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MILWAUKEE - A handful of patrons sat at the bar in Steny's Tavern Monday night.  They drank and talked about another Brewer's loss.  That activity took place in an environment of unspoiled air.  There was no smoke, not so much as a scent of nicotine.  It was day one of Wisconsin's statewide smoking ban.

"I love not smelling like smoke in the morning when I wake up," said Ryan Stenstrup as he looked up at the television monitors to relive the woeful outing by his beloved Brewers.

After pausing to watch the replay of a Brewer's strikeout, Ryan chimed in again.

"We'll see how people will like going outside when it's twenty below zero or something like that," he said with a knowing smile.

Bar manager Laura Jean Gwiazdowski is entirely optimistic.

"I really don't see it hurting business," she said conclusively.  "I've had customers that say they're going to come back more and bring their families in for dinner because there's no smoking."

Smoker Sam Zevnik was able to sit comfortably at the bar with his friends without puffing Monday night.  TODAY'S TMJ4 asked if he might quit his habit because of the ban.

"I could definitely see that happening," he said.  "Because the only time I want to smoke is when I'm drinking in a bar."

Steny's patrons may be more agreeable than most because their favorite watering hole has an outdoor patio.  Still, Cindy Falvey was less than joyous as she sat all alone on that patio sipping a beer and puffing on a cigarette.

"It's just different," she said glumly. "Because I thought it was going to start a week from now or in two weeks. But it's here now and I don't like it."

Cindy won't freeze this winter if she remains out on Steny's patio.  The tavern plans to add outdoor heaters before the start of Wisconsin's long, cold winter.