Bingomania and New Max’s Tavern, two of the most vocal opponents of Eugene’s smoking ban, are finally giving up the fight and changing the way they do business.
After months of fines and warnings for continuing to let customers light up indoors, Max’s has begun cracking down on smoking in the bar
“We’ve always supported the ban,” Max’s bartender Reed Wagner said. “It’s just a matter of how much we enforce it.”
Bingomania, on the other hand, has decided to close its doors rather do business in a smoke-free venue. The West Eugene bingo hall has put its building up for sale and plans to move out of the city limits, where patrons can smoke at will.
The citywide smoking ban in bingo halls, bars and taverns was passed by the Eugene City Council and has been in effect for almost a year, but local bartenders still have mixed feelings about how the ordinance has affected business.
“We’ve dropped off in business dramatically,” Bingomania Manager Tammy Cole said.
The business is relocating after months of low turnout.
“We used to get 120 people on Saturdays,” Cole said. “Now we’re lucky if we get 60 to 70.”
John Rudd, bartender at Taylor’s Bar and Grille, said he appreciates having a smoke-free workplace.

“You get 300 people in here and 200 people are smoking cigarettes — it’s not healthy for anybody,” Rudd said.
While some customers may be inconvenienced by the ban, Rudd said he doesn’t think it affects where they go to buy beer.
“This is a campus bar,” Rudd said. “The people down here are gonna come even if you impose a dress code or make them smoke crack.”
Taylor’s patron Scott McCallum said he’s happy the bar has only outside smoking.
“You don’t reek of smoke when you leave,” he said Sunday afternoon.
O’Donnell’s Irish Pub owner Shon O’Donnell said his bar continues to suffer from a loss of business. While his alcohol sales remain steady, he’s experienced a loss of revenue from video poker customers, who often smoke while they gamble. Many of his former patrons now drive to bars outside of Eugene’s city limits.
“It’s pretty much hampered our bottom line,” said O’Donnell, who added that video poker sales are down 30 percent. “The ban is just a ridiculous thing.”
Kathy Thomason, manager at Springfield’s Alibi Tavern, said she serves many Eugene residents who drive to Springfield just for the smoking.
“People play the (video poker) machines and want to have a cigarette,” she said. “You have a choice whether to go in a bar or not. If you don’t want to smoke, don’t go.”
Thus far, patrons of Max’s, a place one employee calls the “rebel bar,” give the smoking ban mixed reviews.
“I want to sit inside and drink my beer and smoke my cigarette at the same time,” said Max’s customer Benjamin Leonhardt while taking a drag outside the bar.
Fellow smoker and Max’s patron Marcos Delafuente said he actually appreciated the ban for making him think twice before breaking open a pack.
“People who come to a bar shouldn’t have to deal with us smokers,” Delafuente said.
He added that going outside to smoke makes him think more seriously about “kicking his vice.”
Linguistics student Lucas Houck agreed.
“I’m a fish out of water tonight,” he said as he smoked outside. “But I’ll tell you the truth — it’s much better in there.”