RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – In 1993 the restaurant Among Friends opened on West Broad, and while the smokehouse meats it offered were traditional, the no-smoking policy was a first of its kind in a city known for tobacco production.

About six months after opening, the restaurant had to change its policy because business was suffering. They ultimately made a compromise that didn’t look too unlike the latest tobacco law, one area was non-smoking and the separate bar area allowed for smokers.

But now, a popular restaurant named with a nod to Virginia’s cash crop will make its club non-smoking.

The Tobacco Company Club has some changes planned to the interior as they move to a smoke-free environment. Up until one week ago, The Tobacco Company Club, Richmond’s landmark entertainment venue allowed smoking in their separately ventilated dance club.

“For over 36 years, guests have been puffing, imbibing, and dancing their cares away on the only dance floor to be found downtown at The Tobacco Company Club,” the press release read.

The club said they are voluntarily making the changes in order to enhance the experience of the new generation of twenty-somethings club goers that currently flood the Richmond club scene. It turns out they wanted a different club experience.