March 22, 2004
Heather the Radical
Yesterday, while dining at the Olive Garden, a restaurant that redesigned in the last few years to put the smoking section right in the front of the store (you know, right around where you have to wait for a table. WHY???) I decided (with nudging from my dear spouse) that I should restrict my restaurant dining to fully non-smoking restaurants.
There, decision made. Now life is much simpler; I'm removing the thing that makes me bitchy. If I'm going to pay for a meal that I do not cook, I want to fully enjoy it. I can't do that if I'm chewing the air and my nasal passages decide to shrink their air aperatures.
So, last night's mission was to find all of the smoke-free restaurants here in the St. Louis area I could. I was surprised to find that I think I'll be doing all right with finding good food. My decision will likely hamper some social eating when I explain why I won't visit a restaurant, but I can live with that. I don't exactly have a social circle filled with smokers, as you can imagine.
hln
Posted by hln at March 22, 2004 12:12 PM | Health
Come to Florida. It's all smoke free.
I'm a smoker just deciding (this morning) to quit. However - I prefer non-smoking resturants and such. I'm the first to admit it ruins the mood.
Posted by: Tammi at March 22, 2004 03:47 PMWow, when I lived in Florida people smoked in the grocery stores.
The restaurant owners in DC just sued to keep the smoking ban off the ballot this year. The county where we live went smoke-free this fall, which has been great...and not made the restaurants any less crowded from what I see. (And alcohol sales have gone up, too.)
(Tammi, congratulations on quitting!)
Posted by: nic at March 22, 2004 04:11 PMMaybe living in NY has spoiled me. I don't like going to restaurants away from home anymore unless I know I can grab a spot in a nonsmoking area. I travel sometimes for work, so I found this in my bookmarks. Helped a lot when I was there in January.
For St. Louis, try:
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/dining
They don't let you search for smokin/non restaurants, but they do list the info in their reviews.
Oh, and hi, btw. Found you through a random link while surfing. :)
Jon
Non-smoking restaurants? I live in Virginia so it's an unlikely occurrence here. However, inroads have been made in certain areas. My undergraduate alma mater used to allow smoking in the hallways. Imagine walking up 4 flights of stairs behind someone puffing away. Gag. The state finally passed some clean air ordinances which allowed me to breathe easier. This was right about the time I left. Go figure.
Posted by: physics geek at March 23, 2004 08:28 AMhttp://www.saucecafe.com/ will let you search for smoke-free restaurants. Quite an extensive list, with most of my favorites on it. Eliminates City Diner South and Crown Candy for after-cycling lunch, though :-(
Posted by: hans at March 23, 2004 09:08 PM
