Restaurant takes vote from loyal customers to make change
By William Zilke, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2008
When one thinks of home cooking, the first thing that comes to mind is the aroma of homemade soup, a hardy breakfast or the heavenly smell of that first cup of coffee.
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Those are the smells of Paula's Home Cooking, at 871 Sumpter Road, that waft from the kitchen when you enter the Libke's establishment but now gone from the Belleville eatery is smoking in any part of the restaurant.
The absence of cigarette smoke is immediately noticeable.
"We took votes from Feb. 1 to 28," Paula Libke said. "They voted three to one to go smokeless."
"We deal with a lot of seniors and they don't like the smoking," chef Rodney Harold said.
An eye-opening moment came for Paula, who is a smoker, when a customer pointed out to her that if she doesn't smoke around her own grandchildren, why does she smoke around her customers' grandchildren.
"The staff and I all go outside to smoke," Libke said.
Since family style restaurants like Paula's Home Cooking rely heavily on a breakfast crowd, there always is a large contingent that wants a cigarette with their first cup of coffee of the day.
"They smoke before they come in. If they can't sit down for 45 minutes without smoking they have a problem," Harold said.
The physical layout of the 871 Sumpter Road restaurant has never lent itself to a successful, non- smoking/ smoking section arrangement.
Low walls kept smokers and non-smokers inches away from each other and there was little difference between the two sections.
The non-smoking area was as smoky as the smoking section, customers said.
"People thought I should make the banquet room non- smoking," she said.
"A lot of people said, 'She's gone crazy,' but we have more non- smoking customers and now we're getting more from the New Boston area."
Paula's Home Cooking's regular customers are very loyal and despite the new inconvenience of stepping outside to have a cigarette, few have left.
"We knew going into it there was going to be a backlash," Libke said. "I had doubts but now I see the kids I know we made the right decision."
"I have four to five motorcycle groups who come in. Tuesday is bike night and we have a chapter that meets here," she said.
"The Taylor Hogs are coming in for a fun run. Smoking outside isn't a bother to any of them."
Being the first area restaurant to go smoke free shouldn't be too much of a surprise for the innovative proprietors of Paula's Home Cooking.
"We have a character, like Spongebob Squarepants come in once a month and we have a comedy night in the works," Harold said.
The restaurant also will make its free Thanksgiving meal for veterans a permanent fixture.
"Going smoke free was always in my mind," Harold, who is Paula's son, said.
"It's not clean. It's not sanitary."
For more information on Paula's Home Cooking events or the only smoke free family restaurant in the area call 699-1230.
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