Ben Smidt

Although food items will no longer be sold at Racy D’Lene’s Very Coffee Lounge, 404 Riverside Ave., customers can now light up inside the popular hangout.

In early January, Racy’s decided to stop serving bagels, tuna melts and soups so it would not be considered a restaurant and be excluded from the smoking ban the City Council approved in February 2000.

“I think we’re going to be OK,” manager Jayne Blodgett said. “It was sort of our last option. We worked with the Health Department to see what the best thing was for us.”

The prohibition of smoking in businesses holding restaurant licenses affected those that made less than 50 percent in alcohol sales.

The ordinance went into affect in May 2000, affecting 40 Eau Claire businesses, including Racy’s.

If a business could show that it lost more than 15 percent of its business after the first six months of the smoking ban, it was allowed a 12-month exemption period.

Racy’s experienced a 22 percent loss in business and the City Council granted it a one-year exemption period until Jan. 10, 2001.

In April 2001, a suggestion to rule out coffeehouses permanently against the ban failed because of a 5-5 vote.

In September of last year, the smoking prohibition protest was brought up again by the council, but failed by a 10-1 vote.

It was in our best interest to stop serving food, Blodgett said.

Blodgett hopes to serve prepackaged snacks like chips, candy bars and organic power bars in the future.

“I don’t think the flow of customers will go down because the atmosphere still invites relaxation and good times,” said freshman Elizabeth Bode .

Since Racy’s will not be serving food anymore, beverage prices have increased. But Blodgett said she doesn’t think customers will stop coming.

“(Customers) all have been really, really supportive,” she said. “They’re very loyal and nice people.”