On Wednesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the county from enforcing its ban, after finding that the county had created confusion by failing to repeal its previous, more lenient smoking rules when it passed the new law.

But the ruling, by Judge Denis R. Hurley of Federal District Court in Central Islip, seems to have created even more confusion, prompting dozens of telephone calls to the Nassau County Department of Health. To make matters more complicated, the county law itself will soon be largely moot. On July 24, a state smoking ban that is only slightly more lenient than the county's is scheduled to take effect, meaning that Nassau's smoking reprieve is likely to last a mere seven weeks.

That, Ms. Ellis had not heard. When told, her joy became outrage, then optimism.

"If they find a glitch in the law in Nassau, then they'll find a glitch in the state law," she said. Her lunch partner, Lori DiMaria, 33, who favors Virginia Slims, nodded.

That is a matter of debate. After the ruling, a leader of a coalition advocating smoking bans called it "a bump in the road." But what is clear is that bar owners, workers and customers are confounded.