More restaurants in Cape, Jackson going smoke free

Smokers in Southeast Missouri have fewer bar and restaurant options if they wish to enjoy a cigarette during their visit.

Cape Girardeau has seen its share of raised hackles when it comes to smoking.

In 2011, voters narrowly defeated a hotly contested smoking ban that would have taken the option of smoking out of all public establishments in the city, including privately owned bars and restaurants.

A cigarette smolders in an ashtray Thursday at Sands Pancake House in Cape Girardeau.GLENN LANDBERG ~ glandberg@semissourian.com

Although there is no law keeping business owners from allowing cigarette use in their establishments, many local restaurant owners have opted to enact their own nonsmoking policies as a matter of personal preference since the vote.

Several new restaurants in Cape Girardeau’s downtown area have opened with a nonsmoking policy in place.

Coin-Op Cantina, Minglewood Brewery, Paddlewheel Pizza and Blue Diamond Sports Bar are among the newer locations choosing to disallow inside smoking.

When Broussard’s Cajun Cuisine relocated to a new building just down the street, the owners chose to leave their smoking policy behind.

In the same vein, in its first iteration, Ragsdales Pub allowed smoking throughout the facility, but since Taste of Cape reopened the pub this year, it changed the smoking policy as well.

Larger franchise restaurants also are changing their policies.

Applebee’s in Cape Girardeau removed a smoking option about two years ago. Logan’s Roadhouse changed its policy in October as part of a regional decision.

There are many reasons a business owner may choose to eschew permitting smoking in a restaurant.

“Smoke-free air protects all of our customers and our staff from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke,” Brittany Meadows, marketing director of Taste of Cape, said in an email.

Beyond health benefits, personal preference and the effect of smoke on the building and its contents often are major considerations.

Jeff Mungle, owner of Coin-Op Cantina, chose not to allow cigarettes because the smoke could be harmful to the video games he houses.

And when Tim Fischbeck opened Blue Diamond Sports Bar in a space previously inhabited by a smoke-friendly facility, he had to do “a lot of scrubbing” in preparation for his grand opening.

But sometimes the reasoning is simple.

“We had more people complaining about the smoke than wanting to smoke,” said Jaimie Lynn, manager at Tractors Classic American Grill in Jackson. “It just needed to happen.”

Several restaurants still permit smoking and are not considering a change in policy.

Denny’s in Cape Girardeau, for example, maintains a smoking section as part of a franchise-wide policy. But Amber Welsh, a supervisor there, said the policy would remain even if they could change it locally.

“We get too much business in our overnight shift that brings in smoking. That’s where all our overnight business comes from,” Welsh said.

Business owners who change their policy face one main concern: reaction from the customers.

When a restaurant announces a switch from smoking to nonsmoking, the reaction is mixed.

Although Lynn received complaints about smoke in her restaurant, when the policy changed, some patrons stopped coming.

“There’s a handful that I haven’t seen come in since the switch,” Lynn said.

Sands Pancake House has allowed smoking since the restaurant opened in 1953.

Server Cindy Dees said the owners have been considering changing their policy recently because online comments they receive indicate the smoke is an issue.

They receive positive comments about the food, she said; however, it’s always followed by “but too much smoke.”

They are hesitant, unsure of what their clientele will think.

“A lot of people come here because they can smoke,” Dees said. “But others might not come here because of their jobs, who don’t want to risk going back to work smelling like smoke.”

A 2013 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed restaurants and bars in states with smoke-free laws did not fare better or worse than those without.

Alhough Cape Girardeau and Jackson do not have a smoke-free law, the results of the study are reflected in the reports of those who work in bars and restaurants that changed their policies.

“You might lose a few customers who do not want to be in an environment where they cannot smoke; however, the smokers you may lose as customers will be made up for with nonsmoking customers who’ve heard about your policy and are eager to have fun in a smoke-free environment,” Meadows said.

Of the change at Tractors, Lynn said she found more people were happy with the change than disappointed.

Keith Benton, manager at Logan’s Roadhouse, said his restaurant broke even as far as customer gain and loss since its smoking policy changed in October.

Ultimately, local business owners say the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to a nonsmoking policy.

“It was a definite positive change,” Lynn said.

bbrown@semissourian.comm

(573) 388-3630