I haven’t stepped foot in the Fourth Coast Cafe in, like, two years.

That’s not because I don’t like the place – I’ve always loved the Coast. But, I always came away smelling like I’d just spent two weeks inside a Turkish bath house.

Now, three days after a statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, I’m in the clear.

Fourth Coast Cafe has this groovy new laptop bar. (sorry for the camera-phone image)

Yeah, the Coast still smells a little bit like the inside of my wallet, but there’s no grey-green haze hanging in the air and there’s this fancy new laptop bar along the wall.

So, what’s the verdict?

Dana, the guy who seems to be behind the counter every single time I’ve come in this place over the past decade, says things have been going well so far.

There’s been a little drop-off in business, he admits, though not dramatic nor unexpected. The cafe has temporarily lowered its coffee price in an effort to build business.

He says he’s also gotten a lot of positive feedback on the change. People like being able to breath, it seems. And as a side note, there’s a certain unsavory cadre of clientele that seems to have dissipated with the tobacco cloud.

As I sit here, there’s been a pretty steady stream of coffee drinkers trailing past the counter. And the atmosphere doesn’t seem to have changed much – the same string of tattoos and piercings; Tom Waits croaks and groans over the house speakers.

In the end, nothing ever really changes, does it? I kinda hope not.