a restaurant last year in Richmond, and was appalled that there was a smoking section which wasn’t completely separate from the non-smoking section. Being from N.H. which has already had a non-smoking restaurant ban in effect for some years now, it’s so nice in NH not to have to worry about going out to eat and be nauseated by someone smoking (not to mention I’m allergic to it). Bravo, Virginia! Also of note, the N.H. restauranters have not notice any decline in business.
I wonder how much more pollution is created to power all these smoking shed heaters. I’m sure it’s a lot more than a few cigarettes create.
The entire world is changing towards smoking… Try an Electronic cigarette! It worked for me and thousands of others… no more bad breath or smell and you can smoke them anywhere!
http://bit.ly/27Qt67
I’m from Massachusetts and I must say the person who posted from New Hampshire and stated that business have see no decline in business is flat out wrong. It depends on the business. There were bars that were hurt very badly just as there were in Mass when we passed a law a few years before. Nonsmokers seem to assume that because they are the majority that everyone thinks like them and smokers will just take it. The fact is if your business depends on a late night, hard drinking crowd then smoking bans are likely to hurt you. That said, some of the smokers on this forum really need to chill! Despite what I’ve said about the unrealistic attitudes taken by some nonsmokers that doesn’t mean I don’t think that nonsmokers have a right to be protected. What Virginia has done is a very reasonable compromise. I’ve done my homework for an upcoming trip to Richmond and have been pleasantly surprised by the fact that most of the places I frequent will still allow smoking after next week! Nonsmokers are protected and smokers still have options. The bottom line is the extremists on both sides aren’t satisfied and in my experience that’s usually a good thing.
We will see.
It’ll be very interesting to what the two smoke-filled restaurants in my Northside neighborhood (Dot’s and Shenannigans) will do. I don’t think either of them will have options for a separate “smoking section”.
At Dot’s, in particular, the air is almost always so visibly filled with a haze of gray, noxious smoke that it’s nearly impossible to breathe, let alone eat. We have no choice but to walk out. Too bad, too, because we have enjoyed the food there on the few days when the crowd was thin enough to bear the atmosphere. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they wil comply with the new law, though I agree the fine is far too weak. It seems more like a token than a “protection” for non-smokers.
I am all for restaurants having a separate, enclosed smoking section that allows smokers the freedom to puff away, but protects those who don’t smoke from having to endure the toxic fumes. In these cases, there is a CHOICE for both camps. But for those restaurants who don’t have facilities to do this, they should be non-smoking. Let the smokers walk out for a while. We non-smokers have been doing it for ages.
I have no sympathy for smokers complaining about their “rights.” Does a factory or mine have the right to expose their workers to harmful chemicals? No. They have safety rules to limit the exposure of workers to chemicals. Restaurants are just another workplace. Multiple studies have shown that restaurant and bar smoking bans cause a decrease in total number of heart attacks, not just in smokers. As for effect on the bottom line, there is no effect and sometimes an increase in revenue.
For those restaurants that allow illegal smoking to continue, they may be risking their insurance coverage. Most property insurance will not pay claims if a property is used for illegal activity that is allowed by the owner. $25 may not be much but when ash causes a fire or a pipe bursts in the winter, the owner may find themselves without coverage.
Wow, Big Brother is really taking over. Next regulation will be is restrictions on the amount of fat restaurants can serve per patron.
Try my list of smoking Restaurants at smokefreelyva.com
I am amazed @ the power that the American public gives our Goverment .Because there are some that are like little children & run to Momma to fix things . They run to the Goverment to do what they should do…choose( Its called freedom of choice )you want the Goverment to fix the fat in food because you don,t have the will power to police yourself, you want smokefree restuarents because you can,t choose a smokefree one! Man! if it allowes smoking don,t eat there, don,t work there go to a smoke free restuarant, work @ a smoke free Restuarant…how simple is that?The more you cry to and look to & demand the Goverment to fix your problems the more power they have pretty soon we will be living one of those sci-fi. movies and we just might end up as just a bunch of digets in the data-base instead of free people…something to think about.
You still have the right to smoke, just not in enclosed spaces where your smoke not only bothers others but poses a potential health risk as well. If you’re really worried about the government taking over, you should be paying more attention to our bottomless bailout of Fannie and Freddie and nationalized health care, not whether or not you can light up in a restaurant.
Its my choice to visit a smokeing place and not a nonsmoking, if I can make that freedom of choice to visit what I want then why can,t if u hate smoke choose a non smoking eat! I assume the food is that GREAT THAT U JUST CAN,T PASS IT UP?I want the same freedom of choice to have a smoking place and although I don,t have the right to tell u where to go neither do u have the right to tell me.
I am sick of these non smokers fanatics. If they see a person a block away they will complain, The normal everyday air we breath is far worse than a little cigarette smoke. you are a bunch of idiots and you don’t hesitate to walk a block out of your way to complain. Fanatics, perinoid. Myself and 4 other sisters and brother grew up around 2nc hand smoke and smoke ourselves. we are 78, 75, 73 70 and 68 DOESN’T THAT TELL YOU BONE HEADS SOMETHING.
MAYBE YOU BETTER WORRY ABOUT EATING HEALTHY FOODS HIGH IN ANTIOXIDENTS
Why get the government involved? Are they not involved in enough unsuccessful attempts to control people who do not wish to be controlled? Aside from that, I smoked rather heavily for a good portion of 12 years and then decided to quit. Yep, I quit. No this is not me saying that all smokers should do the same. Quite the opposite, I still go to the same bars and restaurants that I always have and most of them either still have a smoking section or choose to completely ignore the ban. Why? Because their customers want to smoke. For those who say it does not effect business, did you not see how dead many places were right after the ban? Doesn’t it make business sense to ignore it if that is what it takes to make your profit? I don’t get it. My mother is extremely allergic to smoke but we ate out several times a week in non smoking restaurants growing up. Someone said it before and nailed it, there will always be weak people who need government to tell them how to keep themselves safe, and there will always be yuppie fanatics eagerly running 4 blocks to scold someone about their dirty habit. Oh well, like I said, I quit smoking but I would rather give my money to a place that is willing to ignore the cries of ignorant people and keep their customers comfortable.
Is there a list of the restuarants in the Richmond area that do allow smoking?
Polly, we are in the process of putting together a list here:
http://rvanews.com/eats/restaurants/tag/smoking
thanks – (I work with Blake Stack) – he suggested that I ask on your blog!