Dear Wendy’s/Café Express:
I eat lunch quite frequently at Café Express on Main Street in downtown Houston. As you are aware, all customers must queue up to order at the counter. For some unknown reason, smoking is allowed in the “bar” adjacent to the ordering area. (I use quotation marks because it’s nothing like an actual bar. Nobody’s sitting in there drinking at lunch – it’s a Café Express for crying out loud.)
In any event, cigarette smoke from the “bar” drifts into the area where customers line up to order food. And back into the kitchen at that, no doubt. This is ridiculous. You shouldn’t allow smoking in an area that will, by design, subject every single customer who eats at your restaurant to cigarette smoke. It is poorly, if at all, thought out. Truthfully, it’s downright stupid. You should ban smoking in the “bar” effective immediately. In fact, I believe your policy must be changed in September due to the new City Council ordinances. So go ahead and change it now.
I am not a holier-than-thou antismoking crusader. But it makes absolutely no sense to situate a smoking section right next to the area where each and every customer must line up to order his food. I don’t want to eat lunch at Café Express and return to my office smelling like an ashtray. And I won’t. I’m not going back to Café Express until you ban smoking in the entire indoor portion of your restaurant. I know the dollars I won’t spend aren’t going to put your operation into bankruptcy, but I hope you’ll put some thought into the matter and realize the smoking section at your restaurant really sucks.
Regards,
Oschlor