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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, Disagree) by Grishnakh on Friday April 20 2018, @01:07PM (3 children)
I know the acoustic treatments can be spendy, but I can't help but think restaurants would attract more satisfied repeat customers if they went back to taking the noise issue more seriously as a design requirement.
I completely disagree. They'd get more satisfied repeat customers from the older part of the SN crowd perhaps, but that's not representative of America. One of the main problems was listed in TFA at #4: Americans are fucking loud. Americans *like* these noisy restaurants where you have to yell to talk to your date, because they're always yelling anyway. The restaurants are just giving the people what they want. The same goes for the other person here complaining about restaurants all having TVs blaring, with all kinds of horrible news all the time: Americans *like* that. Most Americans wouldn't be very happy in a dining establishment where it's quiet, where the waiter doesn't bother you and ask "How's that tasting for you?!!?!?!" every 5 minutes and instead just quietly monitors you and comes over when you actually need something, or where there isn't a TV tuned to Fox News or CNN blaring. That's why you don't see many restaurants like that, and instead there's tons of loud restaurants that are making money hand-over-fist. Americans like loud.
(Score: 2) by leftover on Friday April 20 2018, @03:32PM (1 child)
You seem to know only the wrong Americans. New York City is to Americans as Paris is to the wonderful people of France.
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday April 20 2018, @04:06PM
I've been all over America. Americans are pretty universally loud; it isn't just NYC. Notice that TFA specifically cited a restaurant in DC. They do tend to be quieter in the coastal west-coast cities though. They're significantly taller there too. Certain subcultures also tend to be louder than others.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 20 2018, @11:11PM
There are some Americans who don't like loud. However, since most of the American restaurants cater to the ones who do like loud, we lovers of quiet don't eat out often, or at all.
The past seven years, I've eaten out a restaurant only once. Since it was my retirement gathering, I felt somewhat obligated to attend.