So here it is Sunday and you are looking for a place to go out and eat without having to share the space with smokers, yet you don't feel like driving to Illinois where smoking is banned in all restaurants and bars.
An option: El Taco Real in Hammond, where owner Ray Garcia is trying out smoke-free Sundays as well as on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m.
He is not being forced to do this by the government, which has been a complaint of many Indiana restaurant owners who are facing the possibility of a statewide ban similar to that in Illinois and a number of other states.
While some Illinois bar owners have complained their business has dropped, Garcia said the smokeless weekends "have been received very, very well. People are very happy about it."
I've said before that I am in favor of the statewide ban as a matter of public health. People who have reasonably disagreed with my take on this have said words to the effect that if you don't care for the smoke, don't patronize the place.
Garcia has reached the ideal compromise. Not forced into a decision that could affect business, he has instead chosen to -- in his words -- "be ahead of the curve and be an innovator."
Full disclosure: I do know Ray Garcia, I lived down the street from him. Gives out gigantic candy bars at Halloween. I've eaten at his place more times than my cholesterol count would indicate. But this is not about a free ad for his place -- it's about civil liberties of smokers versus the health of nonsmokers and the clash when they both want to eat at El Taco Real.
"It's a family restaurant. Smoking is not the right thing here," he says. "If we start with the proposition that smoking causes cancer, it's no longer a civil liberties issue."
Yet he recognizes than not all diners will share his views and he wishes to cater to them as well. That is why the ban is only in effect for limited hours. More families frequent the restaurant on weekend evenings and Sundays, he said, and he leaves the remainder of the week open to those who smoke.
It's also a pragmatic decision. He is aware that eventually the Indiana Legislature will pass the wholesale smoking ban. It's the wave of the future, and he wants to be surfing on top of it, not drowning under it.
So by easing people in with a limited voluntary ban, when the time comes he will already be known by a clientele that wishes to be smoke-free.
He said more than 85 percent of the restaurant's patrons ask to be seated in the nonsmoking section, an area the family added a decade or so ago.
"They're very specific about it and willing to wait," he said.
Waiting at El Taco Real has been a badge of honor in the area ever since the Hoffman Street restaurant opened. People stand outside, even in the rain, waiting for a seat.
If they'll do that, I guess they won't mind stepping outside for a smoke today either.
The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.
