Smoking or non?? (Austin: live, restaurants, law)

[CravenClan]

I visited Austin last year, and i can't emeber if there was smoking allowed in the restraunts or not?? Thanks for you rhelp!
Christina

[MJinAustin]

No.

[coleslaw]

No, but many restaurants have outdoor seating where you can smoke.

[TexasHorseLady]

There's a smoking ban pretty much citywide.

There used to be a very lovely compromise. A smoking ban, but the owners of certain kinds of establishments (bars) could apply for a smoking permit, pay a hefty fee, and comply with various requirements (one of which was posting prominently on the front door that it was a smoking establishment), and permit smoking in their establishment if they felt it would benefit their business.

Thus, there were thousands of nonsmoking establishments, and a few smoking establishments, and that would seem to be relatively fair to everybody. But the nonsmoking contingency couldn't abide that, and pressured until it was rescinded.

I don't smoke, by the way. Just am not terribly fond of seeing others' civil liberties infringed upon, by people who would object vociferously if their own were infringed in any way. (Or by anybody, for that matter. If I support that, even if I don't do it, I've given up any right to complain when my own are infringed, as well.)

[Trainwreck20]

The reason the law changed was that there was almost zero compliance.

But to the OP, smoking is generally banned, but allowed outside of buildings and restaurants (such as on patios) as long as the smoking area is at least 15(?) feet from the door.

[TexasHorseLady]

What do you mean by "almost zero compliance"? I'm not talking about changing it so that the establishment owners weren't having to play cop, but the elimination of the smoking permit that allowed for some establishments to be smoking establishments.

I DO remember the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands over the very idea that people who liked to smoke with a meal/drink/live music/game of pool would actually have places where they could go and do that in public. Made me want to drive out and look at the city limits signs to see what city/state I was in!