Sloppy Joe's wants exemption to allow drinkers to smoke

Publication Date: 2005-03-29

• Author:Linda Kleindienst
• Publication:(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Sun-Sentinel,

Sloppy Joe's may have been Ernest Hemingway's favorite bar, but the state of Florida says the Key West landmark is a restaurant -- and it's illegal to light up a smoke.

Owners of the national historic landmark are hoping for a reprieve, asking the Florida Legislature to redefine what it considers a "stand-alone bar" and exempt the 72-year old bar from the state's constitutional smoking ban.

The state law implementing the 2002 voter mandate allows smoking in bars where no more than 10 percent of the revenue comes from food sales and the business is devoted predominantly to selling alcoholic beverages.