By Matt Leingang
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - Business at Lynagh's Pub is sagging. Never mind that it has legendary status among students at the University of Kentucky.

Since April 27, the date Lexington began enforcing its smoking ban, revenues are down 40 percent during the 4-8 p.m. happy hour, owner Gina Scott said.

"Smokers still come, but not as often and they don't stay as long," Scott said.

On the positive side, Scott has seen some new faces - non-smokers who are more likely to come out to bars now that they don't have to leave smelling like smoke, but not enough to make up the difference.

Scott's story is echoed among other bar owners, but not all of them. Supporters of Lexington's clean indoor air law say it's too soon to make any sweeping conclusions about its effect on business.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the hardest-hit seem to be the neighborhood pubs and other small establishments. Depending on whom you ask, alcohol sales are down 30 percent to 50 percent.

"It's killing us," said John Johnson, day bartender at Chevy Chase Inn, one of the city's oldest independently owned and continuously operated bars.

But for other places - restaurants, as well as bars that offer food and not just spirits - the impact is negligible.

"Overall, we're doing fine," said John Herzog, general manager of Anna Belle's restaurant, downtown.

Herzog said he never feared the smoking ban.

"I just didn't think that people would refuse to come out to eat just because they couldn't smoke," Herzog said. "And I was right. Smokers still come. They just go outside when they feel the need to have a smoke."

Lexington Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon, one of the most vocal supporters of the city's ban and the owner of seven Lexington restaurants, discounts claims by some bar owners that sales are off 40 percent.

What's more likely, Scanlon said, is that these bars are experiencing a seasonal curve. UK students have gone home for the summer, big events such as the Kentucky Derby have taken people out of town and high gas prices are affecting customer counts.

"People will moan and groan for a while, and then everything will settle down," Scanlon said. "People are scared of change, particularly when it affects their livelihood, and I don't blame them for not wanting to take a chance. But this will be fine."

E-mail mleingang@enquirer.com