Let restaurant owners know that you don’t want to be exposed to secondhand smoke. Tell them that about eighty percent of Minnesotans do not smoke and that many smokers choose the nonsmoking section over the smoking section. Tell them that their own health and the health of their workers are jeopardized when they work in a smoky environment. Use the information below to support your case.

Information for Restaurant Owners and Managers

• Exposure to Secondhand Smoke and Health of Hospitality Workers. Working in a smoky environment is hazardous to health, whether you bus dishes or own the establishment. Food service workers experience the highest exposure to secondhand smoke of any occupational group. They also suffer the health consequences, as do other groups with high exposure. This is a summary of research.

• Benefits of a Smoke-Free Restaurant. Besides being healthier, smoke-free restaurants offer economic and other advantages, which are summarized here.

• Publicizing Smoke-Free Restaurants: Tips for Restaurant Owners and Managers. If you’ve ever thought about eliminating the smoke in your establishment, read this tip sheet.

• The Economics of Smoke-Free Restaurant Ordinances. This is a summary of some of the scientifically defensible research on the effect on smoke-free ordinances.

• Tobacco Scam. This web site explains how the tobacco industry has misled restaurateurs into believing that their livelihoods depend on allowing smoking in their establishments.

Information for Community Tobacco Control Advocates

Along with the materials intended for owners and managers, you can check out the following resources.

• A Rationale for Encouraging Restaurants to Adopt Smoke-Free Policies. This piece explains why undertaking a smoke-free restaurant campaign is an important tobacco control strategy.

• Suggestions for Working with Restaurateurs. Advocates may find this information about the food service industry helpful in their dealings with restaurateurs.

• Check List for a Smoke-Free Restaurant Project. This list provides activities that might be included in a campaign to encourage restaurant owners and managers to provide an environment free of smoke.

Directory of Smoke-Free Restaurants in Minnesota.

You don’t have to inhale smoke while you enjoy your dinner. Hundreds of Minnesota restaurants provide smoke-free dining. Burgers and fries, moo shi pork, falafel, Lake Superior trout, curries, barbecued ribs—the dishes available in smoke-free restaurants come from all parts of the world and from every price range. Some serve beer and wine. When you use ANSR’s directory to find a restaurant, tell owners and managers and thank them for caring about your health.

Policy on chain restaurants. Many chains, especially fast-food chains, are smoke-free in all corporate-owned outlets and in many franchised outlets. They are not listed individually in this directory. The following chains are smoke-free in all restaurants: Au Bon Pain, Baker's Square, Boston Market, Bruegger's Bagels, Chuck-E-Cheese, Dunkin' Donuts, Leeann Chinn Chinese Cuisine, Starbucks, Taco Bell. The following chains are smoke-free in corporate-owned restaurants and recommend smoke-free policies in franchised outlets: Arby's, Burger King, Dairy Queen, McDonald's TCBY, and Wendy's.

Help us keep our listing up-to-date.

If you would like to add or remove a restaurant from our listing, please fill out the form below and let us know. We generally do not include most fast food restaurants - see list above - because most are smoke-free and because to list them all would increase the download time of the list more than most users would put up with. We do not list restaurants which have only selected smoke-free days or hours. We want our listing to reflect restaurants which have made the positive commitment to be smoke-free all day - every day.

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