My guess is that regulations were pretty strict there. I was a waiter at the time and that was the only restaurant with a smoking section I ever knew about.
The first smoking bans were soft, some non-smoking bar and restaurant staff got lung cancer and sued their employers for not protecting them from smoke
Those sort of places banned smoking inside to avoid similar litigation
Some made more effective barriers between smoking and non-smoking sections, and only put smoking staff on the smoking side
My guess is that regulations were pretty strict there. I was a waiter at the time and that was the only restaurant with a smoking section I ever knew about.
The first smoking bans were soft, some non-smoking bar and restaurant staff got lung cancer and sued their employers for not protecting them from smoke
Those sort of places banned smoking inside to avoid similar litigation
Some made more effective barriers between smoking and non-smoking sections, and only put smoking staff on the smoking side