Last of Big Isle eateries go smokeless
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
Beginning today, Big Island bars within restaurants will ban smoking as the final phase of statewide smoking restrictions enacted last year kicks in.
• Big Island: No smoking in all restaurants — including outdoor dining areas — since Feb. 1. Smoking still allowed in stand-alone bars. As of today, bar areas of restaurants also must be smoke-free unless there is a solid wall separating the bar area from the rest of the restaurant, a separate entrance to the bar areas and a separate ventilation system. • Maui: No smoking in all areas of restaurants but still allowed in stand-alone bars. Took effect Jan. 1, 2003. • Kaua'i: No smoking inside restaurants. Smoking still allowed in stand-alone bars, outdoor dining areas and restaurants that operate solely as bars during certain hours. Took effect Jan. 1, 2003. • O'ahu: No smoking inside restaurants. Smoking allowed in outdoor dining areas and in stand-alone bars. Took effect July 1, 2002. Source: Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i.
Hawai'i County was the last county to limit smoking in restaurants and ended up with the toughest regulations in the state, according to the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i.
Smoking laws by county
Big Island restaurants are having a mixed reaction to the new rules with some reporting that smoking limits prompted an increase in food business. But at least one restaurant/bar in Kailua, Kona, is phasing out food to focus on the more lucrative bar business.
The latest restrictions leave bars and nightclubs as the last type of business that allow smoking.
Opponents of the new laws said they feared smoking bans would cause their businesses to suffer. But initial reports last year from the National Restaurant Association showed a 3 percent increase in restaurant revenues last year, even after the ban on O'ahu, Maui and Kaua'i had started.
The advocacy group also has found the transition smoother than many expected.
Tracie Yoshimoto of the Hawai'i Island Tobacco-Free Partnership said a bar at Kilauea Military Camp went smoke-free months ago and got more positive feedback than expected. "They were bracing themselves for some negativity," she said. "Their sales were up and they were getting positive comments."
One Hilo restaurant — Cronies — decided to go smoke-free in May of last year before the new restrictions kicked in. General Manager Tom Thomas said the move was good for business and good for the health of employees. "I was apprehensive at first," he said.
Since then, he said, the restaurant has seen an overall increase in revenue with an 8 percent increase in food sales offsetting a 5 percent decrease in liquor sales.
"We did it for the comfort of not only our guests but also our employees," Thomas said.
The smoking bans haven't prompted big issues that some opponents predicted, according to police who are charged with enforcing the restrictions.
Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said a records check found no evidence that anyone has been arrested or received a citation on O'ahu in the two years since the restaurant smoking ban took effect.
Yu said there appears to be increased cooperation from restaurant patrons. She said one factor that may be discouraging citations is that for police to cite, a person needs to be willing to meet with an officer before an officer will be dispatched to a smoking complaint.
Some businesses remain critical. In Kailua, Kona, Teru's II Restaurant and Bar began cutting back on food service so it can keep its classification as a bar where smoking is permitted. Owner Kim Jones said, "We'll just close down the dining room and we'll just open the bar."
As of a month ago, she said the family-run business stopped serving breakfast and dinner and reduced its number of employees from 10 to two. Jones said the new smoking restrictions hurt their business. "It's horrible, it really is," she said.
She said Teru's only serves food for lunch for two hours but may be able to expand that if a subcontractor is willing to put the money into renovations that would separate the bar from the restaurant and allow both to continue.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
