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Vox presents an article about restaurant noise levels and why they've risen over the years.
When the Line Hotel opened in Washington, DC, last December, the cocktail bars, gourmet coffee shops, and restaurants that fill its cavernous lobby drew a lot of buzz. Housed in a century-old church, the space was also reputedly beautiful.
My first visit in February confirmed that the Line was indeed as sleek as my friends and restaurant critics had suggested. There was just one problem: I wanted to leave almost as soon as I walked in. My ears were invaded by a deafening din.
[...] In reckoning with this underappreciated health threat, I’ve been wondering how we got here and why any well-meaning restaurateur would inflict this pain on his or her patrons and staff. I learned that there are a number of reasons — and they mostly have to do with restaurant design trends. In exposing them, I hope restaurateurs will take note: You may be deafening your staff and patrons.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Friday April 20 2018, @12:54PM (1 child)
A while back I tried a "Jimmy Johns" sandwich shop near me. They had music blaring so loud I had to yell when I placed the order. I'd imagine people working there would go deaf quickly. No chance in hell I'm going back there.
Also noticed similar at a new Zaxby's (Suxby's). Blaring loud music. They had other sanitation problems, and food that wasn't any better than Walmart microwavable frozen crap. Awful place.
I had a theory that perhaps they were using such loud music to regulate and reduce the number of people eating in, preferring that people use their drive through instead.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday April 20 2018, @01:00PM
For chain restaurants, I like Panera Bread, and many of them seem to be reasonably quiet. The food is generally very good for the price, and I've found it to be a nice place to hang out with my laptop and use the free wi-fi. Some locations are better than others for this though, so YMMV.