As an occasional bar-goer, I must admit I avoid certain bars because my fragile lungs can’t handle the attack of stale smoke. Even more tragically, I arrange my bar-going attire to accommodate the smoke, choosing junky jeans and boring, long-sleeved tees over my usual hot pants and designer tanks.
May 1, you’ll find me and many others walking, biking, teetering, skipping — anything but driving — down Michigan Avenue hitting up all of the newly smoke free pubs. Because on that date, eateries and drinkeries must be smoke-free on the inside as declared by the Michigan legislature.
Several bars and restaurants including
Jimmy’s Pub, the
Harrison Roadhouse, the
Michigan Brewing Company (MBC),
Emil’s,
Troppo and
Harper’s have already gone smoke free on their own. But many haven’t and those that haven’t are a little worried that by snuffing ashtrays, they’re going to lose customers.
We want to celebrate the change (and encourage you to do the same), by supporting newly smoke free establishments in the Capital region.
Some bar owners are fearful the new non-smoking law will hurt business. We say it won’t.
Cheers to Smoke-Free“When states go smoke-free the most smoky bars actually benefit the most,” says Amy Moore, prevention program coordinator for the
Ingham County Health Department.
This will certainly be the case May 1 when plenty of groups hit the streets as part of tavern tours, bar crawls and bike hops.
Young Smart Global (YSG) Lansing is organizing a
tavern tour that’s open to the public. It starts at 3 p.m. and shoots down Washington Avenue and Lansing’s portion of the Michigan Avenue corridor. The soon-to-be smoke free establishments on this group’s list include, in order,
Tavern on the Square,
Brannigan Brothers,
Nuthouse,
The Exchange,
The Tin Can,
Moriarty’s, Stober’s and the
Green Door.
REO Town resident and State Network Manger for the
Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Rory Neuner, and other bike enthusiasts created the 1st Annual Lansing Healthy Lungs Ride to celebrate our soon-to-be clear lungs. The crew is meeting at 1:30 p.m. in front of the Cooley Law School Stadium in
Downtown Lansing. While route details are being worked out, the ride will not expand beyond 10 miles.
We admittedly don’t know about every smoke free bar crawl scheduled for May 1, but we did ask Capital Gains’ readers where they might end up. Here's what we heard:
“
Crunchy's, Crunchy's, Crunchy's! Their ‘non-smoking’ area is a joke. Their wide beer selection makes them a prime place to go for a pint, but choking on smoke always has me reconsider. Also, Leos! Oh how I love Leo's. But we haven't gone there in a long time due to the smoke. I can foresee lots of wasted time at
Leo's Outpost after May.”
Says another reader, “I'm more excited about the smoking ban for restaurants where I'll be eating. We'll probably try out Coscarelli's again, too. They're only a block from our house but the smoke is pretty thick in there. I'll also probably frequent the
Peanut Barrel in East Lansing,
Sir Pizza in
Old Town more."
We also recommend Dagwoods, Art’s Bar and LeRoy’s. While none of these bars sit on the Michigan corridor, they have some good grub and plenty of the good stuff.
The Trickle-Down EffectThirty-eight states beat Michigan in terms of passing non-smoking laws, though each state law varies. In some states, like Colorado, laws expand to patio spaces prohibiting smokers from not only smoking on patios, but smoking within several feet of the entrance to a bar. Anyway you toss it, non-smoking restaurants and bars have positive health impacts for customers and employees.
In preparation for the new law, Ingham County held several events educating smokers about the health implications of smoking. Ingham County employees also handed out several patches to smokers who want to kick the habit.
“When a state goes smoke free about one-third of smokers will quit,” says Moore. “We wanted to kind of accelerate that reduction by offering services we think will help with this.”
The county also answered questions from bar owners as how to implement the law. Some of them have suggested they may renovate their business (painting, new carpet) to completely rid themselves of stale smoke.
Aside from obvious health impacts, the smoke free laws have the propensity to change the way
Michigan State University (MSU) students view Lansing bars. Pulling MSU students across the 127 divide can be difficult, but the new law may encourage some to venture into new bars.
“My friends and I are really excited (about the law) because we don’t go to a lot of bars because they’re so gross,” says Carole Polan, who will graduate from MSU in May. “I really like Stober’s because I like to play shuffle board, but I’ve only been there once because it was really smoky.”
We’ve given you a great list of bars to attack May 1. That date also happens to be a Saturday, so if you’re so inclined to sip a frosty beverage, support these businesses and let them know, "Hey, we’re here, we’re ready to drink beer, and we love you for going smoke free!"
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Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Moriartys
Harrison Roadhouse is already smoke free
Tavern on the Square
Crunchy's
Stober's
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie