Reply #44: Dallas Observer:

[Liberal In Texas]

Maybe Brandt Wood has the answer: "It's knocked bar sales down 20 percent, which is massive," he says of the Dallas restaurant smoking ban. His company, the Entertainment Collaborative, operates the Green Room in Deep Ellum and Jeroboam downtown. "We aren't waiting for any apologies from the city, either." Actually, the damage might even be worse. According to sales reports from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Green Room's alcohol sales were off 51.5 percent while Jeroboam's were down 26.47 percent in the 12 months ending March 2004, compared with the previous 12 months. The smoking ban went into effect in March 2003.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-12-30/dish.html

To be quite honest, I'm a smoker (if you couldn't tell) and don't smoke at the table either. But I still think it is nutty not to be able to move to a smoking area (like the bar) and have a cigarette with a cup of coffee or an after dinner drink.

LV and NO are so wide open, it's like 30 years ago. People smoke in hotel hallways, and I don't agree with that either.

I suppose a universal ban is coming, but I won't like it.