Many NYC restaurants dangerously loud, NYT reports

[Robin Garr]

So, it's not just NuLu, then ...

WHAT?
Working or Playing Indoors, New Yorkers Face an Unabated Roar
By CARA BUCKLEY
The New York Times
July 19, 2012

The waitress’s lips were moving but nothing seemed to be coming out. Hundreds of voices swallowed her words as a D.J. pumped out a ticka ticka of dance beats. The happy hour-fueled din rose with it, amplified by tin ceilings and tiled walls.

"I’ve been getting migraines,” the waitress shouted on a recent Thursday night, leaning in to be heard. She said that she woke up with her ears buzzing, and that her doctor had recently prescribed seizure medicine: “It decreases the amount of headaches you get.”

The restaurant, Lavo in Midtown Manhattan, is not just loud but often dangerously so. On that night, the noise averaged 96 decibels over the course of an hour, as loud as a power mower, and a level to which, by government standards, workers should not be exposed for more than three and a half hours without protection for their hearing.

Full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/nyreg ... .html?_r=1

Thank goodness we don't have the DJ thing happening here (yet).

Thank goodness we don't have the DJ thing happening here (yet).

Actually there are plenty of DJs in Louisville, and the good ones I know who spin at restaurants (my partner happens to be one of them) know how to not overwhelm their dining audiences.

Any bad experience I've ever had at a restaurant because of noise has either been due to obnoxious patrons or an inattentive staff playing music too loud through the restaurant's PA, sans any DJs in sight. In fact, a few weeks ago I dined at the Publican in Chicago, which was tremendous except for the fact that they were inexplicably blasting terrible 80s hits. Thankfully the food and beer made up for the bad hair metal and shoulder-pad pop.

[Robin Garr]

Thank goodness we don't have the DJ thing happening here (yet).

Maybe not DJ, but Silver Dollar plays Bakersfield Sound on old-fashioned black disk platters. I actually like Silver Dollar, quite a bit, but it's not a place I go for quiet conversation. In fact, Mary and I went with our pal Sarah once, and Mary broke out laughing when she realized that Sarah and I were texting across the table.

I've never had an issue with the volume at the Silver Dollar, but probably because I've only sat at the bar, not at tables, and I either go really early or really late to avoid crowds.

In general, though I've read a lot of complaints on the forum, I think Louisville restaurants are pretty respectful when it comes to volume. Can't remember a time in the recent past where I've had any problem, though my tolerance level is probably higher than the average.

I'm at the other end of the spectrum with a very low tolerance. I hate shouting across a table. But, it's the tradeoff we sometimes have to make.