Help please, NOLA fellow smokers! (New Orleans, Shreveport: hotels, live, restaurants)

[sierraAZ]

OK, I understand a smoking ban is already in place in NOLA as well, but a little less restrictive than in other places for the time being. My understanding is that the bars serving more food than alcohol are non-smoking and those serving more alcohol than food allow smoking. Could you please recommend some in the French Quarter, Central Business District, and Garden District?

How's the situation with the patios of the restaurants? Can you still smoke there? Do the majority of the restaurants have them? Granted, it's not the best time of the year, but if luck is with me there might be some good days. Actually, the few days just before Fat Tuesday look quite promising on one site forecasting "dry" days. These are the driest 3 days in a row for the whole month of February!

I hope this doesn't turn into a smoking/non-smoking discussion. I only need specific advice on the topic and not health advice or other opinions on the subject. Thank you in advance.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Any restaurant patio that has food service will be non-smoking.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

Any restaurant patio that has food service will be non-smoking.

Really? If it's still allowed in the bars, non-smoking patios sound quite excessive to me... Are you positive? What has this disgusting world come to... non-smoking Paris, non-smoking New Orleans... Oh, well, 2012 is close enough - it's time...

[WestbankNOLA]

She's positive. It's a statewide smoking ban, not a city thing.
No smoking in hotels, restaurants, public places, etc.

[hdwell]

Yes it is statewide and btw went into effect before Katrina.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by WestbankNOLA

She's positive. It's a statewide smoking ban, not a city thing.
No smoking in hotels, restaurants, public places, etc.

Originally Posted by hdwell

Yes it is statewide and btw went into effect before Katrina.

Interesting... I'm positive the law regarding the restaurants went into effect in 2007 as I read that on numerous sites and unless something has changed drastically in the last few days everybody online says smoking is still allowed in free-standing bars. I mean... even in crazy AZ where restaurants have no smoking sections since '99 and you can't smoke in the bars since '07 there are still some places you can go to... I can't imagine New Orleans of all places became a bigger Catholic than the Pope within a little over a year...

[hdwell]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

Interesting... I'm positive the law regarding the restaurants went into effect in 2007 as I read that on numerous sites and unless something has changed drastically in the last few days everybody online says smoking is still allowed in free-standing bars. I mean... even in crazy AZ where restaurants have no smoking sections since '99 and you can't smoke in the bars since '07 there are still some places you can go to... I can't imagine New Orleans of all places became a bigger Catholic than the Pope within a little over a year...

My bad. It was 2007 statewide; however Mandeville, Shreveport (where I live) and Terrebonne Parish enacted bans in 2005. I got that confused. La is pretty much following suit with the rest of America this time. Amazing. Btw I am a smoker myself, but I've gotten used to the law. It took time, but I finally made it.

[cruxan]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

Really? If it's still allowed in the bars, non-smoking patios sound quite excessive to me... Are you positive? What has this disgusting world come to... non-smoking Paris, non-smoking New Orleans... Oh, well, 2012 is close enough - it's time...

i agree totaly.... but can i have a marlboro now!!!! soon they will make a law that says that you can't smoke in front of your pc.. the smoke might travel thru the internet and cause cancer to other internet users.. the world is becoming to boring to manny rules can't wait for armageddon...

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by cruxan

i agree totaly.... but can i have a marlboro now!!!! soon they will make a law that says that you can't smoke in front of your pc.. the smoke might travel thru the internet and cause cancer to other internet users.. the world is becoming to boring to manny rules can't wait for armageddon...

I totally hear ya...

No, seriously... where do the local smokers go? They have to go somewhere! As I said, AZ has been in this grasp for way longer (typically it follows CA closely ) and there are still some places to go - at least on the patios. I've been reading other forums and everybody says you can pretty much smoke in most little casual restaurants in the French Quarter since they'd rather pay fines than lose all their business and my understanding is smoking is still allowed in free-standing bars. Besides, I saw many restaurants that have patios. Since you don't have yet the X feet from door idiotic laws, patios ought to be fine.

[Avengerfire]

This is the first step to a total ban. FIGHT!