Alicia RobinsonBusiness partners Derek Gard and Mike...

Alicia Robinson

Business partners Derek Gard and Mike Van Der Weerd enjoy a cigar now

and then, but antismoking laws mean they usually have to go outdoors

to smoke.

Not anymore. Welcome to Havanitas, Costa Mesa’s only cigar lounge,

where patrons can play a game of pool or cards, drink a cocktail or

watch sports on a big screen TV, all with cigars dangling from their

mouths.

“Mike and I were watching a football game one Sunday last winter,

and [if] you want to light up, you have to go outside, miss half the

game,” said Gard, a 38-year-old investment advisor. “We were sitting

there thinking we need a place to smoke.”

So they found a space and opened a private club, where proprietors

can choose to allow smoking and, with the proper license, serve

alcohol.

After opening in November, Havanitas now has about two dozen

members. Membership costs $250 a year, but a current special cuts

that fee in half. Members can buy cigars and drinks, and food is

often ordered in.

The typical cigar smoker is a professional man, who’s at least in

his 30s, Gard said, but his club attracts all kinds of people,

including women.

“It’s a place where different types of people from all walks of

life can get together, from corporation owners to construction

workers, and they all have a common bond,” said Van Der Weerd, 32,

who has a day job as a real estate appraiser.

On a regular night, a handful of members will come in, but special

events can draw 20 or more and about 160 people came to the opening

night celebration. Havanitas holds poker parties and cigar and wine

dinners, and some members stop in to watch boxing or football.

The club’s decor is Cuban-inspired, with brightly-colored walls,

potted plants, low lighting and leather furniture. It’s still a work

in progress, with future plans including a walk-in humidor, library

and indoor patio with a ceiling made to look like the sky.

“I definitely like the at-home feel to it,” said club member

Michael Furillo, an international tour director who lives in Newport

Beach. “It’s like an oversized living room.”

He stops at Havanitas about three or four times a week, he said.

He’s a friend and former neighbor of Van Der Weerd and wanted to

support his new business.

“When I go out, I like to go to nonsmoking bars,” Furillo said.

“I’m coming here because I’m going to be smoking cigars.”

His view reflects an interesting dichotomy of attitudes toward

cigarette smokers versus cigar smokers. Van Der Weerd described cigar

smoking as “more of a hobby than a habit,” and Furillo said cigars

appear glamorous because Hollywood A-listers like Paris Hilton and

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger smoke them.

“It’s not as offensive. The aroma’s different,” said Havanitas

patron Scott Whitehead of Tustin, who came in recently with his wife,

Susan. “Cigarettes are extremely offensive to me.”

Susan Whitehead said she occasionally smokes a cigar herself.

“I like the smell of cigars,” she said. “I think it’s a health

issue.... People say, ‘Oh, you don’t inhale, so it’s not as bad.’”

Gard and Van Der Weerd were surprised to find some businesses that

sell cigars saw Havanitas as a threat and didn’t want it to open, but

the club’s popularity seems to be growing. Even former Costa Mesa

City Councilman Mike Scheafer is a member.

The club’s permits were granted by the city Planning Commission,

so Scheafer didn’t vote on them, but he said he supports the club’s

concept.

“Had it come to City Council, I would have approved it simply

because it’s a couple of young guys trying to do something that is

unique, and I think there is a nice place in the community for this,”

Scheafer said. “This gives me a place to go that people aren’t going

to criticize me for smoking my cigar.”

Havanitas is at 750 W. 17th St., Suite A.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.