I know LA has a smoking ban in restaurants and attached bars, but didn't know if it had been extended to stand alone bars in New Orleans. We're considering a trip in Jan and it would make it an easier decision if we knew we could enjoy the Quarter's great bars without the smoke. Thanks.

Having re-visited N.O. again in both August and October, I can tell you they are still (unfortunately) smoking in bars.

Yah, I was there for Mardi Gras and they are still allowing smoking in bars. Sorry!

>>I know LA has a smoking ban in restaurants and attached bars,>.

California has a smoking ban.

Stu Dudley

wow i woulda never thougth that

Smoking is banned in restaurants. It is not in bars. So, if you are at a bar that is in a restaurant, there is no smoking.

I think in this case "LA" refers to Louisiana When I first read this, I was thinking Los Angeles too and wondering what the CA smoking ban had to do with New Orleans - LOL.

Much like Vegas, I don't see a smoking ban coming anytime soon.

Too bad. Perhaps we'll go to Charleston instead. Thanks for the info.

<<Too bad. Perhaps we'll go to Charleston instead. Thanks for the info.>>

I certainly don't enjoy inhaling smoke, and I have often made decisions about restaurants/bars because of the amount of smoke present, but I don't think I've ever ruled out visiting an entire city because the bars allow smoking.

And we just did.

Sorry - didn't mean to be that snippy. We've been to N.O. many times, but not since the restaurant smoking ban. Bar hopping is one of our favorite activities there, and seek out the small, non-restaurant bars. With the ban on restaurant smoking, combined with the cold weather in Jan, I'm guessing that stand alone bars will be very, very smokey, being the last bastion for smokers.

Haven't been to Charleston since they passed their total smoking ban, so we'll be able to try lots of places we avoided before.

Too bad you don't respect your liver as much as your lungs.

I don't think the bar smoke is all that bad, especially on days when bars can open doors and windows (which is most of the time in NOLA). However, I would add that "second-hand liver damage" isn't much of a problem compared to "second-hand smoke."

I agree w/ Dan. Many, many bars in New Orleans, especially the FQ, either open up the front and/or have interior courtyards.

There are several studies debunking the "second hand smoke" dangers. As well, prior to our smoking ban in bars in Santa Fe, there were several bars which had chosen to go non-smoking. There should be choices for smokers as well as for non-smokers and there very well might be in NOLA. Check it out - perhaps there are bars which do not allow smoking?

There is a beautiful new bar called Cure, uptown near Tulane, that is no smoking. It has specialty cocktails and small plates of food. You would need to take a cab from the Quarter.

Just returned from a long weekend in NOLA, and unfortunately my fears regarding smoking proved valid. Many of our favorite bars (Old Absenthe House, Ryan's, Molly's on the Market, John Lafitte's) were completely unaccessable at any hour of the day due to the huge amount of smoke inside. We only found a couple of bars that we could stand to be in for a drink - and that was only if they had good ventilation and only very early in the afternoon when they were virtually empty. Of course there are restaurant bars, but there are a lot fewer of these and few have the character of the Quarter's true bars.

And I'd estimate that about 20% of the people walking down the street were smoking - that's a lot of smoke to dodge when the sidewalks are full.

We even walked through Harrah's Casino at 9:30 in the morning and had to walk out after realizing that there was no non-smoking area. Why a place that huge can't set aside one small area that's non-smoking, I don't get. And say what you want about their ventilation system, but it was pretty poor air in there. I felt especially bad for the 60+ year old security guard who told us he sure wished their was a non-smoking area.

And the no-smoking in restaurants law wasn't enough to keep patrons from smoking in restaurant bathrooms.

The final straw was when the people in the room next to us at our non-smoking hotel started smoking one afternoon and the smoke made it into our room via the connecting door. The hotel sent security up immediately, but we didn't stick around to see what happened of if they enforced their $200 smoking fine. Of course we woke the next morning to more smoke coming through the connecting door.

Limiting legal smoking almost exclusively to bars, I'm not surprised that the level of smoking in bars is higher now. And unfortunately the tourist areas of NOLA tend to draw a segment of the population more prone to smoke. Until they pass some more comprehensive smoking laws, we won't be back.

Fantastic, we will be booking our flight now. BTW who the h*** are the 'segment of the population more prone to smoke' what a pompous self rightous comment that is. I wouldn't have thought your President would like to be classed thus.

Brian - What, exactly does this mean (?!) - "And unfortunately the tourist areas of NOLA tend to draw a segment of the population more prone to smoke." Is that just plain old stereotyping or what ? & what is that demographic exactly ? I truly had little issue when I was there in August as most people were smoking outside. There were a few people in Mollys smoking but I think the Olde Absinthe house was the worst. But to stop going to a destination because the city doesn't agree w/your personal beliefs ? Seems a little over the top too me. To each their own, but your 'holier than thou' post does little to help your case. So you'll not ever go to Paris or Amsterdam or...well you get the point.