totally smoke free restaurants and bars

Has anyone compiled a list of smoke free restaurant and bars?

cas wrote:Has anyone compiled a list of smoke free restaurant and bars?

Yes, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Hizzoner, New York City.

-Wheezingrabbi

Isn't any restaurant without a liquor license now 100% smoke free?

gleam wrote:Isn't any restaurant without a liquor license now 100% smoke free?

Isn't that only within the Chicago city limits?

I cannot vouch for completeness or accuracy, but this might be a start:

http://www.lungchicago.org/site/epage/26729_487.htm

nr706 wrote:

gleam wrote:Isn't any restaurant without a liquor license now 100% smoke free?

Isn't that only within the Chicago city limits?

I'm a very Chicago-centric kind of guy. Too lazy to head out to the suburbs often.

So let me correct: Any BYOB restaurant in the chicago city limits is required to be non-smoking. So you've got some choices.

The following downtown restaurants voluntarily become 100% smoke-free on Jan 16:

Avec, 615 W Randolph St., (312)377-2002
Blackbird, 619 W Randolph St., (312)715)0708
Buca de Beppo, 521 N Rush St., (312)396-0001
Coco Pazzo, 300 W Hubbard St., (312)836-0900
Coco Pazzo Cafe, 636 N St. Clair St., (312)664-2777
Custom House, 500 S Dearborn St., (312)523-0200
Jazz Showcase, 59 W Grand Ave., (312)670-2473 (already non-smoking)
Keefer's Restaurant, 20 W Kinzie St., (312)467-9525
Kiki's Bistro, 900 N Franklin St., (312)335-5454
Lawry's The Prime Rib, 100 E Ontario St., (312)787-5000
Le Lan, 749 N Clark, (312)280-9100
Naha, 500 N Clark St, (312)321-6242
P.F. Chang, 530 N Wabash Ave., (312)828-9977
Russian Tea Time, 77 E Adams St., (312)360-0000 (already non-smoking)
Spiaggia, 980 N Michigan Ave., (312)280-2750
Trattoria No.10, 10 N Dearborn St, (312)984-1718
Vivere, 71 W Monroe St (312)332-4040

I have a list of downtown restaurants certified by the city of Chicago as smoke free on my website:
http://www.thelocaltourist.com/restaurants/restsmokefree.htm.

This list used to be accessible from the City of Chicago's website, but that area of the site's experiencing "technical difficulties".

You can add Miller's Pub to the downtown voluntarily smoke-free list.

Great - thanks!! And that's perfect. A friend that I met at Miller's Pub during Blues Fest 4 years ago is coming in town this weekend and we'll have to go.

All Giordano's in the city are totally smoke free, even if they have a full bar. And, yes, I work for them.

Here's a few smoke-free places:

http://chicago.citysearch.com/roundup/4 ... icago.html


http://suburbs.centerstage.net/restaura ... efree.html

The Charleston has gone smoke free. The Charleston is a classic Chicago Tavern in Bucktown. It used to be a terribly smoky venue and they have gone smoke free. They have live music usually on Fri, Sat and Sun with no cover. It is nice to go in and be able to breathe and not have to take a shower before you go to sleep just to get the smoke out of your hair.

Charleston
3:00-2:00
2076 N. Hoyne
Chicago, IL
773-489-4757

A search on "smoke-free" on this site yields several threads, including:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4118

Speaking of smoke-free and the smoking ban, I couldn't help but relay my experience with this last night when I was eating at the bar of a restaurant that allows smoking at the bar only. I witnessed a man who, while leaving the restaurant after finishing his meal, took note of a patron smoking at the bar and proceeded to rudely harangue the bartender about why they were allowing "people" to smoke at the bar. (He did this about one foot from the smoking patron.) Now, mind you, this man had finished his meal at a table at the far end of the restaurant well-away from the bar, and was not bothered by any smoking then, but only upon seeing the smoker on his way out, felt the need to comment. Apparently, he was unpersuaded by any explanation offered by the staff as to the true components of the smoking ban because he accused the restaurant of violating the law.

I fear this smoking ban has fanned the flames of self-righteousness among the ardent non-smokers. Although I recognize that you have rude people everywhere, my friends, who are restaurant-owners, tell me that these types of incidents are not isolated, by any stretch. They have had numerous issues with customers, even semi-regulars, who had previously been okay co-existing with their fellow patrons smoking at the bar. But now that they feel validated by the smoking ban, these same customers have begun to demand that the restaurant voluntarily comply with the ban early and cease to allow smoking altogether. They tell me that they had to kick out one middle-aged woman who stomped her feet demanding that they tell those lighting up about 20 feet away to put it out, dammit!

If the scene that occurred last night is not an isolated occurrence, and I understand from people I know in the 'biz that it is not, perhaps the smoking ban isn't in furtherance of good health. After all, it's causing a lot of added stress to those who have to frequently fend off the angry mobs by trying to explain the ban to those who don't understand it, but are sure that they do. And as for the ardent non-smokers who favor the ban, they're sure getting themselves worked up trying to enforce what they view to be their "rights." Given the proven link between stress and heart attacks, where is the concern for health there? Must we be so focused on the perceived threat of cancer?

Clearly, I jest, but really, I just wish people would relax about this.

Would seem like a good idea for places encountering such behavior to print up some copies of the ordinance, maybe laminate them, and then have them available to show people complaining that they are actually in compliance with the law. Highlighting the pertinent language where the specifics of what is and/or isn't allowed might help them quickly diffuse such encounters, though some people do appear to live their lives in constant search for things to upset them.

On a somewhat related note . . . last week while having lunch at Keefer's, when Glenn Keefer stopped by to see how everything was (great, as always) I took the opportunity to chat him up about how it's been going post-ban (since Keefer's was quite vocal in their pro-ban stance and went smokeless on Day 1). He reported that overall business is up and that it's even up in bar sales - where one would have assumed there might have been a decline. While I've always been able to happily coexist with smokers at bars I must say that the prospect of being able to enjoy a really nice space like the bar at Keefer's without the usual side effects is quite appealing.

It also means that people like me, with asthma that can be induced by smoke, can now go out for a drink.

I agree about the rude behavior, and understand that restaurants have time to comply - but I personally will be thrilled when everywhere is open to me and I don't have to go in to a restaurant and abruptly turn around and leave.

Under this ordinance, are smokers allowed to create "smoking clubs?" You know, something like the cigar bars or men's clubs of old - I wouldn't mind that (tho it would be a bummer if the food was great) I mean, it's their lungs - just as long as the stuff stays outta mine!

Mhays wrote:Under this ordinance, are smokers allowed to create "smoking clubs?"

Marshall McGearty Tobacco Lounge is one such place.

E.M.