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Food & Beverage Industry

Signals mixed on new Florida smoking ban - News

Nation's Restaurant News, June 30, 2003 by Jack Hayes

While hoping that a new statewide smoking ban eventually will bring more business into their restaurants, restaurateurs in Florida hold mixed views on how long smokers will take to cool off after the state's constitutional amendment to prohibit public puffing takes effect this week.

And many other restaurant operators in the state were concerned about the perceived inequities of exemptions that will allow some foodservice establishments to permit smoking.

Yet restaurants that offer outdoor seating and meet the law's exceptions for "nonenclosed" dining were breathing somewhat easier on the eve of the prohibition, which starting July 1 will turn nearly all indoor workplaces -- 40,000 restaurants included -- into smokeless venues.

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While numerous polls have shown that nonsmoking patrons intend to dine out more when cigarette and cigar smoke is no longer a factor, there is still a question about the protest backlash operators may see from longtime smoking guests.

"I think in the long run everyone's business will go up, as it has in states like California and Maine, where no smoking has been the rule, but I also believe the change may hurt us for a year or two," said third-generation Tallahassee, Fla., steakhouse operator Bill Kalfas. His 650-seat Silver Slipper opened for business in the state capital in 1938.

A former smoker and also a cancer survivor, Kalfas objects to what he calls the arbitrary language of the amendment, which will permit smoking in freestanding bars that do not generate more than 10 percent of total revenue from foodservice.

"It's a totally unfair law," Kalfas added. "I just wish they'd ban smoking everywhere."

Nevertheless, Kalfas two weeks ago placed an order for new drapery and carpet for his establishment. "We're going to change it over once the tobacco smell is gone," he said.

Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants, parent of the casual-dining Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones chains, enacted a no-smoking policy at all of its Florida restaurants on Jan. 7, six months ahead of the July 1 compliance deadline.

"We felt an obligation to voters who overwhelmingly approved the amendment," said Darden's media and communications director, Mike Bernstein. "But our decision has had no meaningful impact on business," he added. "And there's been hardly any response in guest relations, although nonsmoker feedback has been generally more positive. It's really too soon to say how it may affect business in the long run."

Some fine-dining operators who converted their facilities to nonsmoking before the July 1 deadline said they felt a slight decline in lounge traffic. They surmised that the loss was because smoking guests were choosing to dine where they could still smoke, even knowing their choice was temporary.

"A few of our regular guests were strong smokers and enjoyed the freedom of being able to sit in the lounge with a cigarette," said Ryan Quinn, dining-room host at Armani's, a high-end Italian restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Tampa. "I haven't seen them since we went smoke free in the lounge a few months ago," he added, pointing out that Armani's dining room has been smokeless since it opened.

According to Quinn, who had worked at a Ritz-Carlton in Southern California a year ago, Florida and California seem worlds apart on the smoking issue. Despite the fact that 71 percent of Florida's voters said yes to Amendment 6 last November, Quinn was reminded that Tampa, Fla., has been the nation's largest cigar-producing city for nearly 100 years.

"I notice that a lot more people here are smokers, and some of these people are upset," he said. Nevertheless, the Hyatt's decision to go nonsmoking in all areas of its restaurants before the July 1 deadline has been a good one from the standpoint of most guests, Quinn stated. "A lot more of our patrons are showing appreciation," he said.

Florida Restaurant Association chairman Jeff Grayson, an Orlando-based Pizzeria Uno operator, expects that Florida restaurants may learn they've been giving too much weight to the point of view of smokers.

"We've overly neglected the bar business potential of nonsmokers who've been opting not to sit themselves in smoke-laden restaurant bars," Grayson said. "But I'm hearing from peers at Outback and similar places where smoking is no longer allowed that their bars are more crowded now. So I think this is something we can all look forward to."

The amendment's passage made Florida the seventh state in which smoking is prohibited lawfully in workplaces. Statewide nonsmoking measures are in force in California, Maine, Utah and Vermont. Such cities as New York and Boston also restrict smoking in restaurants.

Four types of venues are exempt under Florida's Amendment 6. They are standalone bars, private homes not operating as child care facilities, designated hotel smoking rooms and retail tobacco shops. The amendment does not exclude smoking in designated outdoor seating areas.

After the referendum's passage, some restaurateurs feared Amendment 6 could hurt them if freestanding bars were allowed to compete with restaurants in the amount of food they may legally sell. The state Legislature ultimately decided to set the limit at 10 percent."

Food & Beverage Industry

Signals mixed on new Florida smoking ban - News

Nation's Restaurant News, June 30, 2003 by Jack Hayes

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