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How Restaurants Got So Loud

theatlantic.com

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Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#191

Post by Mikeb85 »

jlokier wrote: post #108

There's an ice cream and bagel place in town. In the late evening it's consistently packed with people on their laptops or reading books. One day I noticed the music was much louder than usual, and asked the staff to turn it down. I figured it was a mistake because it was normally much quieter. They told me this was the new company policy. To set the music uncomfortably loud to make people leave, after finishing thei…

Operating a restaurant is expensive. Rent is by the square foot, so you taking up a certain amount of space with your 1 tea per hour (max 2 teas?) won't pay their bills.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#192

Post by Mikeb85 »

Spivak wrote: post #163
err4nt wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how obvious some people make it that they don't want business. I don't really care about power plugs or wifi when I visit a café (my battery running out is a great motivator + natural time limit, I can tether to my phone for internet) but I always pay close attention to how a new café is outfitted. Some cafés that genuinely want your business make plugs available to the customers, some will even go as far…

I think this is a very uncharitable view of the situation. Some coffee shops don't want to pivot into coworking spaces and that's okay. Personally I think it's a match made in heaven since a day pass at a nice coworking space is around $10 which is like two drinks but I get that some businesses would prefer to just sell coffee.

And usually coffee shops are in spaces with higher rents than co-working spaces (retail level costs more, and restaurants have a higher startup cost).

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#193

Post by jaclaz »

jimison wrote: post #150
mnw21cam wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally hate it when a waiter comes up, interrupts my meal, and asks if everything is OK with my food. Are you seriously saying restaurants are being encouraged to do this?

My father believed that truly great restaurants don't do this, because they KNOW their food is perfect. Practically speaking, though, dpeck is right... shortly after the food is dropped, the waiter should confirm the meal is to the customer's expectations. This is also the chance for customers to ask for condiments, get a replacement fork for the one they dropped, etc. Nothing worse than sitting in front of a hot mea…

>Nothing worse than sitting in front of a hot meal you can't eat and being unable to get the waiter's attention.

That would be "Waiter come taste the soup":

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094898/crazycredits?item=cz000...

More seriously, it all depends on the "level" of service, and - ultimately - on the ratio waiters/served people, which is usually between 1/6-1/10 (excellent service) and 1/25-1/30 (scarce or lacking service).

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#194

Post by swsieber »

decebalus1 wrote: post #182
jlokier wrote: post #108

There's an ice cream and bagel place in town. In the late evening it's consistently packed with people on their laptops or reading books. One day I noticed the music was much louder than usual, and asked the staff to turn it down. I figured it was a mistake because it was normally much quieter. They told me this was the new company policy. To set the music uncomfortably loud to make people leave, after finishing thei…

It probably won't be the most popular opinion but I'm siding with the business for this one. I never got people who use cafe bars, delis, etc.. as personal offices. I personally can't get 'in the zone' in such a public place where: - I need to buy/consume something every X minutes - have to overhear irrelevant stupid/mundane conversations - people have a habit of bringing their dogs everywhere now and I'm not even go…

I could probably do it. But apart from being able to, I think it's pretty entitled to think that buying a piece of food (or something) entitles you to hours in a food place. Where people come to eat. Typically a < 60 minute event (often much, much less).

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#195

Post by ajb »

mnw21cam wrote: post #64
fredley wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner and I are 'mystery shoppers' for restaurants. We have our bill covered plus a bit extra on top (but have to fill out hefty, detailed questionnaires afterwards). One of the things there's always a whole section on is timing: every single interaction has a time-window in which it must occur. You must be greeted within (t1), you must be seated within (t2). Plates must be cleared within (t3), you must have a '…

I personally hate it when a waiter comes up, interrupts my meal, and asks if everything is OK with my food. Are you seriously saying restaurants are being encouraged to do this?

It generally seems odd to me, but at my job we used to go at lunch time to a place which didn't do this, and they would simply lose one person's order some of the time (i'd say 1 in 10). It's really annoying to be the one person whose food hasn't arrived yet wondering for ages if they are being slow or have forgotten. This extra touch gives them the opportunity to find out that they forgot something without completely pissing off the customer.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#196

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #170
err4nt wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how obvious some people make it that they don't want business. I don't really care about power plugs or wifi when I visit a café (my battery running out is a great motivator + natural time limit, I can tether to my phone for internet) but I always pay close attention to how a new café is outfitted. Some cafés that genuinely want your business make plugs available to the customers, some will even go as far…

If by "business" you mean buying a coffee in exchange of several hours of free internet, electricity and real estate, then it is sort of understandable why many places don't encourage this kind of "business". Some places do, and you have all the reasons in the world to favor these places as they match your needs, but it seems kind of silly expecting that every place should cater to every type of customer.

This seems very harsh. These places need internet anyway, need electricity anyway (the lights will be on either way.) And need real estate anyway. What is your point?

Coffee shops will never have enough seating anyway for the amount of coffee they sell.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#197

Post by d--b »

> Restaurants are so loud because architects don’t design them to be quiet.

Wrong. Restaurants are so loud because people are so loud.

My wife and I were at Freeman's in Downtown Manhattan the other day. It was so loud we decided to scream to see if anyone noticed. And since noone seemed to turn their heads, we screamed louder and louder, and literally no one could hear us.

This is an American thing, it doesn't happen in Paris, nor in London, nor in Japan, nor in Mexico.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#198

Post by compiler-guy »

d--b wrote: post #197

> Restaurants are so loud because architects don’t design them to be quiet. Wrong. Restaurants are so loud because people are so loud. My wife and I were at Freeman's in Downtown Manhattan the other day. It was so loud we decided to scream to see if anyone noticed. And since noone seemed to turn their heads, we screamed louder and louder, and literally no one could hear us. This is an American thing, it doesn't happe…

Yes, Americans are loud. But the acoustics of the space one talks do in fact make a difference. If the surrounding space reflects a lot of sound, the restaurant will be louder than if the surrounding space absorbs a lot of sound.

And that, in fact is what the article is about.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#199

Post by granfalloon »

Illniyar wrote: post #33
keiferski wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Libraries are not playgrounds. This idea that the primary functional purpose of an important space should be some kind of afterthought is rather depressing, but I guess is follows from the entertainment-centric culture we live in. The purpose of a library is to read, not to entertain your kids.

The purpose of libraries has been completely ousted by the internet. It is no longer a place that makes vast knowledge attainable to the average person, that's the internet now. You can either have no libraries at all or libraries that cater to a different purpose, one that they can offer better then your phone.

Quality and depth of information in a good library, at least for many subjects, is much greater than what you'll find for free on the internet.

Re: How Restaurants Got So Loud

#200

Post by [deleted] »

lazerwalker wrote: post #171
err4nt wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how obvious some people make it that they don't want business. I don't really care about power plugs or wifi when I visit a café (my battery running out is a great motivator + natural time limit, I can tether to my phone for internet) but I always pay close attention to how a new café is outfitted. Some cafés that genuinely want your business make plugs available to the customers, some will even go as far…

It's not fair to say they "don't want business". They don't want certain forms of business — laptop coworkers — that in many cases are both low-profit customers and actively limit the throughput of total customers. I had a good chat once with a guy who runs a small coffee roastery and number of fancy third-wave coffee shops in a posh university town. One of the most popular coffee shops in town went completely bankru…

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