Photo credit: Burak The Weekender
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
In a recent podcast, Gastropod asks a question we’ve wondered about, too. Why are restaurants so loud? Gastropod is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network, and is supported in part by the Alfred Sloan Foundation.
Podcast hosts Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley invited an all-star cast, including Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding from the Switched on Pops podcast, health journalist Julia Belluz, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema, and acoustic engineer Pierre Germain from Meyer Sound Laboratories in Berkeley, California. The group dove in on noise issues in restaurants.
As Twelve Step recovery programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous) note, one has to first accept that there is a problem. Consumer satisfaction surveys show that too much noise is a leading complaint of diners. What to do next? Germain discusses how acoustic engineering at the Comal restaurant in Berkeley allows staff to change the acoustics at different times of the meal cycle and in different parts of the restaurant. Other interviewees explain how music affects both food choices and the speed with which one eats. For example, a quieter sound track in one restaurant led to more patrons choosing to have dessert rather than fleeing the noisy space, increasing revenues by 12%. Others note that hearing loss is common. When diners with hearing loss find a quiet restaurant where they can understand what others are saying, they come back more often.
I read the transcript of the podcast, as I find that a more efficient use of my time than listening. But in either format, you’re certain to learn something about restaurant noise. Restaurant noise is often loud enough to cause auditory damage. If enough people complain about restaurant noise to their elected representatives, maybe restaurant noise ordinances will be passed somewhere in the United States. The Quiet Coalition’s parent organization, Quiet Communities, has a working group on restaurant noise that is trying to convince restaurants that quieter restaurants will be good for diners and good for business.
We hope one of these approaches will work. Quieter restaurants will help make the world a better and healthier place for all.
