Noisy Restaurants: A painful experiance
Twice in the last few weeks I have been to good restaurants with great food that have been so noisy that I couldn't participate in conversations with my fellow diners and in the end my ears actually hurt by the time the meal was completed.
It's a pity, but I will not be returning to these establishments in so much as a very nice meal has been turned into an unpleasant experience because restaurateurs will not spend what it takes to provide their customers with a pleasant dining experience at a reasonable noise level.
Most recent on the list of never to return; Voltaire, Umi Sake House, Olives Wine Bar.
Has anyone else had similar experiences? Care to share the names of offenders?
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cassis
Aug 2, 2008 05:37 AM
I'm an architect and I've heard or read that hard surfaces are chosen to speed up turnover. I will never return to a restaurant that I leave with my ears ringing, and another pet peeve of mine are tables that are too small, packed too closely together. All of these factors show that management/owners have utter disregard for patrons. Very common here--less so in Europe?
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I have to second Black Bottle. Yikes. I have to yell to be heard and it makes my throat hurt and my ears ring. If there are more than three of us it's overwhelming. Sad because it's a fun place with interesting menu. We wanted to try Steelhead Diner last night, but it looked as frighteningly loud. Sigh. And I'm not even spending that much time in my rocking chair. Yet.
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Joule in Wallingford is a very noisy restaurant....it was impossible to carry on a conversation there both times I dined there.....it's a very small, dining room with many close-to-each-other tables and an open kitchen that is placed down along one side of the room...so alot of 'dominant' kitchen noise, too.
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having taught classes in restaurant design and hospitality management, it is unfortunately true that many restaurateurs equate a noisy dining room with a successful dining room. while the background babble of others' chatter, modulated music and the clinking of cutlery adds a pleasant atmosphere to a meal and utter silence would actually be uncomfortable, the idea that having to shout to at your companions means you are in a 'hot' joint may work for the generation that has lost its hearing to ipods and such but i believe that the vast majority of people prefer the ambiant sound level to be just below the level at which you are concious of its existence. sadly, many owners purposely plan their dining rooms with hard surfaces to amplify clatter in the belief that it makes their place feel 'alive'.
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JillO
Jul 30, 2008 08:45 AM
Simpatica in Portland used to be like this, but they did a lot of work on their room to try and reduce the volume. It has worked really well and folks like me who loved the place but hated the noise (used to be you could not hear the person next to you speak) - and who actually said something - are really happy that they "heard" us! ;o)
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re: terrier
Painter2Chef
Jul 29, 2008 05:51 PM
I have to agree and it's really too bad the food at both places is just great. I assume they calculate that the buisness lost is not worth the expence of an accoustic engineer, some fabric and carpet.
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