Virginia law banned smoking in restaurants and bars beginning on December 1st. It will require all restaurants to prohibit smoking; however, there are changes businesses can make to allow smoking. Restaurants must have a separate room with a separate ventilation system. Smoking in outdoor patios will also be allowed.
Some local restaurants are gearing up for the ban. Inside Awful Arthur’s at Towers Mall, customers packed the back room to watch Sunday football. That room is also the newly-designated smoking area.
“When they [law makers] came out said that we’re going to have a smoking ban, we were really interested in trying to keep both groups of people. So we pretty much instantly decided we wanted to have a way to block off that section,” said Assistant Manager Travis Sorrells. As you walk out of the room, a “No Smoking” sign near the glass door lets customers know not to light up in the front room.
“It’s almost 90 times better up front than what we had before,” said Sorrells, referring to the changes that have cut down on the smoke for the restaurant’s non-smokers.
It’s a law Corned Beef and Company is also preparing to handle. The pool room will also be the smoking room with a separate ventilation system. “This room is going to have these doors, be a more accessible door, a little easier to swing open and out instead of the big heavy doors we have now. And the other side, we’re going to have doors placed right underneath our fire doors here,” pointed out Manager Jamie Amos.
It’s good news for Larry Frost, also a smoker. “It’s a great idea. Pool shooting is the home of the smoker anyway, cigars and what have you,” he said.
Both restaurants say there’s a big demand from their customers for a smoking room. With other restaurants going completely smoke-free, Amos said they figured Corned Beef could offer customers something other restaurants couldn’t.
Frost agrees with the ban. “Second hand smoke is a bear. People think, I think, cigarettes stink, cigars stink, but I love to smoke cigars,” he said.
(From media partner WSLS)