- Restaurant patrons have debated whether large, noisy groups should be banned
- Experts say design choices can help reduce noise in restaurants
Noise levels can make or break the restaurant experience for some diners. That’s why experts have revealed how they can become so noisy and what solutions companies have.
According to location analytics firm Placer.ai, the number of visits to restaurants in 2023 has fallen by almost five percent compared to the previous year.
Restaurant goers have complained about loud groups ruining their meals and have even debated whether large groups should be banned from nice restaurants.
However, experts say a few design changes can help reduce noise and keep customers at their tables.
“I think this is a problem with why restaurants have become louder, because I think there has been an aesthetic change,” Lily Wang, director of the University of Nebraska Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, told me. The Washington Post.
Noise levels can make or break the restaurant experience for some diners, as there is debate over whether large groups should be banned from nice restaurants
“You know, we want to design an atmosphere that’s industrial or cool.”
Wang said that people talking are a source of noise, but their bodies also act as sound absorbers and reflectors.
“You know, concert halls design seats to absorb the same amount of sound as a normal human body,” she said. “That way it sounds the same whether it’s a full house or not.”
Wang explained that the movement of signs and chatter creates sound by vibrating molecules in the air.
That vibration does not move in a straight line, but moves outward as a growing ball of sound waves.
When the waves move through a restaurant and can interact with objects, Depending on the materials, three things can happen.
“Some of it is reflected, and then there’s some of it that… continues to spread… and then there’s some of it that gets absorbed,” Wang told The Post.
Lily Wang, director of the University of Nebraska Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, says restaurant layouts could be part of the noise problem
When someone raises their voice in a small space, others unconsciously respond by raising their voices, creating a feedback loop called the Lombard Effect.
Sound-absorbing materials such as foam or fiberglass placed in ceiling tiles and wall panels can help channel sound waves, but are often considered unaesthetic and expensive.
Experts suggest that for people who don’t want to install sound-absorbing material, there are layouts that can include physical barriers that can help prevent voices from floating through the restaurant.
It may help to place tables and seats away from noise sources such as a ventilation system or the kitchen.
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema recommends people avoid noise by eating early when the dining room is less crowded or by sitting in booths.