The Dining World’s Not-So-Quiet Riot

Published on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, by James Norton / Edit Post

Toronto’s excellent Globe and Mail has published a great story about loud restaurants.

It turns out the issue has a lot of angles; it’s not as simple as just sticking up some paneling. There’s a tug of war between a quiet place defined by dowdy-looking upholstered chairs, paneling, and carpeting and the chic-looking (and much cheaper to furnish) sawmill-loud echo chamber of stone, glass, and metal.

But the article takes a Stand by Me–esque turn for the hilarious when it quotes a professional food writer:

‘It’s become much worse over the last decade,’ says Marion Kane, a veteran food writer and broadcaster who believes some restaurateurs deliberately create a noisy environment.

‘There is a mistaken belief — especially among young people — that if you’re shouting and it’s loud, you’re having a good time.’

Ms. Kane recalls a recent dinner where the babble was so intense, she started eating manically. ‘I was so nervous and wound up, I kept eating the food off my friend’s plate. On the way home, I had to ask her to stop the car so I could throw up.’

Ah, yes. The restaurant that’s so loud it makes you steal your friend’s food and then, engorged beyond capacity, vomit all over the curb. We’ve all been there, right?

ALLFood Media
POST A COMMENT |4 Comments

COMMENT

  • n the good old days (yes my tag is now one year out of date), few if any restaurants had piped in music. Craig Clairborne, the great NY Times food critic, used to take one star away from any restaurant he reviewed if they had music. But now I've given up on expecting silence. Today's NY restaurant scene is ruled by a generation that cannot abide being without music, and I mean loud music. For...+READ

    n the good old days (yes my tag is now one year out of date), few if any restaurants had piped in music. Craig Clairborne, the great NY Times food critic, used to take one star away from any restaurant he reviewed if they had music. But now I've given up on expecting silence. Today's NY restaurant scene is ruled by a generation that cannot abide being without music, and I mean loud music. For those of my generation, it means certain restaurants are now off limits.If we must have music in the background, it should be soft and gentle, not loud and assertive. A week ago, my wife and I walked out of a highly rated, expensive restaurant (before we ordered) because they were playing music with a very assertive beat. It wasn't awfully loud (they even offered to turn it down), but its beat was quite insistent, making the atmosphere in the restaurant not conducive for fine dining and relaxed conversation. Is this purely generational, or are there young people who agree with me?-COLLAPSE

  • two things occur:
    1. a generation raised on very loud,amplified music may be suffering hearing loss and over compensate by shouting.
    2. a generation given a sense of entitlement and no training in manners or courtesy.

  • I can certainly understand how the noise drives you out of the place. I've had exactly that experience in a handful of DFW area restaurants. Seems like I'm some kinda weirdo for preferring peace and quiet and relaxing to being loud and ostentatious and making sure everybody in the building knows how great and exciting I am. The easy answer is to stick to smaller, cheaper, mom and pop or ethnic...+READ

    I can certainly understand how the noise drives you out of the place. I've had exactly that experience in a handful of DFW area restaurants. Seems like I'm some kinda weirdo for preferring peace and quiet and relaxing to being loud and ostentatious and making sure everybody in the building knows how great and exciting I am. The easy answer is to stick to smaller, cheaper, mom and pop or ethnic places and leave the trendy/fancy/loud places to rich (or wannabe rich) people. There's generally some of both in most towns I've been in.-COLLAPSE

  • I've been dragged to several business dinners at Roadhouse steak houses. Why they repeatedly want to go there I have no idea. First the music is so loud the diners have to shout to be heard so now you have diners shouting and music blaring. Then you have waitstaff screaming every 20 minutes that it's so and so's birthday "YEE-HAW!!!" and swinging the hanging table lights around. Noise + swinging...+READ

    I've been dragged to several business dinners at Roadhouse steak houses. Why they repeatedly want to go there I have no idea. First the music is so loud the diners have to shout to be heard so now you have diners shouting and music blaring. Then you have waitstaff screaming every 20 minutes that it's so and so's birthday "YEE-HAW!!!" and swinging the hanging table lights around. Noise + swinging lights = migraine onset + nausea = inevitable roadside vomit on the way home without finishing my meal. Only my required presence for a business meeting will get me through those doors.-COLLAPSE