Posted on 02/04/2019 10:53:12 AM PST by simpson96
Popular restaurants in many of the nation's biggest cities have a noise problem.
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson he first picked up on the trend about 10 years ago. That's when he decided to buy a decibel meter and do some research of his own — and his findings weren't very appetizing.
"Some of the best-known places in the city at that time were serving food in settings with the noise equivalents of garbage disposals and lawnmowers," Sietsema (@tomsietsema) says. "Just for the sake of comparison, 60 decibels is normal conversation. But I was sitting in 80- and 90-decibel environments."
One factor behind the high volume? The way restaurants are being designed. Those beautiful, minimalist spaces that are so in vogue reflect sounds, making it hard to hear your dining companions.
"You've got marble countertops, brick walls, bare walls, undressed tables. There's nothing to absorb the noise," says Sietsema, who's started including decibel counts alongside stars in his restaurant reviews. "Then you throw in some overhead TVs and fashionable open kitchens, you pack a room full of diners — each of whom is forced to talk louder over the din — and you've got even more of a blast."
(Excerpt) Read more at wbur.org ...
I’ve noticed this at some places. There is a place I like, but won’t go to anymore, because it’s so damn noisy.
Seems people thrive in that atmosphere. I’m deaf in there!
What? I can’t hear you! Heck yes. We avoid restaurants that blast music.
YES YES YES!
It has become so bad that I have a hard time hearing my wife sitting across from me.
Yes. My most pleasant dining experience which I still remember years later was going to a well known classy restaurant, but during midday off-hours. I was the only person in the dining room. My meal was excellent, no chatter or kitchen noise. No music, tasteful decor. Just sat there with a glass of house merlot contemplating life in peace.
One place I used to go to.... Had great food, but the tile floors and stucco walls MADE FOR A VERY VERY LOUD PLACE.
SHOUTING DURING DINNER JUST TO HAVE A CONVERSATIONS IS NOT WHAT I CONSIDER ACCEPTABLE.
(ahem. sorry.)
How about parents letting a kid loudly watching something on the ipad.
Leave the damn thing in the car!!
That’s a big problem in Chinese dim sum restaurants during weekends when big family groups are going.
ff
How about parents letting a kid loudly watching something on the ipad.
Leave the damn thing in the car!!
Yeah, well, that place is so crowded, that NOBODY goes there, anymore!
Most people are too busy looking at their phones and taking pictures of their food to talk to their dining companions.
Hence they don’t notice how loud it is.
-PJ
Churches and cinemas are also too loud. Invest in hearing technology because millennials are going to be deaf early.
I’ve been to probably 60% of good restos in Hollywood/L.A...even the ones where they charge you water. It’s NOT the music. It’s the combined echo of everyone talking which annoys me. And my GF and I hate crowds. We prefer to eat in late around 10 pm to avoid the idiots and there’s fewer people inside.
Conversations being loud is usually not an issue. But that damn music blaring constantly needs to be turned off.
I like Carraba’s food, but the tables are placed too close together and the noise level is like a Zeppelin concert.
OTOH, Bentley’s in Dunnellon is a big open room and very quiet. And the food is just as good...
This is typical, snob liberal elitism masquerading as reporting. I bet the restaurants he went to were places where families go with their kids. So let’s shut these restaurants down because stupid riff-raff don’t need to be eating out anyway and spoiling our discussions over abortion.
Helps the spooks plot their nefarious world domination plans.
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