Skip navigation

 Login or Register | Member Centre

I really hope you said fork

ALEXANDRA GILL

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 2:12 PM EDT 13/02/08

Restaurant noise levels have gone through the roof. From pounding beats to owners who seem deaf to complaints, our dining experience is drowning in decibels ...Read the full article

This conversation is semi-moderated What is moderation? | How do I report a comment?

  1. Paloma von Volk from Heaven on High, Canada writes: Many restaurants are too loud. Judging by this article, many of them are under a delusion that that is a good thing. I avoid places that are too loud to enjoy.

    Still, this article contained three examples of bizarreness, IMHO:

    First, restauratuer Mike Thomson who says 'Our architect warned us that we might have some sound problems, but we had no idea.'

    What sort of idiocy is that? His architect warns him and he blithely carries on with his boom-box plans and then afterward he pretends he didn't know. Sheer idiocy.

    Then there is the restaurant writer Ms. Kane who found a restaurant so loud that she 'kept eating the food off my friend's plate. On the way home, I had to ask her stop the car so I could throw up.' The mind boggles! What sort of blithering git behaves in that fashion?

    Finally there is the restaurant that gave the impression 'You're not the customer we want. Really, the cool people don't mind. ' Okaaaaaay! People who continue to go to places like that have no-one but themselves to blame, and places like that when they tank and go bankrupt in a year or two richly deserve the trouble and pain of financial loss as the price of their smug stupidity.
  2. Ben SGT/USMC from United States writes:

    This could be a reason that Canadians don't tip in Florida.
  3. Johnny Red from Canada writes: Paloma says: Then there is the restaurant writer Ms. Kane who found a restaurant so loud that she 'kept eating the food off my friend's plate. On the way home, I had to ask her stop the car so I could throw up.' The mind boggles! What sort of blithering git behaves in that fashion?

    You hit the nail on the head. Just because it's loud she turned into a food zombie, consuming all food within arm's reach? That'd be the last time I hung out with her if she were my friend.

    Anyway, re: the article, I'm glad some places are addressing the loudness and frankly, those that are ignorant to their customers' complaints shouldn't get your business or your referrals.
  4. Chantal Saville from Lakefield, Canada writes: Even the cutest little bistros have this failing. I was at a tiny place in North Toronto - so not a pseudo-club, not a chic for the chic but not so chic for the geek club... It was a bistro. Two parties of 6 arrived and sat around us. We didn't get another word out for the rest of the meal. We skipped dessert and left.

    The same thing happened not two days later at another small bistro. It's not rocket science and in the usual style of restaurants, I suspect some of them will go to the other extreme any minute now and start stapling carpeting to the wall, circa 1970.

    Just think before you build. Put a full capacity of people in the room as if they were dining before you finish building. Have them eat a meal, make noise... some couples, some groups... and see what the effect is. A 60 minute exercise could save you thousands of dollars...
  5. Bill Needle from Canada writes: Take ear protectors (and Maalox) if you're going to Joey Tomatoes.
  6. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Ben SGT/USMC from United States writes: This could be a reason that Canadians don't tip in Florida.
    ----------------------

    Nah, Canadians don't tip anywhere. They will complain but don't want anything changed either.

    This was the first restaurant review I've seen with no mention of the food. Food first, ambiance second.
  7. Raffi D from Canada writes: I'm kind of surprised by their comparison data...

    'Subway platform = 95'? I take the subway every day, and I never think that it goes anywhere above typical street level sounds... The subway trains are electric powered, and most people on the platform never say a word because they're all commuters. The most sound is the wind passing your ear as the air gets shifted out of the tunnels and into the platform.
  8. Diane Schweik from EDMONTON, Canada writes: It's not just in restaurants and bars.Why does the sound level have to be so high in cinemas ?
  9. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Diane Schweik from EDMONTON, you're right. Cinemas want for ear protection. The last time I was at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for a baseball game, I wanted for ear protection and bailed after the 6th inning.
  10. Barry Turner from Ottawa, Canada writes: Thank you, G&M, for writing this story. For most of our adult lives, our personal entertainment revolved around two main activities, the theatre and concerts, which a re still quiet but for the sounds iwe come to hear, and dining out with our friends in pleasant surroundings where we could not only eat well but also enjoy each other's company and conversation. Now, we rarely do that, except for occasional celebratory events like the Christmas season, a job promotion, occasionaly a birthday, though most of those we celebtate in our homes. Mothers Day and Fathers Day are always a home dinner party. We have our friends over for dinner and they reciprocate. Other than that, we eat in restaurants only when caught too far from home at dinner time. Why the change?. Dining out today in most 'fine' restaurants is a painful experience where the noise level seems intended to drive us out as soon as we finish dinner so that the table can be reset for the next group of unfortunate, masochistic souls who like having their eardrums pierced while they dine. The younger crowd imagines that its cool to be awash in overpowering levels of chaotic noise, but they will get over that soon enough as they age. And I warn restaurateurs, our entire population is aging, not to mention in the case of the Ipod crowd, going deaf. Tastes will change, and rapidly. If you want to stay in business, do your research on acoustic materials. You will need them. I no longer spend $200 dollars and more to eat while being beaten around the ears. It's not fun anymore, if indeed it ever was.
  11. Raffi D from Canada writes: 'Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: This was the first restaurant review I've seen with no mention of the food. Food first, ambiance second. '

    Maybe you have to realize that once in a while, after the hoard of food reviews, there needs to be a review about the ambiance of a restaurant? This is barely even a review; this is a report. This is a report on how restaurants are increasingly getting louder and louder. This has nothing to do with food.
  12. Bob in Chilliwack from Chilliwack BC, Canada writes: My wife and I don't go out as often just because of the noise. We find that quite often there are young people running the establishment and they're enjoying the loud music and they think everyone else should too.
  13. Jeff Gulley from Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, Canada writes: Paloma, Johnny Red: I was thinking exactly the same thing when I read that about Ms. Kane. Is she like the Manchurian Candidate or what?!
  14. I RMA from Canada writes: My dad's favorite story from my childhood involves us showing up at high-end restaurants during business trips and having the Maitre d' look at 2 kids less than 10yo with scorn and warn my dad that they don't generally allow children. After the meal the staff invariably apologized and praised our parents on our behaviour.

    Incidentally, dad usually leaves out the part where if I talked above a whisper, I was whisked away to the bathroom for re-education. The rule was ïf you're talking loud enough for someone at the next table to hear you, you're being too loud'

    As an adult I quickly came to realize that not everyone received the same lessons in etiquette.

    I'm not suggesting that restaurants should be silent, but if I know less about how my girlfriends appetizer tastes and more about who's poking whom on facebook (or in the bathroom at a club last night) then somethings wrong.
  15. RD Lone from Vancouver, Canada writes: Ultimately this is a cost issue.

    If they wanted to cut down on noise they could just partition out the place more and not have one giant box of sound bouncing. However, walls mean less space and fewer customers at once, thus less money.

    If people aren't willing to pay more to have a quiet meal then why should they do it? That's the question.
  16. ms beee from O-Town, Canada writes: You know, part of it is the restaurant, but part of it is also the diners themselves. When I lived in France, I marvelled that the noise level in the restaurants was always so nice and low. And most of these places had not spent large amounts of money on decor...it was primarily that the diners themselves only spoke loud enough for their companions to hear them. I find in North America, people speak SO loudly that the ambient volume level is invariably MUCH higher than it would be if you were to place the exact same establishment in Europe.

    So if it's too loud, try starting by speaking more quietly!
  17. H Gordon from Toronno, Canada writes: Kubo and Lil' Baci on Queen East have exactly this problem. And their food is quite good but... the noise level destroys any sense of enjoyment. Mentioned to the owners, to no avail. I guess we frequenet other places in the neighbourhood instead.
  18. Ben Morris from Victoria, Canada writes: ms beee -- agreed! And the worst offenders are the people with 'that laugh': WHAAA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
  19. My eyes are open, Are yours? from Canada writes: Just wear ear plugs everywhere. That way traffic, restaurants, subways, movies etc. won't bother you.
  20. Wilf Hiebert from Saskatoon, Canada writes: I have often expressed concern and frustration over the noise level in restaurants. It appeared that often I seemed to be classified as anti-social or similar. I am pleased to have others share this concern and the recognition that noise levels are often incompatible to conversation, annoying, and diminishes what should be an enjoyable social and eating experience.
  21. Duh Work Farce Virtually Alive from Canada writes: Keep the noise down, clown - I can hardly hear my lobster drown.
  22. Name Witheld from Vancouver, Canada writes: Oh PLEASE let this be the end of the 'open kitchen' concept that so defines dining in Vancouver. When I first arrived here from Montreal I was struck by how unpleasant and jangling it was to dine out in this city. I never used to think about it, but I really prefer to relax in order to really savour my meal - and I can't find that anywhere in this town.

    Part of it may be patrons' self-absorbtion, part of it may be Vancouver culture (Vancouver must have more Harley boys and fart-can cars per capita than any other city) but I recognized early on that the open kitchen concept was chief among them, since there's clanging and crashing even when the place is empty.

    A tactic conceived to substitute for atmosphere, open kitchens were quickly adopted by most major restaurants, the same way that they copy-cat each others food.
  23. Anger Equals Danger from NW, Canada writes: Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Ben SGT/USMC from United States writes: This could be a reason that Canadians don't tip in Florida.
    ----------------------

    Nah, Canadians don't tip anywhere. They will complain but don't want anything changed either.

    Umm, yeah, whatever. I tip 20% as a norm. Don't know which Canadians you're handing out with. AMERICANS tip less. I'm talking $20.00 on a $400.00 bill, after telling the manager and the sommelier and the server how wonderful the food was, how great the wine was, ect. ect. AND being given complimentary dessert wine
  24. Melissa Pauline from Canada writes: Unfortunately it's not just restaurants that have the loudness problem. My personal peeve is loud music playing in every restaurant, coffee shop, store, public washroom, lobby, etc etc etc. I cancelled my membership at a gym that continually played loud radio music (commercials and all!) everywhere, and of course the acoustics were horrible. I talked to the staff about it, who looked at me like I was nuts (I guess they really believe everyone likes Nickelback and Leon's commercials). The management refused to at least offer some quiet hours or just turn the music down some of the time. There are groups like quiet.org and Pipedown International that are addressing the issue and compiling databases of quiet bars, restaurants, etc. It's no wonder we are stressed - on top of everything else, we are subjected to near-constant noise.
  25. Raffi D from Canada writes: @ Melissa Pauline from Canada...

    I feel so sorry for you. Anyone who has to endure a session of Nickelback (or the equally as talented Leon's commercials) during a paid visit to anywhere should have all their money refunded. =(
  26. Kim Philby from Ottawa, Canada writes: I remember a few years back going into a nearly empty pub with a couple of friends. When the waitress came over we asked if the music could be turned down. Her response was that the staff liked it that way. So much for what the customers (remember them - the people who keep you in business?) want.

    To all the above complaints about noise becoming a problem in various public domains, add my complaint about loud, obnoxious TV ads. Do they really think they're going to get my attention with that noisy fast-talking spiel? It just makes me hit the mute on my remote.

    The concept of subtlety in anything seems to be going the way of the dodo. Louder! Faster! Brighter!
  27. Frau Canuck from Switzerland writes: Just returned from some fine dining and 'wine'ing in Alsace. I was struck, once again, on the civilized meal time behaviour I was experiencing. They seemed to use appropriate public voices - so different to chowing down in some of the chain restaurants in North America. I wonder when courtesy went out the door. Interestingly, it was the special Valentine dinner in several cases, and there was a big cross section of ages represented.
  28. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Anger Equals Danger from NW, Canada writes: Umm, yeah, whatever. I tip 20% as a norm. Don't know which Canadians you're handing out with. AMERICANS tip less. I'm talking $20.00 on a $400.00 bill...
    -----------------------------------------

    Dude, 20% on $400 would be an $80 tip. Now that people no longer smoke in european restaurants, dining can be divine...
  29. Eric the Red from Canada writes: Why doesn't the Globe get to discussing noise issues in restaurants after it discusses the poor choice of restaurants in the first place?

    Food is way overpriced to justify eating out, and the service is at best mediocre.

    Restaurants these days don't even know the difference between white wine and red wine glasses...
  30. Eric the Red from Canada writes: Once restaurants adopt and enforce a non-cellphone policy will people be able to enjoy a night dining without some idiot nearby yammering about work / mediocre child performance at school / shopping list / subpar weekend activities involving inane activities...
  31. Able Bodied Man from Canada writes: VANCOUVER — When Chow opened in Vancouver last spring, the roar was almost deafening. 'We wanted the restaurant to have a lively feeling, a busy East Coast din,' co-owner Mike Thomson
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Is an East Coast din different from a West Coast din or a prairie din? Or did he mean to say din-dins?
  32. K Bruner from Canada writes: Kudos to the reporter for this story. Finally an article that begins to address the issue of noise in public spaces. Restaurant noise is bad, but so is the noise in malls, supermarkets, retail outlets, cafes, cinemas and almost everywhere else. This acoustic pollution has got to stop. How can business owners think bombarding clients with mind-numbing, deafening noise will increase sales? I for one now spend very little time in stores and restaurants precisely because of the noise.
  33. Paloma von Volk from Doha, Canada writes: Kim Philby from Ottawa, Canada writes: ...To all the above complaints about noise becoming a problem in various public domains, add my complaint about loud, obnoxious TV ads. Do they really think they're going to get my attention with that noisy fast-talking spiel? It just makes me hit the mute on my remote.

    -------------------------

    It's exactly the same for me. I simply cannot fathom how the advertisers, who are paying a whole lot of dough for their ads, haven't figured out yet that making them 5 or 10 times louder than the show MAKES people turn them off. It's the most counter-productive self-destroying thing going on on TV these days.

    At our home, the INSTANT the ads come on we mute it in sheer self-defence. You wouldn't think it would take a genius to figure out that if you make the ads into several minutes of sheer torment, people are not going to watch them.
  34. can I vote again from around-Kingston, Canada writes: omg... it's not just me that notices this! wow, it's a welcome change to find out that so many other people are turned off by the consumerism of eating-drinking-noTalking.

    I stopped going out years ago to most restaurants after a certain hour...it was so mechanical, as soon as the clock struck 9pm (or 8) automatically the music gets turned up loud...you can't talk or enjoy who you're with. All the interest of keeping your hands busy (drinking).

    Even now, during lunch hours the ever-present noise prevents me from hearing my lunch companions talk...

    Growing up, I too was instructed in proper dinner talk, inside voices etc... and came to enjoy the dinner experience as a time to socialize.

    Good article G M
  35. Open Mike from Vancouver, Canada writes: Noise in restaurants is like smoking. The remarks of restaurant and bar owners about noise are so reminiscent of the issue of smoking in restaurants; remember when they said, boiled down to its essentials, 'The customers we want aren't the 90 percent of people who don't smoke and are bothered by it, just the addicted 10% who do, and aren't.'

    Only this time the split is between people who want a conversation pitched at normal, comfortable, non-life-threatening noise levels, and those already too deafened either to notice what's happened to them, or to care. In either case, an interesting business approach.
  36. K Bruner from Canada writes: I once said to a young clerk in a retail store 'must be hard working here with all the noise'. Her reply 'it's kind of fun, actually.' Which leads me to wonder if there isn't a correlation between the general decline in customer service and the level of noise in retail outlets, i.e. going to work is a like going to a party.

    I asked the same question in another place (Winners) and the response from the weary-looking clerak was ' I'm so used to it I don't even hear it anymore'.

    We really need to take a closer look at this form of pollution and bring in bylaws to control it.
  37. Eric G. from Toronto, Canada writes: Dear anyone who complains about the tips they receive,

    you're obviously a server yourself, and you obviously suck at it. If you didn't, you wouldn't remember enough bad tips to generalize them to some nationality, race, religion, age group or wherever your prejudice lies.

    How often do any of you walk away from a good shift, with hundreds of dollars in your pocket and say to yourselves 'wow, I made too much', or 'hey, I'd better keep a record of this for my taxes'

    Half the people out there have never had truly outstanding service, and continue to reward your mediocrity with >20% tips because they don't want to appear cheap. That's not going to change, it doesn't mean that you 'deserve' anything.

    Good servers earn good tips, they don't expect them.
  38. can I vote again from around-Kingston, Canada writes: [K Bruner] totaly agree with you, except bylaws won't teach manners or being polite.
    I'm afraid it's all part of the general decline of decent socializing. It's like going to someone's home to visit and you're forced to sit in their living room contending with the ever-present boob-tube blarring away.

    Proper socializing is taought...or not.
  39. Able Bodied Man from Canada writes: K Bruner from Canada writes:
    We really need to take a closer look at this form of pollution and bring in bylaws to control it.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Noise pollution throughout society is mounting. Punks in cars with amplifier tailpipes, excessively noisy motorcycles, diesel trucks and buses. Strange the environmentalists are not protesting.
  40. Kim Philby from Ottawa, Canada writes: If you want some real aural excitement, get your hair done at my hairdresser's. She keeps a radio and TV going simultaneously! Ouch!! (She gives a good cut, she's inexpensive, she's nice - and maybe some day I'll work up the nerve to complain.)
  41. K Bruner from Canada writes: I agree politeness and proper socializing has to be taught, however, I feel bylaws may be the only way to get businesses to turn the music down (or off). Why is it one cannot shop for groceries or other necessities, eat a meal or drink a coffee, visit the dentist or the doctor, walk through a mall or even a parking lot (yes, they even have piped in music in some mall parking lots in Vancouver suburbs) without being bombarded with this noise?? I don't want to hear it, but unfortunately avoiding it is not an option.
  42. K S from Simpli City, Canada writes: Eric G. from Toronto, Canada writes: 'Dear anyone who complains about the tips they receive...'
    >
    Kudos to Eric for saying what so many of us are thinking. I used to be in the service industry and believe me I had no time to gripe about the occasional small tip (they were very occasional). I was too busy making sure people who had paid to receive good service received it. Now that I am the one on the other side of the table I remember what good service should look like and unfortunately I don't see it that often. To be fair though, I have noticed a lot of rude customers lately, more than I had to contend with in my day.
    >
    As for the noise issue, it's always been a problem for me because almost all background noise distracts me from hearing properly. The problem gets compounded when I am in restaurants where the music is there to please the serving staff and not necessarily the customers. I remember on a business trip in Russia going to the very upscale hotel restaurant that blared Savage Garden every morning at breakfast. Good thing they had lots of carpeting and fabrics to cushion the noise, although I would have liked it better if they had been able to muffle it completely.
  43. The Economic Hitman jr. from Vancouver, Canada writes: I agree that noise level has a direct impact on the quality of the experience. With too much ambient noise, I check out from the conversation... too many concerts as a kid I guess.

    If I mistakenly chose one of these loud restaurants, I never make the mistake of going back.
  44. James Murphy from Toronto, Canada writes: No one goes to a restaurant to listen to CDs. Moreover, most restaurants are badly designed with no regard for table spacing, or the use of small, round tables which facilitate conversation. Instead, cheap square tables are used, so one has to shout across the table. Waiters and their support staff have no concept of the noise they make at wait stations retrieving tableware. Few restaurants have intimacy, a thoughtful design, or adequate spacing. Even upscale Toronto restaurants are terribly designed. As Patrick Kuh demonstrated in The Death of Haute Cuisine, the North American innovation was to combine quality and profit, but when I make a reservation and am told that I have the table for two hours, I go elsewhere, or cook at home where butter and salt are used more sparingly than their employment as flavor boosters. This is an age of horrible 'concept' restaurants with no soul, no charm, and cookie cutter food (any more ideas for foams out there? Perhaps a porterhouse conceived as a foam and served in an espresso cup?).
  45. Able Bodied Man from Canada writes:
    I went into a local coffee shop around 9 one Sunday morning and the music playing was some Saturday night disco pap. I asked them the change it and they did.

    Another time at lunch on Sunday in a Boston Pizza, the radio was tuned to some cretin drivel held over from a squirrelly girly teen PJ party. I asked if they could change it and the waitress said it was the radio and they wouldn't change it, so I left...

    Many retailers play their music for young workers, not a variety of customers...
  46. Chris Hay from Regina, SK, Canada writes: I am somewhat amazed that one issue contributing to noise levels, wasn't even touched on. Namely that of those boorish patrons who insist upon spending the entire meal engaged in cell phone conversations - people do talk much louder into that tiny contraption than when into a normal phone. And yes, after spending a few hundred dollars for a great meal at a great restaurant, I have complained to the management that I will not be returning until such time as a policy is established prohibiting cell phone conversations (by which I mean the repeated salesman jabbering all through a meal). If the call is that urgent, then either head to a fast food place, or be courteous to other patrons and excuse yourself from their presence.
  47. Ben SGT/USMC from United States writes:

    Almost to a person, servers here in Florida have noted that Canadians are notoriously poor tippers.

    This new study indicates that it must be on account of the noise.
  48. stand up mimi from Canada writes: Are they poor tippers because they're Canadian or because they're over 70? I know there are lots of good tippers in that age group, but I'm betting there are a lot more that still think ten percent is the norm. I always top up my dad's tips (on the sly) because he believes ten percent is the maximum you leave for good service.
  49. Jerry Cutler from Delta, BC, Canada writes: My wife and I used to spend thousands of dollars per year dining out, now we spend nothing, 0$, nada - all on account of EXCESSIVE NOISE!!
  50. Eric G. from Toronto, Canada writes: >Ben SGT/USMC from United States writes:
    >
    >Almost to a person, servers here in Florida have noted that Canadians are notoriously poor tippers.

    citizens of this forum have noted that USMC Sgt's are notoriously ignorant.

    Mission Accomplished Ben!
  51. mighty conan from Calgary, Canada writes: Every workplace safety authority in Canada should take note. If noise levels in my workplace reached 97.5 dB & there were no steps taken to reduce noise levels or protect workers the written orders for compliance would be guaranteed... At 97 dB the permitted exposure time in most Provinces is 30 minutes. The patrons may choose to be in that environment, the tips might make it very attractive for the staff, but all that said it's not worth the pleasure or the profit to damage your hearing possibly permanently. If it were an industrial or other commercial business the hew & cry would be 97dB . If I were a safety compliance officer in BC I'd be investigating the businesses mentioned & threating to shut them down until they were in compliance. No joke. Sorry to spoil your desert...
  52. Katherine R from Canada, Canada writes: I have actually had a sore throat after eating out because of the noise. After shouting to my companion during a long dinner with drinks and dessert, I leave the place with a headache and hoarse voice. I often complain and usually they will turn the music down. That doesn't help poor acoustics, though. Bar Italia on College in Toronto is the worst - I never go there anymore. The place is designed like a concrete box. Also, I have a master's degree in architecture and we didn't learn anything about acoustic design.
  53. gloria garvey from Canada writes: I gave up going to pubs a long time ago. I got tired of shouting to whoever I was with, and not being able to hear them shouting back. Having a beer and merely looking at one's companion really isn't that much fun. Beer at home is much cheaper too.
    Movies, oh, that's another one. Why do they insist on having the sound loud enough to blast you out of your seat? I usually spend the first 15 minutes with my fingers in my ears until I'm acclimatized. And if you watch movies at home, and keep the sound at a level so you can hear the quiet parts, the loud parts are then loud enough for the neighbours to hear. Stupid.
  54. Brad Reddekopp from Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada writes: Thumbs down to all who propose laws to control this sort of thing. Let the market work!
  55. Fed Up And Had Enough from Canada writes: Rollo Tomasi writes: "The last time I was at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for a baseball game, I wanted for ear protection and bailed after the 6th inning. "
    Well, Rollo, if you go the Rogers Centre expecting quiet perhaps you best rethink your choices. A sports stadium is supposed to be loud and boisterous! Many complain that Jays fans are too quiet and I agree, but I have also been to games where people try to silence those around them. My advice is, if you want to watch the game in quiet surroundings.....STAY HOME!
  56. Phillip Patriotic from Home and Hearth, Canada writes: Hallelujah! And here (hear!) I thought I was the only one!

    My spouse and I are in our 30's and were starting to wonder if we were getting old before our time ("if it's too loud, you're too old" ??).

    We recently took some out-of-town visitors to The Keg for dinner, only to be drowned out by the music.
    When we asked our server if the music could be turned down, the reply was, "Oh, it's still somewhat early. You won't notice it as much when we get more people in". Well, duh....

    I have the same complaints about some of the retail chains, but truth be told, I am probably too old to be shopping in those stores anyway.
  57. Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo from Toronto, Canada writes: If the music's too loud, you're too old!
  58. Jennifer F from Toronto, Canada writes: There's a restaurant in Toronto named Myth and after 4 different visits of yelling-conversation during dinner with friends, I vowed not to return until it quiets down. If I'm at a club I expect it to be loud, but I don't need to go home with a sore throat and ringing ears after a dinner out.

    Like most people, I live a very busy life and when I meet up with friends for dinner I do it to catch up and have a lively conversation, not to smile and nod at them.
  59. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Fed Up And Had Enough from Canada writes:Well, Rollo, if you go the Rogers Centre expecting quiet perhaps you best rethink your choices. A sports stadium is supposed to be loud and boisterous! Many complain that Jays fans are too quiet and I agree, but I have also been to games where people try to silence those around them. My advice is, if you want to watch the game in quiet surroundings.....STAY HOME!
    ----------------------------

    I love the crack of the bat, the ball hitting leather gloves...the crowd, please, make all the noise you want. It's the multimedia experience in the ballpark, mall and restaurant that put me off.
  60. Anthony Sexton from Canada writes: I never leave less than 20%, unless the server was so monumentally inept, rude, or inattentive that to leave that much would be inexcusable. Like the servers in Florida.

    But whatever. Almost as much as the noise, all the televisions drive me crazy. even if I can't hear them. What's really sad is when you look around the room and see people sitting together, but each staring off at a different TV. Like zombies.

    That being said, if you turn the TVs off, nobody seems to notice or complain, they just kind of drift back to their dinner companions and engage in conversation. it's nice. I use "TV-B-Gone" for this, google it.
  61. Serafina Superbo from on the wing, Canada writes: gloria garvey from Canada writes: ...And if you watch movies at home, and keep the sound at a level so you can hear the quiet parts, the loud parts are then loud enough for the neighbours to hear. Stupid.

    -----------------------

    Yeah, and then there are all those shows were the soundtrack overwhelms the dialogue! You're watching a key conversation between the characters, their mouths are moving, plot is being driven, but all you can hears is the swelling chords of the mood music.
  62. Chloe Austin from Canada writes: I go out to eat fairly often and I've never been bothered by the noise levels. If I go to pubs I expect it to be noisy and certainly would never ask anyone to turn the music down.

    People are just looking for something to complain about.
  63. Alistair McLaughlin from Canada writes: Try having dinner in Earl's. The noise level in there approaches full stadium levels.
  64. andrew lawton from Canada writes: I'm an audio engineer ...I listen to amplified sound a lot, and I'm very careful about controlling the sound pressure level of mixes I'm working on. I can tell you that the ambient racket in some restaurants in vancouver is not only invasive and undignified, it's also unhealthy.

    I think, though, that more and more people tolerate this because their hearing is deteriorating, as a result of listening to excessively loud and highly compressed music in Ipods etc. People who have not continually exposed themselves to such a din, will be much more acoustically sensitive. Human hearing suffers when exposed to sustained periods of excessive sound pressure, even if it doesn't 'hurt' at the time.

    Modern acoustic levels are similar to someone shining a flashlight in your face .... for goodness sakes .... turn that crap down!!
  65. gloria garvey from Canada writes: The other day while out walking I encountered a young woman riding a horse---and wearing an IPod. And this, mark you, in a place where there was no possibility of noise from any source other than wind and birds. I think many people today have no idea what silence is or how to appreciate it at those rare times in the modern world when it does exist. Is it just me? The older I get the more I value silence.
  66. crazy fiddler from Canada writes: Thank you, Andrew Lawton. I was wondering when anyone would raise the comment that noise levels are increasing as our collective hearing is deteriorating. As a professional musician, I'm very protective of my hearing; I've played for many pop artists in arena venues, and always wear earplugs, even though it makes it more difficult for me to do my job. The sound levels have been proven to be damaging. Don't even get me started about movie theatres! We're going to see in not too many years a significant portion of the population needing to wear hearing aids, and the rest of us putting up with ever-increasing noise levels, unless there is legislation to prevent this daily bombast. I would like to see it become a WCB issue, much the same as secondhand smoke; clients can choose to boycott an establishment, but workers should not be subjected to damaging noise levels on the job. There will have to be studies done, documentation, and many will complain about the "nanny state" yet again....
  67. F Dionne from Toronto, Canada writes: Noisy restaurants can be exciting, but up to a point. It's idiotic to have to scream to be heard in places were people go to socialize. (Though that might be a godsend for vacuous preeners.)

    I had given up on Mercatto on Bay, in Toronto, until they made some changes earlier this year. The acoustics are much better now.

    As for tipping... There is one time I left less than 20% (and that wasn't during a trip to Florida, where I must have surprised a waiter who looked totally dejected when I mentioned my country of origin), after being held hostage for more than 45 minutes following lunch by a waiter who wouldn't bring me the bill, even though I had asked for it about five times. I left him a nice, shiny nickel.
  68. Marjorie Jackson from Canada writes: What a timely article! I was waiting for someone to address this problem. I , too, have noticed that more noise is everywhere and although I do not live in Vancouver year round, I find most venues for dinner quite noisy, so we just cook more!! The latest research published in the medical profession shows that hearing impairment is one area that is increasing rapidly in the North American population because of all the items we are putting into our ears----mobiles, i-pods, external music. etc. The 25-40 age group are getting older too, so noise levels should lower. Ever eavesdrop on the conversation at the next table? It is frightening how much airspace is given to ownership of housing, redecorating, faster cars and materialism and not the discussion of ideas or topics.
    Thank you!
  69. Tracy Dinga from United States writes: As a restaurant manager in Atlanta, so many guests comment how quiet my restaurant is. A lot of this has to do with the fact of our customer base and our unfortunate lack of guests because of where people dine in Atlanta. Our competition are the most popular restaurants in Atlanta.

    Sometimes I think also it is the staff that contributes to the noise. The staff can "lead" the decibel level in the restaurant. If the server speaks to you at indoor noise level, then you will as well speak at that level.

    This article makes a great point! I love it!
  70. Stephen Dedalus from Canada writes: Bah! I just tend to avoid places that are too loud, though I agree that it's getting harder to find quiet places. I tend to get hoarse pretty quickly if I compete with the ambient music, so I usually don't even try anymore. And yeah, the people with "that laugh"--the one of the ear-splitting persuasion--are usually the easiest to amuse, sadly . . . As for asking an establishment to turn down or change the music, I suppose that's a customer's right, but I find it's be like walking into a crowded room and immediately shutting the window because you personally think it's too cold in there.
  71. Laura B from London, Canada writes: I couldn't agree more with this article (before I get accused of being too old to appreciate 'good music', I'm only 23). I don't go to restaurants to listen to music, I can go to a club or stay home for that.
    I (as well as my friends) were taught proper manners, such as not being loud and obnoxious in public, talking quietly (no one around needs to know, or cares, about our conversation). Also, have the common decency to step outside when the cell rings or turn it off. I agree with those posters who say that this isn't just a music issue, its a manners issue.

    Think its bad in Toronto and Vancouver? I'm living in London, England for the year (central London) where the bars/restaurants seem to try to outdo each other on the music, not to mention cramming people in so much that you can hear people at the next table breathing!
  72. Gizella Oehm from Toronto, Canada writes: Many years ago, when I complained about how much louder the pub my friends and I were in was than what I had been used to, someone pointed out that this has to do with the discomfort people have come to feel about carrying on a conversation. Similarly, almost every bar or pub now has a plethora of TV screens, often blaring. And, over the years, I've noticed how many people would invite me over, with everyone spending hours watching TV, even through dinner. Music and other media (which one may or may not like) removes the necessity of talking. This sort of atmosphere will likely become more de rigeur as time goes on, and I don't think any amount of protesting on the part of some clients is going to change the trend.
  73. Ann Cram from Port Lambton, Canada writes: I am so gratified to see the response to this article. I am hearing impaired, and even moderate noise makes it almost impossible for me to understand conversation in restaurants. Eating in places with terrible acoustics and booming noise levels has become an exercise in frustration. Some places have graciously agreed to turn down music levels for me, but they are in the minority. I am constantly on the look-out for quiet places, and have to make reservations for very early in the evening. I hope restaurant owners are listening......there seem to be lots of us out there who are struggling with this issue

Join the Conversation, Leave a Comment

This conversation is semi-moderated What is moderation? | How do I report a comment?

You must be logged-in to submit a comment — login now!

Not registered with globeandmail.com? Register now. It is quick and free.

close

Alert us about this comment

Please let us know if this reader’s comment breaks the editor's rules and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.

Do not use this to complain about comments that don’t break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.