Restaurant Acoustics

For years now we have been harping on about the poor acoustic environments of cafes, bars and restaurants. We have spoken of the shifting trend of restaurant interiors from softly furnished, spacious spaces, to the minimalist, hard surfaced and densely packed restaurants of today. We have also talked about just how loud some restaurants are becoming - up to 100 decibels, the same level of noise emitted by a working newspaper press. Yet despite our pleas, and those of many others for restaurants to at least to [...]

Unless you are very geeky, the thought of architectural acoustics is probably enough to put you to sleep. But if I told you it could mean something that could get between you and enjoying your food, would you pipe up? It it well documented by now that noise affects one of our most prized senses, taste. However, it is not only our taste that can suffer from excessive decibel levels; almost all aspects of a dining experience can be shaped by a restaurant's noise environment. Despite this, restaurateurs are [...]

7 Restaurants With Beautiful Acoustic Design The worst acoustic environments are essentially hollow boxes with hard, reverberant surfaces that meet each other at right angles, allowing lengthy reverberation. Unfortunately, with the advent of the highly stylised restaurant, more and more dining spaces are becoming acoustically uncomfortable, with traditional restaurants with soft, absorptive surfaces being replaced by the modern minimalist interior. While acoustics are becoming more and more common, restaurants with comfortable sound environments are still few and far between. As we have [...]

Speaking of the late great American food critic Craig Craiborne, the US author Thomac Mcnamee speculated that if he "were alive today, and he walked into the Slanted Door in San Francisco , I believe he would turn around and walk back without tasting the food". The highest grossing restaurant in San Francisco, The Slanted Door didn't earn the ire of McNamee for its food or its famed view, but for the simple fact that it is too noisy inside. After all, what is [...]