The owners of The Shack in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai have attracted the attention of smokers who have quietly flocked to the watering holes, as well as health officials who are perplexed about how the law is being defeated.

Shack owners, who oppose the smoking prohibition, sidestep the city ordinance by posting the required "Smoking Prohibited by Law" signs but adding the wording: "We feel this law violates freedom of choice guaranteed by the Constitution ... we do not choose to enforce this law."

Under Honolulu's smoking ordinance, a business owner or operator cannot be held liable for customers smoking as long as the business has posted no-smoking signs. Customers who smoke can be cited by police and fined $100 or more for the first violation.

Employees and some nonsmoking customers of the two Shack establishments have complained to the state Department of Health and the city's Office of Information and Complaint, but the Honolulu Police Department has issued no fines to smoking customers.

Mildred Lum, a coordinator for the Health Department's Tobacco Prevention Program, said one Shack employee called, saying she was pregnant and especially concerned. Such places where customers continue to smoke "have been a problem," Lum said. "I don't know if they corrected the problem or not."

A general manager of The Shack in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai declined comment. Customers routinely smoke at both restaurants, using ashtrays provided at tables.

The Shack in Kailua said it allows smoking outside only, which the law allows under certain conditions.

Tom Haymes, general manager and partner at The Shack Kapa'a on Kaua'i, said he doesn't agree with the law, but he does the best he can.

"It's really difficult to try and run a restaurant and every five seconds try to stop someone from smoking," he said, adding that customers occasionally smoke. "We don't want to break the law, but it's a hard thing to enforce."

The issue of enforcing local smoking ordinances was publicly raised before the law took effect on O'ahu last July, when one restaurant manager asked if there were going to be "cigarette police" or "smoking Gestapo."

Government officials said they've heard of other establishments besides The Shack flouting the restaurant smoking ban, which was strongly opposed by many business owners, the Hawai'i Restaurant Association and smokers.

One manager at a Maui restaurant/bar, who asked not to be identified because he fears a crackdown, said sales have increased 15 percent to 30 percent at his establishment by limiting smoking to late-night hours.

Before 10 p.m., smoking is not allowed, which attracts families that in the past tended to avoid the smoke-filled eatery. After 10 p.m., smokers flood the establishment because they are free to light up at the lightly perceived risk of being fined by police.

"In the beginning we were concerned about (the law)," the manager said, noting that the restaurant can't be fined because it posts the required signs.

Restaurant smoking ordinances have been in effect on Maui and Kaua'i for a year. On the Big Island, smoking was prohibited Feb. 1, though bar areas in restaurants have until Sept. 1 to comply.

Some advocates of the smoking bans say they want to strengthen O'ahu, Maui and Kaua'i ordinances to match stiffer Big Island regulations that hold establishment owners and managers responsible if they make no effort to uphold the law.

Under the Big Island ordinance, restaurant owners or operators face fines of $100 for the first offense, $200 for a second offense within a year and $500 for each additional offense within a year.

"We're hoping that in the future that the other cities will strengthen their fines to match that," said Beth Kuch, communications coordinator for the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i.

Kuch estimates that 95 percent to 98 percent of the restaurants in Hawai'i uphold the new laws. "I don't think there is a major rebellion," she said.

In the first large-scale attempt to assess a local restaurant smoking ban, the Maui Tobacco Free Partnership and state Health Department recently interviewed 250 Maui restaurant owners and managers for feedback on the law.

Preliminary results from about 100 interviews by the state show that initial confusion of the law has given way to understanding and general acceptance, according to the Health Department's Lum, who helped conduct the survey.

Some bar areas within restaurants lost business to stand-alone bars exempt from smoking laws, according to responses Lum received, but total sales were not noticeably affected, she said.

"Overall the comments are favorable," Lum said. "They didn't really have major complaints."

Maui councilman Dain Kane said he has heard of "small pockets" of resistance to the law, but he's heard of more cases about restaurant proprietors who experienced no drop in sales, despite initial strong concerns about the law's effect.

Kane added that he believes peer pressure will motivate nonconforming restaurants to eventually support smoke-free dining.

Edward Jim, assistant manager of Outback Steakhouse in Hawai'i Kai not far from The Shack, said his previous boss was so upset with The Shack that Outback planned to build an outdoor bar where smoking would be legal.

Permitting and liquor licensing rules killed the idea, Jim said, but business has been up lately about 15 percent over last year before the smoking ban.

"A lot of our bar regulars did go over to The Shack, but we still have a pretty good local clientele at the bar. We're a big enough outfit that we're not going to quibble," said Jim, who sometimes heads over to The Shack after work — so he can smoke.