Some restaurants and bars that adopted smoke-free policies won't put ashtrays back on their tables, even though a county ordinance prohibiting smoking in indoor workplaces was stubbed out last week by a state court.

Allegheny County's smoking ban was in effect in dining and drinking establishments for the first 14 hours or so of May 1, until Commonwealth Court issued an injunction preventing its implementation in those establishments.

Last week, a three-judge panel ruled that because of a clause in the state's Clean Indoor Air Act of 1986, Allegheny County did not have the authority to enact the ordinance at all.

Nonetheless, Sonoma Grille, Downtown, decided to stay smoke free. It formerly allowed smoking in its lounge.

"We are a wine bar, and wine and cigarettes don't really go together," said manager Bill Pawlikowski. As for the food, "People are experiencing the flavors a lot more now because there's not smoke everywhere from the smoking in the bar area," he said. "It's making guests much happier."

Eat'n Park officials were to hold its first-ever press conference this morning to announce what they called "an historic change" for the chain of family restaurants. No other details were available, but for the last month five locations have been nonsmoking to test the impact on business and patron satisfaction. "We are pleased with the results" and a decision is imminent, said Kevin O'Connell, Eat 'n Park's senior vice president of marketing.

While the ordinance drama unfolded during the last few months, SmokeFree Pennsylvania assistant director Greg Hartley added "several dozen" establishments to its Web list of restaurants and bars that don't permit smoking (www.nosmokedining.org/listings.htm). New listings include the Mighty Oak Barrel in Oakmont and Seviche, Downtown.

Some places aren't on the list yet but have gone smoke-free and intend to stay that way, including Fat Head's Saloon on the South Side.

"When the ban went into effect on May 1st, we threw away all of our ashtrays," explained owner Glenn Begnini. "In the afternoon, a judge [delayed] the ban. We decided at that moment to become smoke-free."

So far, business hasn't declined, and praise is more common than complaints, he added.

"Some smokers have gone as far as saying that they will never come back, but most just go outside to have a smoke," Mr. Begnini said. "The way I look at it, I think people come to Fat Head's for the food, beer and atmosphere, not to smoke."

Piper's Pub, also on the South Side, became smoke-free on March 29 after a water main break prompted extensive renovations, said owner Drew Topping. "We're going to stay this way. I'm happier I got to do it on my terms."

Two days before the court's ruling, Club Cafe co-owner Marco Cardamone sent an e-mail to friends and customers informing them that the South Side concert venue would be smoke-free.

Response to the e-mail was fast, but far from furious, Mr. Cardamone said. "It was so amazing," he marveled. All but a few reactions were appreciative, so while the ban was overturned, the club stood firm. "The response we got told me where our customers want to be and where the market is, and it's just the right thing to do."

Some employees are apprehensive about losing tips if the late night bar crowd goes elsewhere, and he told them "it will be a short term thing, if anything, but it will ultimately be better for all of us."

Ken Zeff, owner of Crazy Mocha Coffee Co., said two of the chain's 10 locations allowed smoking but no longer do. One site, on Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside, "really had a reputation for being one of the busier smoking coffeehouses in the city," he said. After the switch, "surprisingly, we actually had a pretty good month."

In addition to coffee, Crazy Mocha serves cafe fare such as panini, pastries and cakes. "Those cakes rely on the [recirculated] air in the store to cool," Mr. Zeff said. "Now that that air is a little fresher, we have definitely gotten some positive comments about the quality and taste of the food."

Sharp Edge locations in Friendship and Crafton have become smoke free, and its site in Sewickley did so two months ago because "we were getting a lot of people there asking us to go nonsmoking," said owner Jeff Walewski.

"There's no doubt" that the change makes it easier to taste exotic beers, he added.

Kevin Joyce, owner of The Carlton, Downtown, and board chairman of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, has run a smoke-free restaurant for several years but expanded the policy to his lounge on May 1.

With two employees who are cancer survivors working in that area, "I really felt like I had to keep the ashtrays off the table," he said.

Lounge business has declined because smokers, with their nonsmoking companions, can go elsewhere, Mr. Joyce said.

He added that's why statewide legislation is critically needed to hold all establishments to the same standard.

He attended a rally last week in Harrisburg to support a statewide ban and predicted that a Senate bill will get a floor vote next month.

According to Breathe Free Pennsylvania, a coalition that includes local arms of the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association, 25 states have smoking legislation. So have several European nations, including Ireland, Scotland, Italy and, as of July 1, England.

"If you go east from Pennsylvania, you're going to go all the way to Germany to find a place where you can smoke," Mr. Joyce pointed out. "Literally, all the states around us have legislation, and we don't. We stick out like a dirty ashtray."