Even with the place a quarter full on a sleepy Sunday night, the thin, gray haze of cigarette smoke still hangs over Q-Ball Billiards in Springfield.

Located in the same shopping center off Rolling Road, Q-Ball is a neighborhood pool hall, mostly attracting a crowd of 20 and 30-somethings who grew up nearby.

Virginia technically has no bars or taverns. All establishments with a liquor license are classified as restaurants and required to serve food.

But to the average person, Q-Ball, with its menu of standard pub fare — burgers, fries and wings — and lack of a traditional sit-down dining service, appears to be more bar than eating establishment.

It is probably safe to say that the happy hour drink specials draw more people to Q-Ball during the dinner hour than the food does.

As in many pool halls, many members of Q-Ball’s clientele smoke.

“I would say most of patrons smoke, like 95 percent of them do,” said Sonny Kim, Q-Ball’s co-owner.

KIM said he and some other local “bar” owners are scrambling to see how they can accommodate customers after new restrictions on smoking take effect Dec. 1.

Last Spring, Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and the Virginia General Assembly passed a measure aimed at curbing smoking in restaurants.

Several bills to restrict smoking in public places had been introduced in previous years and always failed to gain enough support in the General Assembly. But in the 2009 session, Kaine, who favored a total ban on restaurant smoking, reached a compromise with the Republican leadership in the House of Delegates, which had traditionally been opposed to anti-smoking legislation.

Some Virginians, from farmers and factory workers to white-collar businessman, rely on the tobacco industry for their livelihood. Philip Morris, one of the largest cigarette producers in the world, is headquartered in Richmond.

Only two General Assembly members from Fairfax County, State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37) and Del. Tim Hugo (R-40), voted against the new smoking restrictions.

UNDER THE new law, restaurants and “bars” will be required to provide a non-smoking area, though those that want to accommodate smokers can do so through a few measures.

Restaurant and bar owners can build a separate smoking room that is closed off from the rest of the establishment and has its own ventilation system. Establishments are also allowed to permit smoking rooms that are exclusively used for private party rentals, provided that they are closed off from the rest of the establishment and have their own ventilation system.

Virginia will also allow restaurants to permit smoking in outdoor dining spaces and patios, including those with a roof cover, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

A few eateries are excluded from the new smoking restrictions, including hot dog and other mobile food stands, caterers and restaurants located on premises of a tobacco manufacturer.

The new smoking restrictions also will not apply to bars and restaurants at private membership-based clubs, like country clubs and branches of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

FOR MANY BUSINESSES hoping to accommodate indoor smoking, the addition of a new “smoking lounge” has required some architectural creativity and financial wherewithal.

For example, Q-Ball is currently one large room accommodating a bar area, 19 pool tables, a corner for darts and a large flat screen television with leather couches used mostly for watching sports.

But Kim and his partners have planned to break up the space by putting a smoking lounge directly in the center of their establishment.

“I want it in the middle of the room so it is a short distance for people in all areas,” said Kim, who is a smoker himself.

Q-Ball’s smoking room will be small, 12 feet by 26 feet, with clear walls and doors, similar to the smoking huts found in airports. The lounge will only accommodate a few tables and chairs, so patrons will have to put out their cigarette out and leave the smoking room to order a drink at the bar or to play pool, he said.

Still, the smoking room will be a hefty investment. Kim estimates that it will cost the business approximately $20,000 overall.

“It is really difficult, especially since business has already been slow this year,” he said.

THE PATRIOT’S CAFÉ, along Route 50 in the City of Fairfax, has gone ever farther than Q-Ball.

The restaurant is walling off its current bar, adding two new doors and a separate ventilation system, for smoking patrons. But in order to comply with rules mandating non-smoking access, the owners are also building an entirely new bar at the back of the establishment that will be entirely smoke free.

“I think we only of the only places in the area that is doing this but we have a lot of customers that are smokers,” said Sara Doxtator, a bartender who has worked at the Patriot’s Café for six years.

Still, other local “bars” either don’t have the space or the resources to accommodate a separate smoking room and will be forced to go entirely smoke-free.

“There is just no way we pull off a separate room. That would be a whole redesign project,” said Bridget Turner, a bartender a Buffalo Wing University on Old Lee Highway in the City of Fairfax.

Since Turner’s bar has no choice but to be entirely smoke free, she wonders if they will lose business to other local haunts, like Patriot’s Café, where patrons will be able to smoke inside.

“Those bars that will be able to keep their smoking section will have such a step up,” she said.

YET OTHER restaurant workers, particularly businesses that try to be more restaurant than pub or sports bar, said they expect a smoke-free environment will actually benefit their businesses.

“I think it is going to impact our business positively. I am pretty sure the dining room is going to grow a lot,” said Gabriel Licropani, general manager of Hopsfrog Grille in Burke.

Manny Paiz, manager of The Auld Shabeen in the City of Fairfax, said his restaurant has already received “loads of phone calls” from non-smokers asking if his business has gone smoke-free yet.

“I definitely expect to see an increase in some of our restaurant business,” said Paiz.

The Auld Shabeen is spread over two floors and currently allows smoking on the bottom floor and at the bar on the top floor at all times. Then after 10 p.m., people are also allowed to smoke in the restaurant area on the top floor, he said.

After Dec. 1, The Auld Shabeen will restrict smoking to the bottom floor, which is open Thursday through Saturday nights, and go entirely smoke-free on the top floor. Paiz does not expect the new smoke-free environment to cut down on business, since so few businesses will be offering an indoor smoking option.

“It is not like the smokers can go somewhere else,” he said.

A few traditional restaurants, particularly diners and others on low-price end of the price range, feel as if the smoking ban will have a negative impact, they said.

“We have a lot of customers who smoke. I expect business will go down,” said Freddy Guevara, who manages the 29 Diner on Fairfax Boulevard in Fairfax.

Guevara said patrons smoke in the diner during all times of day, but it is especially heavy on Friday and Saturday nights.

“People like to eat and then smoke while they drink their cup of coffee,” he said.

But on the whole, most Virginia restaurants are already smoke free, according to Barry Hawkins of the Virginia Restaurant Association.

“Over 70 percent of Virginia restaurants are non-smoking right now so most people are coping quite well already,” he said.

At this point, Hawkins said most of the restaurant association’s members appear ready and willing to go entirely smoke free. Very few have opted to add a smoking lounge before seeing what impact being smoke-free will have on business, he said.

“Very few are going to work with a separate ventilation system and a separate room. There is a cost involved and there are architectural barriers. I know some restaurants in historic districts can change anything on the inside,” said Hawkins.

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