Ideas for noise reduction in restaurants?
 

Concerned about noise at restaurants and country clubs? Me too.
Anybody out there in totvland know a cheap, easy, effective solution?

Carry earplugs, listen to your ipod while eating. Eat very early or very late.
Go to places that are not popular. Eat at a combination library restaurant.

OP, you make a very good point about noise in the TV restaurants. I've observed that a lot of the noise comes from large groups of six, eight or ten more. If you had more partitions or rooms for the larger groups that would help.

This will likely not happen---too expensive---but it's a thought.

Maybe some innovator will build one in TV someday.

The lack of carpeting and acoustical ceiling tile in many of them exacerbates any noise made by patrons.

I heard through a very reliable person "in the know" that the new Hemingway's will have a cone of silence that comes down over each table so you can hear only your table when socializing while consuming.

bubble idea
 

:beer3: I'll drink to that. Some say we live in a "bubble" so why not a bubble over the restaurant table. :a20:

Ok, wise guys, here's something that sounds sharp and fresh, state of the art:

High-tech system lets restaurant set noise level - SFGate

I just turn down my hearing aids. Instant quiet. Unfortunately I cannot have a conversation with my wife. But then that could be a good or bad thing. JUST JOKING!!!

Z

Finally! Someone noticed besides me! I wear hearing aids and have to turn them all the way down or off to handle the noise in ANY of the country club or other restaurants in The Villages. Then I can't even hear the waitress, my husband, or my dinner companions! This is NOT fine dining when it's so miserable!

While this is a great community, a few things definitely got lost in the planning...

This is an area for over 55 and often hearing is diminished. acoustics are definitely something that should have been considered before building any restaurants we spend good money to frequent. I don't have the answers but certainly their are consultants in the industry that do and they should have been on retainer!

Add to that the Parking in town centers, even off season as well as traffic in some areas and rotaries that confuse many, and cause accidents, are also at the top of the list.

Finally, theatre enthusiasts and new theatre clubs that want to be active have to struggle for stage time, unless they are grandfathered in, because of the ALL purpose rooms used here containing the stages. Since these rooms are the largest areas, they are very often needed for large meetings, dance classes, musicians, etc. even when a stage isn't needed. This limits the time greatly that theatrical clubs can find good dates for their rehearsals and performances. Not to mention if one doesn't choose to pay the high price of going thru the official community ticket office, (which charges a HEFTY fee,) they will be limited to getting any info in the recreation news to get the word out where their tickets are available. This has been a very distasteful experience. Theatre is a huge part of the villages--the numerous theatre clubs attest to that. The fact that they often have sell out performances proves they are successful. Why isn't there a desiginated theatre complex or two, to free up these limitations and offer graduated seating which is more comfortable for the audience to view the stage.

A good theatre complex should have two mini stage areas for 200-300 people with stages; one set us cabaret style with tables and chairs and one graduaed seating for small productions and rehearsals. Plus one large stage area for the big productions and name talent that comes to town. I have toured retirement communities that have something very much like this with graduated seating--so that idea is not unique.

Don't get me wrong, we love The Villages for many reasons... but, the above mentioned ARE NOT among them!

venting makes you feel better....
continuing with ideas for noise reduction....this is from hospitality magazine, an Australian source:

Nine tips for restaurateurs to help reduce noise levels:
1. Use acoustic fabric covered wall panels
2. Install sound-absorbing ceiling tiles
3. Consider fabrics and other soft furnishings in preference to wood and plastics (Carpets, curtains and tablecloths can all help to reduce noise)
4. Put rubber caps on chair legs
5. Consider retrofitting secondary acoustic windows to block out traffic and/or aircraft and train noise
6. Use petitions and barriers to break up sound paths
7. Use sound-absorbers to quell the sound of noisy machinery such as air-conditioning units
8. Ensure kitchen doors are soundproofed to block out kitchen noise
9. Ensure background music stays that way. Don’t pump up the volume.

Eat outside ?

You can get involved with PALM, I'm sure they would welcome your help.

A retiree from Albany, N.Y., Richard Chady is a Sumter County resident who adores cultural trappings. He is an Appleton Museum of Art member and an Ocala Civic Theatre season ticket holder.



He keeps a close eye on performance schedules in Orlando, particularly of major touring productions and concerts. He wants to see more “world-class performers,” but he wants to see them in his own backyard.

And he will tell you, with surveys to back it up, he is not alone.

Chady is communications manager with Performing Arts of Lake, Marion and Sumter (PALMS), a group of North Central Florida residents with an extremely ambitious plan: build a 1,500-seat-plus, state-of-the-art “eco-concious” performing arts center that would bring top-name national acts to the tri-county region.

That is to say, if PALMS succeeds, acts such as Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Johnny Mathis, Harry Connick Jr. and Tony Bennett, as well as touring Broadway plays, would perform near The Villages, somewhere in either southern Marion County, northeast Sumter County or northwest Lake County. PALMS hopes to buy 15 to 20 acres and has narrowed sites down from 40 to “a handful,” Chady said.

Picking up a torch lit in The Villages years ago, PALMS exists solely to build a self-sufficient performing arts center near The Villages, the 80,000-resident retirement community that touches three counties. Early estimates have the center priced between $10 million and $20 million, but there is much to do — including a new architectural plan — before getting an accurate figure.

I understand. Sometimes those danged expensive hearers are a godsend. You CAN turn the noise down...Some restaurants are impossible to hear in. We sat in the gazebo like room at Nancy Lopez yesterday and what with the wooden ceiling and the echos I couldn't hear what people were saying across the table. Oh well. My response to this is "It is what it is". It is everywhere.

Partitions between table sections, or booths, or curtained booths help a lot to allow for conversation, and for the server to be able to talk with and hear the customer.

Lack of separation between tables, and no partitions, were the first things I noticed when walking into Mezza Luna, and the noise level was a roar. Touching elbows with other patrons......not a good thing.

Will the outlay of cash to implement these things cause an increase in business? Probably not. BUT..... The quality of food will.

Other than move to France where people tend to quietly enjoy their meals I can offer no suggestion. In my experience restaurants are obnoxiously loud all over America. The older I get, with some hearing loss (but not yet enough to require a hearing aid according to my otologist) the less I am able to tolerate it.

I happen to approach my wife to ask a question when she waved her hand to signal me to wait a moment During that moment she was watching "The Chew " and the hosts were discussing loud noise restaurants intentionally designed and said to be the latest fad. The leading advocate Mario Batali?????????????????

When people are sitting at large tables in groups of 10+ and they are all screaming and yelling over each other to make sure they are the one being heard it really has nothing to do with carpeting or ceiling tiles but more about having a lack of basic respect for others around them and their lack of manners.

Much worse than a room full of guys wearing a hat.

Just a small surcharge added to the bill....................................

(sigh)

thats what we do as well, eat outside.....always seems less noisy

I use these when on a plane. I can hear the stewardess and conversation just fine. I'm going to have to try it in a restaurant sometime.

Bose | QuietComfort® 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones | Noise Cancelling Headphones

[QUOTE=kittygilchrist;845796]Concerned about noise at restaurants and country clubs? Me too.
Anybody out there in totvland know a cheap, easy, effective solution?

There are some restaurants in San Francisco using what is known as "White Noise" and many speakers throughout the dining area to enable patrons to enjoy conversation while limiting the many sounds there. CHEAP is not an operative word used with this type of solution. $10k to 100k. This system can raise or dampen the sound levels. Many design variables come into play. So, Cheap and Easy it is not, but can be done. I would not look to this solution in TV, at least not any time soon.









G

Hang on for about 4-6 weeks and the noise level will drop dramatically!

Smart girl.

So, I'm not the only one who desires a quieter dining experience! We have eaten at Evans Prairie of late and I feel like I'm in the lunchroom in grammar school. Too loud! Enjoyed the meal, but not the noise. Outside dining when it's warmer.

Restaurants around here are just too crowded to get into and enjoy. I personally love to entertain and often have friends for drinks and dinner. We aren't competing with loud noises, poor service and rudeness.

There is a real simple solution...Ear Muffs ....from " L.L. Bean " of course.:wine:

For sometime restaurants have purposely made dinning noisy. In some minds high noise level means folks are having fun! I don't agree but there must be a reason since this is the norm.

Acoustics are a real problem in the restaurants and country clubs. As someone posted, the noise levels should drop signicantly soon as the snowbirds migrate north, but most of these venues have nothing but hard surfaces all around. Large groups can also create a lot of noise when trying to talk across tables of eight or ten people. Add music and sound is bouncing off every surface in the room. As a musician I can tell you it's very difficult to play softly in these rooms. Then, folks have different tolerance to how loud things should be. The Villages is definitely lacking venues where we can enjoy a relaxing meal with a nice conversation at normal speaking levels.