Restaurant Bans Smoking in Its Bar Area : Health: Islands in Manhattan Beach may be the first in the Los Angeles area to set such a policy. A government study on the dangers of secondhand smoke influenced the decision.

It’s no April Fool’s joke: No smoking in the bar.

Really.

On Thursday, Islands Restaurant in Manhattan Beach--along with all 12 of the other establishments in the Costa Mesa-based Islands Restaurant chain--imposed a ban on smoking in both its bar and restaurant area.

While a few cities and individual establishments have already outlawed lighting up in restaurants, the action by the Costa Mesa-based chain is believed to be the first such move by a bar operator in the Los Angeles area.

“Everybody asks if it’s real,” said Chris Burridge, a manager at the Manhattan Beach Islands. “It’s just a coincidence really, it just happened to fall on April 1. It’s no joke, it’s very serious.”

The chain’s decision followed a January study by the Environmental Protection Agency that officially classified secondary tobacco smoke as a human carcinogen. The EPA study blamed secondary smoke for 20% of all lung cancers in the United States not directly attributable to smoking.

“Looking at the study, it was the right thing to do for our employees and our customers,” said Tim McCune, director of operations of the Islands chain. “It was a pretty easy decision to make.”

McCune says anti-smoking legislation covering bars is inevitable. But so far, no such legislation has been proposed. And few other Manhattan Beach bars appear likely to jump on the no-smoking bandwagon. Local bar owners said it would kill their business.

Bart Cleveland, manager of Mr. Pockets Sports Bar, said it would take a statewide ordinance before he could ban smoking without losing business.

“It’s too bad I can’t do it,” he said. “If just Manhattan Beach passed an ordinance and Hermosa Beach didn’t, smokers would just go to Hermosa. Smokers are going to smoke where they can.”

The Islands chain decided in February to ban smoking, but wanted to give customers 45 days notice before the measure was imposed. On Thursday, tables in the Manhattan Beach establishment’s bar and restaurant areas were dotted with cards announcing the ban. Carrying a sketch of a man relaxing under a palm tree, the cards were titled: “There’s No Cigarettes In Paradise.”

“A lot of people were hoping we would keep smoking at the bar,” McCune added. “But that would have negated the importance of the study because people in the restaurant area would still be affected by the smoke.”

Earlier this week, a majority of lunchtime customers who packed the restaurant, known for its exotic burger-and-fry menu, applauded the chain’s move.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said John Reger, a Carson resident. “People who smoke have a right to smoke, but they should do it at their own expense, not at those of others.”

Catherine St. John, a Redondo Beach resident and former smoker, agreed.

“I don’t smoke anymore and I can’t stand to eat with smoke in my face. Someone was smoking today (at the bar) and it was nauseating,” she said.

Even some smokers, weary of attacks from nonsmokers, seemed resigned to the relentless loss of public turf where they can indulge their habit.

“To be honest with you, I don’t have a problem with the ban,” said Ron Waters, a pack-a-day smoker who works near the restaurant. “I’m still going to eat here.”

Another regular smoker also said the no smoking edict wouldn’t keep her away.

“I can go an hour without smoking,” said Jane Knaus of Hermosa Beach.

But both smokers said they would not go to an establishment to drink alcohol if it didn’t permit smoking.

“It would be a problem if I came here to see a ballgame and I was drinking a beer,” Waters added. “I’d want a cigarette. It would definitely be a problem. That just would break down the tradition of what a bar is.”

While only a handful of smokers at the Manhattan Beach restaurant vowed to take their business elsewhere, the anti-smoking decision generally has the support of their customer base, McCune said. Islands officials predict the ban will not hurt business.

“I think in the long term it will be a wash,” McCune said. “In the short term we may lose regular customers who smoke, but I think we will also gain other people who support our no-smoking policy.”