Is smoking allowed in restaurants in Florida?? I hope not!!! Perhaps it's city by city. Does anyone know?

In November of 2002 Amendment 6 to the Florida Clean Air Act was passed by a roughly 70% majority of the voters. No smoking in Florida restuarants.

Note, since there are many outdoor seating areas in Florida, and the law doesn't apply to outdoor seating areas, you can often expect your outdoor dining experience to be extremely smokey.

Patrick, Thanks for the informative response.

If you see a notice posted on the outside of any Bar & Grill, that states they have applied for a "stand alone bar", it means people are smoking inside. I'm afraid our legislature didn't put enough "teeth" into this ban to keep every bar/restaurant "smoke free".
By definition, a stand alone bar does not derive more than 10% of it's income from "meals" served on it's premises.
So to circumvent the law, they are dishonest about the amount of food they serve.
This seems to be a common thing in Citrus County. I don't think there is much "enforcement" there.

Thanks for the info. What cities are in Citrus County?

There are NO cities in Citrus County. It's a primarily rural area with the largest settlement called Homosassa.

Here in Naples, despite the original screams about how the ban would put restaurants and bars out of business, it has been quite successful.

And believe it or not I actually know a number of people who gave up smoking simply because of it. "I guess if I can't even smoke while I'm having a drink, I might as well give it up." And they did.

Citrus County is a small rural county, but does also include Crystal River. They do see their share of tourist due to the Manatee population that resides in their river.
We, in Hernando County, also have a few "die hard" restaurant/bars that resisted the initial ban, but have since added outside dining and bar areas to keep their loyal smoking clientele.
It's now so pleasant to go into a smokefree restaurant!

You know Patrick, I reread your post about Citrus County being a small rural county with "Homosassa being the largest settlement". Settlement? I usually side with your opinions, but this statement just sounds really nasty. Are you trying to come across that way?

I know it is better for everyone but oh how I miss a nice cigarette after dinner!

Patrick, there are REAL cities in Citrus County, not ones that they pay some guy from Miami a million or so to tell them how to make their 100-year-old city look like a generic one. And then tear down their real city and build an artificial one for white tourists and old farts. So, no, there are no phony make-believe cities in Citrus County that look like Naples, all quaint and homogenized. Why are you picking on Citrus County?

hilarygg, whatever you do, DON'T go to a bar in Florida because every smoker who can't stop will be in there. We used to go to listen to live music but, jeez, you smell like an ashtray when you go home.

Thanks TG....I needed some backup on this!

Tandoori girl and highbay, I wasn't picking on Citrus County. I was merely stating a fact. Can you name a CITY in Citrus County? I can't.
It may be a delightful area, but the question was what CITIES are there, and my answer remains. NONE. Please answer if you know otherwise. There is nothing in the world wrong with rural and quaint small towns and communties. There are several in Citrus County. If somehow you interpreted my remarks to mean that small towns are horrible and cities are great, you totally read the wrong thing into my remarks. I haven't been to Homosassa in years and I'm sure it's grown with hundreds and hundreds of plat houses like most communities in Florida. Fine, but that doesn't make it a city -- and for its residents I'm sure that's a good thing.

And if that rampage about tearing down a city etc. was supposed to be about Naples, boy are you on the wrong track. Name what they tore down? You're way off base there. Rules here prevent most of that from happening, just like the rules that prevent high rises in the city limits, and prevent multi-family on the beach, and forbid people to tear down landmarks, what few there are.

You know, I went back and reread my statement about Citrus County.

"There are NO cities in Citrus County. It's a primarily rural area with the largest settlement called Homosassa."

Can anybody explain what I said offensive about that county? What in the world prompted the two posters getting so upset about what I said?

I just looked it up and found that the populations of Homosassa Springs is 6300 and of Crystal River is 4000. Does that denote a CITY in anybody's stretch of imagination?

Jeez, white people and old farts? Talk about "picking on a city"!
Why is this so personal? Why does someone need to be "backed up"?
I saw nothing unpleasant in Patricks post and see no reason why you two feel the need to attack him and the city he lives in.

Having worked for a municipality in Florida for over 20 years, maybe I can shed some light on whether a place is a "city", "town" or whatever. Actually, it's up to the municipality to decide if it wants to be called "City of..." or "Town of..." in their name. The population or land area has nothing to do with this matter. Since some areas of a county are not incorporated, but are populated, those are the area's I'd consider "settlements", however, this term can be interpreted in many ways. While it's not a term I would think to use, I did not consider the term "settlement" to be negative in any way. I just figured Patrick was talking about an area with a rather small population, possibly unincorporated.

Thank you Scarlet and Heartburn. Meanwhile let's go back to why hilarygg asked what cities are in Citrus County to begin with. I'd assume she asked because not being from Florida she doesn't know the names of the counties, and was wondering how it might affect her and if "cities" like Tampa, Miami, or Orlando are in Citrus County. That's why I said there are no "Cities" in Citrus County.

You know, a simple apology to highbay for making her feel you'd insulted her might be a lot better than all this backpedaling.

there are so many uninformed comments here. I'm going to refuse to participate in this discussion. maybe a few trips outside one's circle of circumference would make for some actual knowledge. like take a trip to Citrus county which is far from a settlement. You try driving twenty miles through that jammed city and you will find yourself in quite a populated settlement. A few looks at actual numbers in the census would more than confirm the age demographics of certain "cities" in Florida.

Sorry, I consider my explanation of what I said far better than an apology for something I didn't do. I never meant to offend anyone and by explaining my answer I think that shows that there is no reason to apologize.

Once again, however, I will apologize (if that is the right word) that anyone took offense at my calling a town of 6400 a settlement. I did not -- I REPEAT DID NOT -- mean that in any derogatory way. I came from a small town and settlement is a common term. Sorry that word seems offensive to some; it was not intended to be.

Yes, Tandoori Girl, you are right. There are so many uninformed comments here. But mine aren't among them. I'm still waiting for the list of CITIES in Citrus county that you insist are there.

I don't have a clue what you are talking about with the age demographics, however. What does age have to do with the original question about smoking in restaurants or about the location of a particular county? Are you somehow looking for a way to be insulting? I'm not, but you seem to be.

When did we stop being able to answer a simple question like "what cities are in Citrus County" with a basic and honest, informed answer ("None", in this case) and not be slammed for it?

Sorry, there is something going on here far deeper than I can comprehend.

OK, in an effort to be more informed, I took Tandoori Girl's advice and checked the census records to see what she was talking about.

Now I do need to apologize. I made the mistake of thinking her rampage about "white old farts" was supposed to be about Naples. Now I realize that she was actually talking about Citrus County, but I don't have a clue why she was being so negative about it.

Collier County (Naples) median age 44.1
Citrus County: median age 52.6

Naples, Florida: 86.1% white
Homosassa Springs, Florida: 94.9% white.

Now, please realize. These are statistics, not an attempt to slam someone. I looked them up as a request from Tandoori Girl and have informed the readers as she suggests. I must admit they surprised me.