First of all, thank you to everyone that posted their thoughts on customer service and for the many emails that we received with feedback and encouragement. Your feedback has helped us shape our employee training program and we can't wait to prove to you that we truly are dedicated to delivering exceptional service.
We noticed quite a few comments regarding smoking in bars and wondering whether we would go with a non-smoking bar and restaurant. The answer--we don't know yet. What do you think would be best? Should the Tobacco Road restaurant and bar be non-smoking, with smoking only allowed on the patio? Or, should smoking be allowed in the bar? Please submit your opinion in our poll (in the right-hand column on this page) and feel free to post comments. Also, if you know people that might visit Tobacco Road Sports Cafe, please ask them to vote.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Smoking or Non-Smoking Bar?
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29 comments:
I'm a big fan of the restaurants and bars that have installed excellent air systems that accommodate both smokers and non-smokers - from what I've experienced, they seem to be effective. I personally am a non-smoker but I don't feel the need to cast out or reject any business potentially on the basis of smoking preference.
I just can't see having "Tobacco" in the name then having it be a non-smoking place... :) Smoking should be allowed.
Hey Alex, I like a good cigar as much as anyone (who likes a good cigar). However, you will be close enough to Amra's for your smokers to duck out for a quick smoke, then trot on back. Let's give the non-smokers a place to hang their hats, too!
Regardless of the name, I think making the bar smoke free with smoking allowed on the patio is a great idea. I am not an anti-smoker but it would be nice to have one sports bar smoke free and I would be a frequent customer.
I have many friends who are sports fans and who regularly veto meeting at sports bars with the miasma of smoke hanging in the air. They would rather stay home than go out and not enjoy the experience. It only takes a single smoker to ruin it for every one. They can always go for a walk to get their fix.
I am not a big fan of smoking restaurants becaue you smell really bad when you leave. I am someone who enjoys a good cigar, and its much more cost efficient for me to walk a couple of paces out onto a patio, than to install an excellent ventilating system.
I think it's time for a place for the non-smokers. I think it's way overdue. Some people who smoke are very rude when it comes to blowing their smoke up in the air. Plus this will help keep your establishment fresher. Stay smoke free Tobacco Road!!!
All the main cities are going non smoking, we are in a green/eco
world, and we have enough people to support a clean atmosphere - it
promotes clean love.
Tobacco Road has to have an element of tobacco. No?
I think you know that cigar smokers are loyal customers for life, and aren't looking for the 'next new' bar.
Smoking outside is fine, but you'll lose us in cold and or rainy weather.
Here's to your success!
ps: What does 'going Green' have to do with cigar smoking?
I cast my vote for smoke free please? Not everyone reacts like I do, but I have many friends with the same problem. If I'm around cigarette smoke even in tiny doses, or in bars that supposedly have excellent smoke eating machines, there will still be many hours to follow coughing and clearing my throat. Sadly I've quit going to many of my favorite places because of this.
4 whatever it's worth.
http://www.cigarrights.org/
You guys already have such a great following with Amras! I'm sure your bar will be successful WITHOUT accommodating smokers indoors. Please set the trend in Raleigh and be the first sports bar to be smoke-free! I personally think you'll draw far more women (we hate going home smelling like smoke).
I'll be honest, we live only a few hundred feet from Amra's and have only been there three times (at someone else's request) because of the smoke factor. We like the place otherwise, the music is always great, but the smoke kills it for us.
Smokers have PLENTY of places to go in this town, including Amra's. You will not lose their business since a person can only be in one place at a time, and if they choose not to go to Tobacco Road, Amra's is just a few steps away. However, for people like me who can't stand stinking like a tailpipe after leaving a bar, or worse yet suffer respiratory issues with even minimal smoke exposure like my boyfriend, you will lose our business in both places if you continue a smoke-fostering environment.
For those who espouse smokers' rights - what about the non-smokers' rights to not be exposed to a known carcinogen that they themselves choose not to use? Not trying to turn this into a debate, but that argument is just not valid because we all have the rights to our own needs.
I have good friends who are smokers and they do not NOT patronize an establishment because it is non-smoking if they like the place. They will go outside for breaks, cold weather or warm.
Make it smoke-free and I guarantee you will have loyal customers like me and most of the people I know.
My favorite club to go to in greensboro is non-smoking inside. I can have a great time and not come out smelling like an ash tray. The club has a great outdoor patio area with heaters for people who choose to smoke. That would be amazing if you guys could do the same. It would make me a more frequent customer.
In order to make the best decision you should consider the science and economics. First, secondhand smoke (SHS)contains 4000 chemicals and 69 of them cause cancer. Your workers and patrons should not have to breath in SHS while they work or play at your new place. Second, there is no ventilation system in the world that reduces the health risk of the SHS particles...do your homework and please don't waste your money. Third, you'll reduce cleaning and maintenance costs and folks will really enjoy the clean air and atmosphere. Finally, your new place will be packed because of the smoke-free air, great sports and excellent food. Going smoke-free in a total win-win-win!!!..for your workers, customers and your bottom-line.
Jim
I love it!!! We're not in the 90's anymore, times are changing! and we can breathe easier! Thanks T-Road I'll be patronizing ya'll all the time.
Cheers,
I live in NW Raleigh and a huge sports fan. I have to go to Blinko's currently, because they're the only location that half way treats non-smokers OK. The smoke drifts over to the "non smoking" section everyday and you come out smelling nasty as if you had just been to Amra's for instance. GO NON-SMOKING!!
I vote for non-smoking! If it is free of smoke, I will be there 2 or 3 times a week. As long as smokers have an area on the patio, I think everyone will be happy. Women HATE leaving a bar with their hair and clothes smelling like smoke. I don't like to go out as much if around smoke because I can't breathe when I wake up the next morning and even after I wash my hair, it still smells like smoke to me, yuck! Anyway, it would be so refreshing to have a sports bar/restaurant without all the smoke hanging around! I think it would be funny if "Tobacco Road" were non-smoking...if you want to smoke, go out by the road or walk up the road to Amra's ;)
Tobacco outside only, i.e. by the road.
You should not have a bar named "Tobacco Road" and be non-smoking. It's misleading. Also, I agree with Lisa that there should be a good air system installed to insure that people are not bothered by smoke. As a person who worked in numerous sports bars while in college, Smokers were better customers (bigger tippers) and they tend to be the ones who were regulars. One of the sports bars I worked at had a smoking and non smoking bar (mainly the banquet room with its own bar) and if thats at all possible I would recommend that. That seemed to work out well.
You could do smoking at the bar only after 9:00 or something.
I just moved back to Raleigh from San Francisco and quickly realized how horrible cigarettes are out here. I do not visit restuarants that allow smoking, same thing for night clubs and bars. I am an athlete and therefore I would rather breathe in fresh air and spend my money at places that support a healthy lifestyle.
Please, no smoking. We live downtown Raleigh and within walking distance to a great restaurant and bar that we never frequent because smoking is allowed in the bar. If Tobacco Road will offer a few healthy organic and locally grown food items on the menu and you're no smoking, we'll be spending money every week at your place. In this economy...you decide want customers you want to target. Regardless, we wish you the best of luck because we are grim about so many downtown Raleigh businesses going out of business. Although we're not surprised about which ones don't make it...so far they've been the ones we never went to more than once.
Because i get sinus infections every time i go out and my mother spent a month in the hospital from second-hand smokers bronchitis from her workplace, i've done much research on the subject. There really isn't a "great" air system that can be installed. It's a myth. It seems less smoky, but it's still damaging. I love going out & having a good time, but rarely do so in Raleigh. By contrast, i visit my friends in other cities & can go out partying 5 nights in a row without getting sick. How's that for repeat business? If your customers are sick all the time, they can't come out as often. Unless you're making money off cigarette sales, i don't see what the financial benefit of indoor smoking can be. I've yet to find a town with a smoking ban that had people refuse to go out because they can't smoke. In all cases i've found, it's HELPED the local economies.
Will not atch a game where I can not smoke a cigar. That is why I left my first 5 wives....
If you go smoke-free - I'll be sure to post meetups! And advertise it as such!!!!! We are always looking for smoke-free places!
A smoke free bar....???? Am I confused here!!! I would suggest that 80% of drinkers are smokers and hence want to smoke while drinking. I for one will not be visiting a bar where I cannot light up. Is this NYC? Quit crying and have a non-smoking dining room and a smoker bar.
Please please please go smoke free! I was just at your place last week and loved it. If it was smoke free, I would come back to you place a lot. Great sweet potato fries by the way. And all your prices are affordable.
Thanks for making it NON-SMOKING!
- J
please stay non-smoking! i'm a frequent patron due to your non-smoking atmosphere!
it is one of the only places in town i can go, watch a game, grab a burger, and breathe. i find it refreshing!
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