Since Michigan passed its smoking ban in May of 2010, eliminating all smoking in public buildings (restaurants, bars, etc), and clamping down on the restrictions on cigar and hookah bars, news articles like this has been few and far between.

It’s great to see a new cigar lounge open in the State of Michigan. Hopefully this not only gives cigar lovers in Grand Rapids a great new place to enjoy a cigar, but also sends a message to other cigar-entrepreneurs that it is still possible to open an establishment like this in Michigan.

For more details, see the Grand River Cigar listing on the Cigar Places Map.

While this reality may still be upon us in the near future, I was happy to find an oasis on a recent trip to Palo Alto in which my colleagues and I could enjoy a good meal and a cigar in a great environment.

Before I get into the details of the cigar lounge, the restaurant portion of La Bodeguita del Medio definitely deserves a mention. The food, mohitos, and service alone would be enough to make me come back to this place, even if I wasn’t planning on taking advantage of the cigar lounge (not sure why that would ever be the case, but you get my point).  They’ve also got an incredibly extensive list of sipping rums.

As good as the food is, for cigar smokers, the cigar lounge is still the main attraction.  While my colleagues and I were at the bar waiting for a table for dinner, my curiosity got the best of me and I took a quick walk to the back of the building to glance into the cigar lounge.  I’ll let the pictures do most of the describing for me, but needless to say, I couldn’t wait for dinner to be over with so I could sit back on a nice leather sofa and kick my feet up.

The indoor portion of the lounge is big enough to hold 20 to 25 people, and there were probably around 15 there when we wrapped up dinner and staked our claim to a corner portion of the room.  The walk-in humidor is small and the selection is fairly limited but many of the more popular brands are represented (My Father, Graycliff, Rocky Patel).

I haven’t visited enough to get a feel for what the typical patron is like at this lounge, but there was a great mix on the night we were there, ranging from a boisterous group of six or seven 20-something professionals (I would have guessed it to be a bachelor party if it hadn’t been a Thursday), a lone cigar-smoker reading a book, and a group of older business men.

The California regulation reared its ugly head in two interesting ways.  One was the unique way that you enter the locked walk-in humidor.  I left the lounge area and walked to the bar to ask a bar tender to let me in.  Upon returning to the back area, she took out her keys to unlock a door on the side of the hallway, she instructed me that by law, as an employee of the bar/restaurant she wasn’t allowed to enter the smoking lounge.  She told me to return to the lounge and that she would unlock the door to the humidor from the inside (she did).

The other interesting impact of the smoking regulation was clearly marked on one of the lounge’s windows:  “This Window is to Remain Open During Business Hours.”  On any given day in the Bay Area, I’m sure this isn’t a problem.  Unfortunately I visited on a week when the evening lows were near 30 degrees.  This prompted everyone who entered the lounge (including us) to immediately walk over to the window and attempt to shut it before realizing it was being held open by a block of wood (which then led them to read the label).

On days when the weather is more California-like, there is a nice-sized outdoor patio that you can access from the back door of the cigar lounge that I’m sure gets a lot of use.

It was nice to get the sad, dark images of California cigar smoking out of my head and realize that lively places like this still exist.  I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to visit the left coast and exploring some more of these diamonds-in-the-rough.

When compared to more traditional, male-centric cigar lounges, Godfather feels more like a martini lounge that encourages cigar smoking.  Which, in my opinion, creates a great atmosphere!  Especially in the wake of the Michigan smoking ban, many of us are finding ourselves enjoying cigars in cigar shops.  The opportunity to be able to visit a martini bar like Godfather and enjoy a cigar is a nice luxury (it’s a shame, but it’s reality, for now at least).

The next most note-worthy aspect of the bar is staff.  The owner Marty is always quick to greet you with a smile and a handshake when you walk in, and Christine the waitress/bartender is cheery and quick to get you a drink or light your cigar (we even put her to the test mopping up a colossal spill after one of my friends’ coats cleared a full bottle of beer off of our table; Thanks Christine!).  Couldn’t ask for more.

The humidor is fully stocked with a wide selection of mainstream brands including lots of Rocky Patels, Fuentes, Cohibas, Romeos, etc.  It’s well maintained, and everything that I’ve purchased from it so far has smoked great.

The space features a full bar, offing any top-shelf beverage that you can think of, and a wide selection of bottled beers (rumors are that taps are being installed soon).

If you’re into wine with your cigars, they also offer a nice rack of bottles to choose from.  The bar is also next door to Papa Joe’s (a high-end grocery store in Michigan).  I’m not sure of the policy about buying wine at the grocery store and bringing it over, but you’d have a great selection available if it’s allowed (Papa Joe’s has an entire second floor of the store dedicated to wine).

The bar has enough plasma televisions to make it great for watching the game.  I visited last Sunday with a group of friends, and was pleased to see the bar at least two-thirds full with other cigar aficionado sports fans.

If you have a chance, definitely stop by!  You can find it on the map at CigarPlaces.com for directions. Visit their Facebook page for more photos and information on upcoming events.

They’re currently finishing the upstairs portion of the bar, so watch out for an update to this post in the near future when it’s open.

Be sure to check out her full review.

For directions and location information, see their page on the map CigarPlaces.com, and check out some other cigar bars in Las Vegas while you’re there!

The city council is now claiming that the law is being abused, citing instances of people smoking entire cigars in cigar shops (how much is a “sample”? Do you want me to hold out the cigar so you can measure it with a ruler? Have I gone past the acceptable length?).

Because of his dedication to fighting the good fight, the cigar community needs to recognize Thomas Harlan, owner of Uptown Tobacco Shop who assembled a petition of over 800 signatures of customers who supported his ability to allow people to sample cigars in his shop.  He presented his position in front of the council, explaining the providing customers with the ability to sample cigars gives him a competitive advantage over online cigar retailers who may be able to sell at a lower price.  Thomas makes a great point, and hopefully a great defense against an already restrictive ban.

Thomas presents a point that I hadn’t previously considered with regards to fighting against a smoking ban.  Great job, sir.

It’s no mystery that this is a direct result of the Michigan Smoking Ban that went into effect on May 1st, 2010.  It has now been six months since the ban took place, so I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on how it has impacted me (and ask you to add your stories in the comments section).

Before the ban, I would have classified myself as a pretty light smoker when it comes to frequency.  A cigar or two each week was enough to keep me happy, and sometimes I’d go a week or two without having one if my schedule got hectic (I know, it’s not a pretty thing to imagine).

Aside from the hectic weeks, my cigar smoking patterns were pretty predictable.  There’s a local bar/restaurant about a block from my office with a fantastic outdoor patio area (Kona Grill).  When it comes to happy hour in the Northern Detroit Suburbs, this is the place to be.  At least once a week you’d find me there with three or four of my friends, each of us leaned back in our chair enjoying a cigar.

On Friday, April 30th, I joined my friends like any other Friday, except this time it was to enjoy one last cigar on the patio and to say goodbye to our weekly tradition.  Minutes after we had lit our cigars, a group of women sat down at the table next to us and ordered drinks.  After realizing that their nasty glances weren’t having any effect on our good time, they gathered their things and stood up to move to another table.  As they walked away, one of them leaned over and said into my ear in her meanest voice, “enjoy it, because tomorrow you won’t be able to.”  As a cigar smoker, the comment didn’t surprise me, but the amount of joy that she obviously took in someone’s rights being stripped away did.  Tomorrow things would be different.

At the time, I didn’t realize how much the cigar ban would influence my patronage of Kona Grill.  After all, the place has a great environment, an awesome happy hour menu, and we were regulars.  I should clarify that – I’m not really a “bar guy” (think Norm from Cheers), but we were in this place enough that the managers would come to my table and chat when I was there, and I know most of the waitresses by name.

For a few weeks, we tried to keep up the ritual.  We’d circle up, order some sushi and some drinks, the girlfriends would join us, but it wasn’t the same.  At one point, one of my friends finally exclaimed, “this place just isn’t the same without a cigar.”

Six months after the ban, we’re lucky if we catch one happy hour per month (I’m obviously not the only one whose behavior change has hurt Michigan bars and restaurants).

Aside from happy hour, my other typically cigar-centric events have also been disrupted.  Getting together for a cigar and a few drinks on a Saturday or Sunday to watch a football game isn’t quite the same without the cigar.  We still head to a sports bar and watch the game, only now it’s without a cigar.  It’s true that we could find a cigar bar in Detroit to watch the game at, but the reality is, we haven’t.

Interestingly enough, my love for a good cigar has been somewhat spared by frequent business trips to Chicago.  Ironically, Chicago is also a smoke-free city, but their ban is slightly different.  In Chicago, bars and restaurants can allow smoking in outdoor patio areas, and there are a lot of great Chicago Cigar Bars!  I can trace the fact that I enjoy a cigar on so many of these trips to the somewhat less-restrictive Chicago smoking ban, the fact that I’m typically traveling with cigar-loving business people, and most likely the fact that I’m out of town, and free from the obligations/chores/requirements that come along with being at home.

Even with these trips, the times that I get to enjoy a cigar each month have been drastically cut short by the smoking ban, and it seems that I haven’t found a good way to compensate for it (going to new cigar bars, etc).

If you have a chance, leave a comment and let us know how life has changed since May 1st.

]]> http://cigarplaces.com/blog/cigars-michigan-after-smoking-ban/feed/ 7 http://cigarplaces.com/blog/cigar-bars-can-serve-fooddrinks-michigan-smoking-ban/ http://cigarplaces.com/blog/cigar-bars-can-serve-fooddrinks-michigan-smoking-ban/#comments Sun, 02 May 2010 18:55:07 +0000 Chris http://www.cigarplaces.com/blog/?p=374 So I realize that for a blog that’s supposed to be dedicated to cigar bars and cigar friendly spots around the world, the posts have been very Michigan-focused recently.  For everyone that’s coming here for cigar bar info in other places, I apologize.

There have been a lot of newsworthy incidents leading up to the May 1st ban, and well … it’s where I live, so I’m compelled to write about it.

Last week the exemption in the smoking ban that allows cigar smoking in establishments that meet the required criteria was clarified.  There has been a long-running discussion here about whether or not cigar bars would be allowed to sell and serve food and beverages, and the matter has finally been settled.

Last week, a regular contributor to the blog (Mike), uncovered a memo issued by the Michigan Department of Community Health Director Olszewski. Click the image to view the memo.

At least the writers of the law realized that there has to be a way for cigar bar owners to come up with the other 90% of their revenue.

Thanks for digging this up, Mike!

Yesterday (April 22nd), I shot down to Grosse Pointe to meet a friend at Robusto’s to catch up over a martini and enjoy a great Padron 4000.  I also really wanted to talk to someone there and confirm first-hand that they had an exemption.

There has been a lot of discussion on this blog over the intricacies of the smoking ban and the exemptions that have been issued.  Perhaps the most confusing aspect is the serving of food and beverages.

It was my previous assumption that if a bar or restaurant was issued an exemption, they would need to isolate the area where cigars are smoked from the portion of the restaurant/bar where food and alcohol is consumed.  Now it seems as though if an exemption is issued, the establishment is exempt from any of the smoking ban’s requirements.

Simply put:  If you qualify for all of the criteria required to earn an exemption, none of the rules of the smoking ban apply to you.  Not a bad situation, if it ends up to be true.

Many of the places that should be exempt from the smoking ban have separate, walled-off areas for cigar smokers (Fuse in Rochester, Big Rock Chophouse in Birmingham).

This was the most perplexing aspect of the Robusto’s exemption from my perspective.  Even if they were only to allow smoking in the upstairs are (where the humidors are), it’s still not a separate room.

After speaking with the people at Robusto’s yesterday evening, they’re quite sure that they’re exempt from the ban.  Great news for a location that has been a perfect place for cigar smokers in Detroit to gather for many years.

Early this morning Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press reported that Brooks (@brookspatterson) was planning on filing suit against the State of Michigan over the state-wide smoking ban that will go into affect May 1st, 2010. He took the position because he believed the ban was an unfunded mandate. Basically the Oakland County Health Department wouldn’t have the funding to hire the staff necessary to police bars and restaurants and make sure that people aren’t smoking.

The suit was filed this afternoon (Thursday) with the Michigan Court of Appeals.

The glimmer of hope for Michigan cigar lovers unfortunately vanished as quickly as it appeared. After receiving over 70 phone calls and numerous emails from Oakland County residents that disagreed with his opposition of the ban, L. Brooks withdrew the suit.

Although it was an exciting day for smokers in the state, the ban is still being fought along the wrong lines. This law is about removing citizens rights, and denying people the right to make their own decisions (if you still want to cry about 2nd hand smoke – go read The Myth of Second Hand Smoke).  If the county/state doesn’t have the money to enforce the ban, and that’s what gets it repealed, then it’s obviously a positive thing for cigar smokers.  The bigger picture, however, is still the idea of the government dictating what we can and cannot do.

Like Brooks, I have also never been a cigarette smoker.  I don’t see the appeal of it, and I obviously believe in the scientific proof that it causes cancer and other serious life-threatening illnesses.

However, even if I don’t like smelling like cigarette smoke every time I go to a restaurant or bar, I strongly believe that smoking is a personal decision that people should be able to make for themselves.  Personal freedoms tend to slip away quickly when the government gets involved, and are always incredibly harder to get back.  I fear this is a slippery slope that will continue to a point where the government is telling us how to behave in our own homes.

Enforcing the Smoking Ban

The issue of enforcement continues to come up in discussions about the ban.  It’s clear to me that the patrons of bars and restaurants will do the enforcing.

We’ve seen how loud everyone can whine about the smell of smoke.  Try lighting up a cigar (or cigarette) in a bar or restaurant in Michigan after May 1st, and you’re going to be swarmed with screaming people telling you to put it out.

Patterson, who doesn’t smoke and has never been a smoker, also pointed this out in a live interview with Stephen Clark of Channel 7 Action News (@sclarkwxyz) which wrapped up the day of cigar ban drama.

As the interview wrapped up, Patterson joked about filing the suit and withdrawing it in the same day as, “not my finest hour.”

I’ve always held Brooks in extremely high regard.  In countless instances I’ve respected him for standing his ground for what he believes in, even in the face of extreme adversity.  Today I still respect him, for making a decision which he believes represents the will of his constituents.

The sad part is that it’s the small number of activists that always yell the loudest (calling him today and sending emails) while the rest of us sit idly by while our rights are stripped away.

Complete with surf boards hanging from the wall and a guy playing the acoustic guitar, this place is plucked straight out of one of Jimmy Buffett’s margarita-induced sweet dreams.

During my last visit there a few weeks ago (March 2010), the patrons confirmed for me that this place was indeed cigar friendly.  As I sat with friends enjoying a beer and watching locals and tourists alike dance to the music from the acoustic guitar, I had three separate people come up to our  table to tell me that the cigar I was smoking – a CAO Lx2 – smelled great.

The experience was a fantastic departure from the glares and dirty looks that often accompany lighting up a cigar in a bar or restaurant.

The Smokin Oyster Brewery is two blocks north of the beach on Old San Carlos Boulevard.  If you’re in Fort Myers Beach, don’t miss the opportunity to visit.  Each time I’ve been there the crowd (and musicians) tend to thin out fairly early (11:30ish), so get there before 9 or 10pm.