Does the noise level of a restaurant affect your decision ?
 

I personally can not stand a restaurant where I have to shout at my dinner partner to be heard and where the server kneels at the table in order to rattle off the evening specials. A perfect example of this is the venerable Chinois in Venice, Ca. Recently, a new restaurant opened in my neighborhood, and all anyone is talking about is how loud it is. I consider this a huge turn-off and am reluctant to even try the new place. One evening at new restaurant inW.Hollywood left me with a headache, although the food was good. Anyone else turned off by the noise and have vowed to never return?

You can count me in. I dislike a lot of NYC and DC dining because the owners think noise equals excitement. The places are build with all hard surfaces. If the noise level is not up to proper expectations, music is cranked up and crammed in.

Citronelle (one of DC's finest) has gone to great efforts to reduce the ambient noise levels, but not had too much success at it.

Many of the better European restaurants I have been in have bad acoustics, but the diners seem to really try to keep the noise level down.

[This message has been edited by slawecki (edited Jan 10, 2004).]

I also like peace and quiet when I am eating. There is a Hard Rock Cafe here in SLC -- never been to it, never will.

I just read something in a health magazine that said you actually eat more at restaurants that are louder. Basically, the noise level causes you to respond by rushing a bit more (a plan by restaurants to get you out sooner and turn over more tables) and eating too fast and too much to let your body catch up and tell you that you're full. The magazine recommended quiet restaurants with classical music.

This is a problem in New York. Alain Ducasse's Mix is a prime example. Restaurants in that price point should exude a silent sophistication. Mix does not.