Good article, it really explains a lot about why I dislike going to restaurants these days. Seems like 20 years ago I didn't mind so much. I've wondered lately if it's the restaurants that have...
Good article, it really explains a lot about why I dislike going to restaurants these days. Seems like 20 years ago I didn't mind so much. I've wondered lately if it's the restaurants that have changed or if I'd just gotten older and less tolerant of it. I figured it was the latter, but maybe actually a mix of both.
I recall going to Disney World in Orlando a few years ago (2015, I think) and eating lunch in the Plaza restaurant there on Mainstreet USA. Really nice aesthetics with the high ceilings, woodwork, bright pastels, and big windows with no drapes. It looked great!
But the noise was ear-splitting! Within five minutes I started to develop a headache, and by the time our food got to the table I just wanted to eat as quickly as possible and get out of there. You had a single room (maybe 2500 sq ft, dunno didn't measure) packed with 150+(?) people, and all the noise was reverberating off the walls, tables, and ceilings. I could barely hear the waiter speak and had to ask him to lean in, repeat himself, and speak up (I felt like such an old man at the time, too). My wife and I gave up on having conversation after about five minutes and just sat there. Seemingly everyone else in the restaurant just kept talking louder and louder to be heard over the din.
Stepping outside into the bustle and noise of the Disney crowds was actually a relief after spending an hour in that restaurant.
Well, it certainly made this diner turn over faster! My housemate and I tried a newly opened restaurant in our area earlier this year. It looked nice, it was reasonably priced - and the food...
Noise encourages increased alcohol consumption and produces faster diner turnover.
Well, it certainly made this diner turn over faster!
My housemate and I tried a newly opened restaurant in our area earlier this year. It looked nice, it was reasonably priced - and the food turned out to be quite good.
However, the noise was unbearable.
I noticed at the time that the interior was all hard surfaces, from the polished concrete floor and metal partitions to the wooden walls and ceiling. There was not a single sound-reducing feature in the whole place. However, the significance of that didn't sink in until later.
When we arrived, the place was mostly empty, and we didn't notice any problems. Over the next hour or so, more and more people arrived, until the place was so loud we were almost shouting at each other across a small table for two.
We left as soon as we could. We even rushed our meal slightly, to get out quicker.
We agreed that we like the food, and the look of the place - and that we would, sadly, never go back there again.
Meanwhile, there's an older place we go to that's busier and should be noisier - but it's bigger and has carpet, meaning it's never too noisy.
I don't know how people enjoy dining in places where they have to shout at their dinner companions.
No sound absorption, ambient noise that you already have to speak over to hear, and an arms race between all diners to speak over the ever-increasing level of noise in the space. When form and...
No sound absorption, ambient noise that you already have to speak over to hear, and an arms race between all diners to speak over the ever-increasing level of noise in the space. When form and profit are prioritized over function, you inevitably end up with this.
It baffles me why this is a thing. Sound reduction could be done with stylish vertical noise reduction tiles or with strategically placed cloth, but it's minimalistic style over the patron. The...
It baffles me why this is a thing. Sound reduction could be done with stylish vertical noise reduction tiles or with strategically placed cloth, but it's minimalistic style over the patron.
The bigger issue I have is that, at least in the Bay Area, the restaurant scene is becoming quite homogenous. They all look the same, they all have the same gimmicks, and the food isn't memorable, but it is good.
Maybe I'm just turning into an old fart, but I just want a quite dining experience where I can talk to my wife and eat in peace.
Good article, it really explains a lot about why I dislike going to restaurants these days. Seems like 20 years ago I didn't mind so much. I've wondered lately if it's the restaurants that have changed or if I'd just gotten older and less tolerant of it. I figured it was the latter, but maybe actually a mix of both.
I recall going to Disney World in Orlando a few years ago (2015, I think) and eating lunch in the Plaza restaurant there on Mainstreet USA. Really nice aesthetics with the high ceilings, woodwork, bright pastels, and big windows with no drapes. It looked great!
But the noise was ear-splitting! Within five minutes I started to develop a headache, and by the time our food got to the table I just wanted to eat as quickly as possible and get out of there. You had a single room (maybe 2500 sq ft, dunno didn't measure) packed with 150+(?) people, and all the noise was reverberating off the walls, tables, and ceilings. I could barely hear the waiter speak and had to ask him to lean in, repeat himself, and speak up (I felt like such an old man at the time, too). My wife and I gave up on having conversation after about five minutes and just sat there. Seemingly everyone else in the restaurant just kept talking louder and louder to be heard over the din.
Stepping outside into the bustle and noise of the Disney crowds was actually a relief after spending an hour in that restaurant.
Well, it certainly made this diner turn over faster!
My housemate and I tried a newly opened restaurant in our area earlier this year. It looked nice, it was reasonably priced - and the food turned out to be quite good.
However, the noise was unbearable.
I noticed at the time that the interior was all hard surfaces, from the polished concrete floor and metal partitions to the wooden walls and ceiling. There was not a single sound-reducing feature in the whole place. However, the significance of that didn't sink in until later.
When we arrived, the place was mostly empty, and we didn't notice any problems. Over the next hour or so, more and more people arrived, until the place was so loud we were almost shouting at each other across a small table for two.
We left as soon as we could. We even rushed our meal slightly, to get out quicker.
We agreed that we like the food, and the look of the place - and that we would, sadly, never go back there again.
Meanwhile, there's an older place we go to that's busier and should be noisier - but it's bigger and has carpet, meaning it's never too noisy.
I don't know how people enjoy dining in places where they have to shout at their dinner companions.
No sound absorption, ambient noise that you already have to speak over to hear, and an arms race between all diners to speak over the ever-increasing level of noise in the space. When form and profit are prioritized over function, you inevitably end up with this.
It baffles me why this is a thing. Sound reduction could be done with stylish vertical noise reduction tiles or with strategically placed cloth, but it's minimalistic style over the patron.
The bigger issue I have is that, at least in the Bay Area, the restaurant scene is becoming quite homogenous. They all look the same, they all have the same gimmicks, and the food isn't memorable, but it is good.
Maybe I'm just turning into an old fart, but I just want a quite dining experience where I can talk to my wife and eat in peace.