The article also stated, "Family restaurants like Applebee's and Perkins, and upscale places like Black and Tan, where smoking had previously been allowed at the bar, saw no ill effect in their July revenues."
I believe the reasons that these "family restaurants" aren't feeling the impact is that people don't spend an entire evening at a family restaurant. Even a heavy smoker can get through a dinner at a family restaurant without lighting up. But a bar? Bars are gathering places where people can spend many hours entertaining each other. To compare a family restaurant to a "bar" is absurd, IMO.
Those "family restaurants" and "upscale places" are prime movers behind these smoking bans. They have the corporate backing to handle a dip in revenues that the corner tavern or local diner doesn't. They know they can outlast the little guys and then they become the only game in town.
I watched it happen first hand in Delaware....it was the corporate entities of the hospitality industry that pushed for the ban....adn pushed to include the local taverns in the ban.