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The Dartmouth
July 26, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

The Fort truck stop says 'no' to smoking

Local families and students are discovering an unlikely new dining option at the local truck stop.

The Fort, formerly known as Fort Lou's, has long been a favorite late-night pit stop for truckers and midterm-weary Dartmouth students in search of nourishment. The restaurant is a 24-hour truck stop near the intersection of I-89 and route 120 in Lebanon, where the atmosphere is now thick with the aroma of freshly baked pies and hearty greasy-spoon fare instead of cigarette smoke.

In recent months, the diner has packed up its ashtrays and become entirely smoke-free in accordance with a new policy generated by recently changed ownership. The decision to ban smoking at The Fort follows a controversial trend that has recently generated legislation prohibiting smoking in bars and restaurants in Boston and New York.

Unlike most places where smokers have been left out in the cold, the smoking ban at The Fort was not mandated by the state of New Hampshire. It was instead self-imposed in a bid to create a stronger family atmosphere and attract new customers, and it appears to be working.

Night manager Rob Carter noted that formerly slow times are now busy, with more families and younger patrons visiting than ever before. The policy caused an initial drop in patronage among regulars who smoke, but most have found themselves still coming back for the food.

"Most people don't mind the policy. Thirty minutes isn't that long to ask people to go without a cigarette," said Carter of customers' reactions to the no-smoking policy.

Roger Small of Newport, N.H., is a regular patron who proudly claims to have smoked over 400,000 cigarettes over the past 30 years and has been making the journey to Lebanon every Sunday to visit The Fort for almost as long. Small will continue to go there in spite of the smoking ban, he said.

Patrons and staff agreed that the smoking ban has improved the overall ambiance of the diner. Retired Office of Residential Life employee Ernie Brown is a regular at The Fort who has been having his morning coffee there every day for the past 25 years. Eager to chat, Brown marked the increase in patrons as a positive change.

"Sometimes you would come out of there coughing like you had the flu," said Brown of the diner before it enacted the policy. "It's always so nice to meet new and interesting people."

The new management has instituted several other major business-generating changes to the restaurant along with the smoking ban.

The Fort now employs their own baker who stocks the display cases with fresh doughnuts, muffins and pies every morning.

To add, The Fort now also offers a 15 percent discount to employees of the nearby Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.