any bar you can smoke in

[MeanOldLady]

california and its laws. they make you go home at 2, anybody who wants a smoke has to go outside. i've found several of these, and they're generally divey little shitholes, i mean shithole in the fondest sense possible. found another one of these last night. the barkeep straight up asked me and my chum if we needed an ashtray. by ashtray, he meant a rusty altoids can.

[big mike]

IT'S A HELL OF A THING WHEN YOUR FORCED TO PLAN AN EVENING AROUND WHERE YOU CAN SMOKE. HERE IN THE LAND OF CHEESE HEADS IT'S GETTING TO BE A REAL PAIN IN THE ASS.

[Martini Time]

the barkeep straight up asked me and my chum if we needed an ashtray. by ashtray, he meant a rusty altoids can.

Better known as "sharkbait".

[BuriedBlues]

this is one of the reasons people were so eager to get back here. that and the fact that, apparently, other towns lack bars where you can bring your dog. weird.
a customer the other night asked if could blow smoke in his face, in a surprisingly non-creepy way. i don't smoke, but i can't stand a smokeless bar. waking up and sniffing your clothes from the night before, or standing in your shower being suffocated by the fumes coming out of your hair are the best ways to remind yourself of the good times you had the night before.

-Maria

[Oggar]

this is one of the reasons people were so eager to get back here. that and the fact that, apparently, other towns lack bars where you can bring your dog. weird.
a customer the other night asked if could blow smoke in his face, in a surprisingly non-creepy way. i don't smoke, but i can't stand a smokeless bar. waking up and sniffing your clothes from the night before, or standing in your shower being suffocated by the fumes coming out of your hair are the best ways to remind yourself of the good times you had the night before.

-Maria

Smell is the strongest sense linked to memory! I'm going to miss it when Mankato goes smoke free in July. It'll probably just mean more people smoking pot in the alley. It wouldn't bother me so much if MADD wasn't a full on supporter of smoking bans.

[MeanOldLady]

apparently the south bay is chock-full of bars that laugh in the face of CA's smoke-free laws. i hit 5 bars here in the past two weeks (or maybe it was 6, memories are a tad hazy), and 3 of them allowed smoking. i think i'm going to move here.

[Bokbiertrol]

I was in Ireland last february. They have a smoking ban in pubs there as well.
I must say it is annoying if you have to go out for every smoke, especially in winter.
But i don't really smoke too much myself, so i can go without smoking for a couple of hours if i have to.

[whiskeyprick]

weve been smokeless for a year and half and I must smokeless bars stink of BO and old vomit (at least the local does). Cold is the other annoyance at 9600ft. It was 9 below last night. Think I'll just sit here and drink.

[Mayhem]

Try living in Western fucking New York where it gets to 10 below and 4 feet of snow on the ground, and outside is where you have to smoke. It's worse where the Prick is, but it's bad enough here. I blame fucking Mayor fucking Bloomberg of NYCity for this. Shitballs..

[Barca]

apparently the south bay is chock-full of bars that laugh in the face of CA's smoke-free laws. i hit 5 bars here in the past two weeks (or maybe it was 6, memories are a tad hazy), and 3 of them allowed smoking. i think i'm going to move here.

In California, in the bigger cities (SF, LA, SD....) 85-90% of the bars tend to comply with the smonking ban. As you get further away those numbers drops. I've read that in several cities in the South Bay compliance is as low as 55-60%.

[swingbozo]

So are we going to bars for our fucking health or what?

I don't smoke either but I simply hate the smoking ban. As someone mentioned before, it's either BO, vomit, urine, or smoke. Which would you rather smell like?

Oh and in the ultra-dive bar I go occasionally (and have been 86'ed at repeatedly just recently) it's also that pine-sol smell like when you were a kid and were put in that child care center at the bowling alley so mom could get in a few lanes in between domestic duties. Ya, that smell. Every time I smell pine-sol I think of that goddamn bowling alley and the children's area where I was banished. The dive bar is wall to wall cement so they can hose down the entire interior every evening. I don't think they like me anymore :-(

[swingbozo]

Oh ya, the Eagle in San Francisco has side stepped the ban by creating a gigantic outdoor area with rows of benches and those propane heater things all over the place in an area of the bar that they tore the roof off of.

Oh, uhm, so I've heard.

[Martini Time]

Oh ya, the Eagle in San Francisco has side stepped the ban by creating a gigantic outdoor area with rows of benches and those propane heater things all over the place in an area of the bar that they tore the roof off of.

Oh, uhm, so I've heard.

HA HA HA. The Eagle Tavern is the grand dame of SOMA "biker" bars. Something tells me that with the leather-chap (and not much more) bedecked clientele who normally frequent the venue, 1) there is some other type of "smoking" that goes on there (either indoor or out), and 2) CA smoking laws aren't the only laws being violated. I shutter to think what would happen if this was Texas!!

I work a block away from the Eagle, and there is always a scene going on there, from what I can hear. And Thursday nights now have all kinds of "alternative" live bands ("alternative" in the sense of the music, not the lifestyle).

True story - two friends who moved to SF back in the late 80's were riding their Harleys around town, familiarizing themselves with the lay of the land. They spotted said bar, with it's multitude of motorcycles parked out front, and decided to stop and grab a beer with the "local" fellow bikers. They walked in, and when several dozen male eyes turned to them as they passed through the door, they quickly realized that this may not be their "scene". They did have one beer with "the boys" before heading back out into the SF night.

[Mother Goose]

We still allow smoking in bars here, though the restaurant ban takes effect in March.

Goose and I are actually discussing starting to patronize a really nice nonsmoking pool hall/bar here in town, since we don't want any secondhand smoke to affect the little gosling.

Even being a smoker (former), I can't stand bars that are EXTREMELY smoky - burns the eyes and hurts the throat. I don't mind a smoking establishment, as long as there's adequate ventilation.

Also worth noting that since Indiana is such an unhealthy state, I'd imagine we've got lots more smokers per capita than other health-conscious states. That tends to make bars more smoky.

[Borracho]

Just an anoying tug here... I used to smoke, for about 10 years or so, and am really glad I quit. But, that was my choice and I am violently opposed to anyone telling me I need to quit any of my other socially unacceptable habits, I'm sure posting here is one.

Anyway, what you need to understand about a smoking ban is that it is simply part of government establishing the fact that it knows what is best for you, and that it will use the force of law (legal violence) to force you to agree.

If you don't like this, you need to tell your local politicians, and understand the fact that whether its practical or not, you are a Libertarian. Anyway, I want another beer, and that's still not regulated by my government, so shove off...

Borrraco